The Tergar
Lineage

The entirety of both Kagyu and Nyingma lineages exist within the Tergar lineage.

Ter is a Tibetan word for treasure, referring to the wisdom and methods that lead to the alleviation of suffering, the activation of our greatest potential, and ultimately to complete enlightenment. Gar means gathering and can connote bringing many people or elements together. So, Tergar can be understood as a place where people come together to find this sublime treasure, or as the coalescence of the causes and conditions enabling this transformational process of discovery.

The Tergar Lineage is a stream of spiritual teachings formed by the merging of two great branches of Tibetan Buddhism— the Karma Kagyu lineage and the Nyingma lineage . A profound alchemy between the two traditions has occurred at many steps along the way, producing a fertile field of learning and practice that has attracted thousands of students from around the world.

Historically, the Karma Kagyu lineage was transmitted to successive incarnations of Mingyur Rinpoche primarily through the Karmapas (beginning with the 10th Karmapa) and Tai Situ Rinpoches (starting with the 8th), while the Nyingma lineage came both through terma (treasure teachings) and through interaction between various Nyingma and Kagyu esteemed teachers. In this life, the 7th Mingyur Rinpoche received the Karma Kagyu transmissions primarily from Tai Situ Rinpoche and Saljey Rinpoche, and the Nyingma transmissions primarily from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche.

The Tergar lineage of today draws on this rich history and adds to it the current Mingyur Rinpoche’s distinctive approach, incorporating modern presentations of the Buddhist teachings to make them available and accessible to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Founding the Tergar Lineage

Tergar has been primarily a practice lineage. In the late 17th century, the first incarnation of Mingyur Rinpoche was an enlightened, wandering yogi who founded Tergar along with his two sons, both of whom were tulkus (reincarnate lamas). In the beginning, his students gathered in a camp (gar) and teachings were given in a tent. Eventually, they built a monastery (Tergar Rigdzin Kacholing) near Derge in the eastern Tibetan province of Kham.

As Mingyur Rinpoche had no worldly attachments, his sons looked after the monastery, leaving Mingyur Rinpoche free to spend much of his time spreading teachings that helped to revitalize the Kagyu tradition in Tibet, which had been waning due to political turmoil. The most significant of these termas (hidden teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism) were Dorje Drolo, Pema Benza, and the Union of Wisdom and Method Longevity Practice, which Mingyur Rinpoche transmitted to the 10th Karmapa, the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche, and other lineage masters. All subsequent incarnations of the Karmapa and Tai Situ Rinpoche have continued to hold these transmissions.

Tergar in 20th Century Tibet

Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first Tergar Monastery in Kham developed two retreat centers, a nunnery, and a small shedra (monastic college), effectively functioning as a branch of Tai Situ Rinpoche’s Palpung Monastery. There was also a satellite monastery called Namlong Gompa. Though relatively small, the Tergar centers offered good conditions for study and practice, and the 6th Mingyur Rinpoche guided over 100 monks and 60 nuns there.

The Evolution of the Tergar Lineage

Of the many factors that shaped the Tergar lineage since the late 17th century, one of the most important is the continual interaction between esteemed teachers of the Kagyu and Nyingma schools, and especially the close relationship between the lineage of the Karmapas (on the Kagyu side) and the holders of Chokgyur Lingpa’s termas (on the Nyingma side).  The 14th Karmapa was one of the main recipients of these treasure teachings, having received the empowerments from Chokgyur Lingpa himself. Tulku Samten Gyatso (the grandson of Chokgyur Lingpa) offered the same transmission to the 15th Karmapa, Khakyab Dorje.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (a lineage holder of many teaching transmissions who was Tulku Samten Gyatso’s nephew and the 7th Mingyur Rinpoche’s father) continued and expanded this tradition by exchanging many teachings and transmissions with Kagyu and Nyingma masters in the course of his life. Most notably, he gave the major transmissions of the Chokling Tersar to the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, and transmitted the Dzogchen Desum (the Three Sections of the Great Perfection) to the 16th Karmapa as well as Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and numerous other lamas of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.

