the later spread of buddhism in tibet 367
that they had only survived on Tibetan soil, having been introduced by
the early translators based on the last existing copy—this was also his
explanation for why this textual tradition was completely unknown to
the protagonists of the “later spread”. Rong-zom chos-kyi bzang-po also
wrote a chos-’byung centred on the transmission of the “old tantras” by
family lineages of tantric lay-practitioners from Padmasambhava down
to his time.^53 The development of a distinct rNying-ma-pa philosophy
reached its peak with the literary activity of Klong-chen rab-’jams-pa
(1308–1364). Another important event in the early history of the school
was the foundation of the rst rNying-ma-pa monastery of Ka -thog
in Derge (Eastern Tibet) in 1159.^54
Next to texts transmitted in unbroken tradition since the “earlier
spread”—rNying-ma-pas call these texts bKa’-ma tradition—they rely
on a second source of authoritative scriptures, the so-called gter-ma
tradition. gTer-ma literally means treasure. These treasures are texts
believed to have been concealed by Padmasambhava and others during
the “earlier spread”, because these masters of old noticed that Tibetans
were not yet mature enough for certain teachings. These were after-
wards rediscovered by special people, who are believed to have a karmic
disposition to nd these hidden texts. Most gter-stons (treasure nders)
were commonly regarded to have been disciples of Padmasambhava in
a previous life. The perhaps best known gter-ston was O-rgyan gling-pa
(1323–1360), who discovered the famous “Tibetan Book of the Dead”
(Bar-do-thos-grol) among many other texts. Collections of rNying-ma-pa
texts are numerous and usually voluminous. Generally each of the great
rNying-ma-pa monasteries of Central and Eastern Tibet is associated
with the transmission of a speci c collection. Most important is the
exceedingly large collection of the rNying-ma-rgyud-’bum, the “100,000
old tantras”. The rNying-ma-pas group their tantric literature similarly,
but