Among the four greater Kagyu schools, Tulku Urgyen’s family line was the main holder of the Barom Kagyu lineage, and the 15th Karmapa was one of his root lamas, which gave him a strong link to the Karma Kagyu lineage. In the Nyingma tradition, he held the complete teachings of the 19th century’s three great masters: Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye. He held an especially close transmission of the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa, a compilation of all the empowerments, reading transmissions and instructions of Padmasambhava’s teachings, which were rediscovered by his great-grandfather, Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche passed this tradition on to many lamas, including the major regents of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

All of this exchange between the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages during Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s lifetime helped to create the profoundly rich environment into which his fourth son, the 7th (and current) Mingyur Rinpoche, was born. As a child, Mingyur Rinpoche saw his father teaching people from a great diversity of religious and secular backgrounds. Inspired by his father’s nonsectarian approach, he became very curious about what teachings and methods would be of greatest benefit to people from other cultures and backgrounds, and discussed these questions with some of his teachers, particularly his father and Saljey Rinpoche. He learned that there is a long tradition (dating back to ancient India) of teaching the essence of Buddhist philosophy meditation practices, such as mindfulness meditation and practices to develop loving-kindness and compassion, in an experiential manner that can easily be adapted for interested people of other faiths and cultural backgrounds.

A Traditional Telling of the Tergar Lineage History

The fundamental origin of Tergar is the tradition of the Marpa Kagyü, which has the most accomplished spiritual masters among the Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions. The main reason that the holy masters of the Marpa Kagyü have had such accomplishments is that they naturally attained hundreds of qualities of samadhi due to dedicating their lives to practice and applying it to their minds, thus leading to inconceivable signs of accomplishment and miraculous powers. 

Thus, in terms of the historical accounts, the ancient masters such as Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa are said to have benefitted their students immensely, by means of various wonders and miraculous powers with their spiritual accomplishment, which is unforgettable and beyond our ability to fully describe.

For those who practice in the  Kagyü tradition, it is important to know the history of the lineage and the diligent practice of these wonderful traditions.  Not only that, but Mingyur Rinpoche always says that we must always remember the kindness and benevolence of the ancient masters from the core of our hearts.

Therefore, regardless of our spiritual practice or studies, the lineage is of the utmost importance. As Milarepa himself has spoken at length about the need for an authentic lineage: 

“The defining characteristic of the guru is to hold the lineage.”

Also, “My lineage is not inferior, it is excellent; my lineage is that of the great Vajradhara.”

And, “Spreading like light from one candle to another, is the lineage of compassion, experience, and realization not that of Telopa and Naropa with its origins in the dharmakaya Vajradhara?”

If one lacks a genuine lineage, then they will not encounter an authentic guru, and without the authentic guru it would be difficult for a student to have blessings and spiritual qualities emerge from within. Thus, the lineage and the guru are immensely crucial for students. 

Therefore, given that the lineage and gurus of Tergar are ones that we may trust and venerate, it is desirable to discuss briefly about their history. 

In general, Tergar and Mingyur Dorje are imbued with the profound lineages of both Mahamudra and Dzogchen. However, given that the central spiritual tradition is that of the Kagyü, the spiritual protector of beings, there is an extraordinarily profound connection to his holiness the Karmapa with aspects of a near and distant transmission. For instance, there is a distant transmission due to the fact that all the teachings transmitted successively from Vajradhara onward were received from the Tenth Karmapa and so forth. There is also a near transmission, one that is remarkably blessed and unbroken, due to the fact that the first incarnation of Rinpoche was given all the profound, extraordinary teachings once he directly had visions of Karma Pakshi. 

Moreover, even though the root of all the lineages are the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, containing several different traditions such as those of sutra, tantra, and instruction, the Kagyü tradition is a lineage of the essential meaning. Thus, the profound instructions of means and liberation for attaining Buddhahood within a single lifetime, which are the core of Buddha’s teachings are not only preached, but are actually put into practice, leading one to attain the qualities of realization and arrive at the heights of spiritual accomplishment. Furthermore, since such means are given completely with experience, instructions, and blessings to the disciple as if emptying one vase into another, there has been an uninterrupted stream of accomplished masters.

In that case, you might wonder, based on what profound means and genuine path did such sublime accomplished Kagyü masters arrive at the heights of spiritual accomplishment? With this being a living history spanning two-thousand years, it is connected to a profound successive lineage that has spread the true essence of the Buddha’s spiritual tradition throughout the world. 

Moreover, this tradition of the Kagyü, which possesses the profound views and practices for attaining Buddhahood in a single lifetime, the excellence of means and liberation, emerged in the world due to the great masters of the Kagyü such as Tilopa, Naropa, and the protector of beings Saraha. These masters of attainment emphasized above all the essence of the Buddha dharma from among all the teachings of the greater and lesser vehicles that our teacher the Buddha taught in accordance with the mental capacity of his disciples, and in doing so practiced in accordance with the oral instructions. Given that this spiritual tradition focuses mainly on engaging in the essential practices, it is also referred to as a practice lineage or a tradition of ultimate transmission. 

The master of attainment renowned as the forebearer of this lineage, Tilopa Sherab Zangpo, not only received as his distant transmission all the profound teachings from the gurus of the four instructions, as if they were poured from one vase into another, but also received the profound instructions on means and liberation from the actual Buddha Vajradhara as his near transmission. From there, he spent twelve years in practice with chains on his feet, and thus all the qualities of renunciation and realization were replete in his being, leading him to liberate twelve-hundred thousand towns.

As for his disciple, Naro Jñāna Siddhi, even though he was a scholar of the five topics of scholarship, he did not have any spiritual attainment. Thus, when he later met Tilopa he took him as his guru and endured the twelve great hardships and so forth. Thereby he gained spiritual attainment and became a great Yogin who ascended to the heavens in rainbow body. 

His student was Marpa Lotsawa, and from him came Milarepa, Gampopa, as well as the successive incarnations of the Karmapa lineage, the Tai Situ lineage and so forth, appearing in the world as a continuous range of golden mountains transmitting the ultimate truth, and thus this lineage of the essential meaning known as the Victorious Kagyü became widespread. 

With this spiritual tradition there have been an incalculable number of spiritually adept masters throughout the regions of China and Tibet. Thus, as Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche himself has said, “The peak of spiritual views is Mahamudra, which is the high-point of all paths and spiritual systems.” Likewise, the most excellent, unsurpassed, and incomparable of all the spiritual traditions and vehicles of the Buddha’s teachings is none other than the sacred teachings of Mahamudra. Therefore, we may rejoice in the fact that we have been fortunate enough to be able to form a connection with such a profound tradition. 

Currently, the seventh Mingyur Rinpoche with whom we are familiar, Karma Gyurmé Tegchok Tenzin Chöjé Chok, at thirty years of age while staying in the retreat center at Palpung Sherab Ling monastery, directly received teachings such as the profound path of Mahamudra and the six dharmas of Naropa in a complete manner as if emptying one vase into another, from the likes of Jamgön Dorjéchang Tai Situ Rinpoche and Ripa Seljé Rinpoche. Thus, he remains a great upholder of the Victorious Kagyü lineage, the lineage of ultimate transmission.

Furthermore, when Rinpoche was just nine years old, his father the spiritual protector of beings Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche directly bestowed upon him the entirety of the experiential instructions of Mahamudra and Dzogchen in accordance with the requests his mother made for the transmission of the meditation instructions. Likewise, he received all the general instructions of Dzogchen—fundamentally via the oral transmission of Ngakchung—as well as the unique single recipient transmission from the supreme holder of the Nyingthik lineage, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Thus, the entirety of the lineage of both Kagyü and Nyingma exist within the Tergar lineage.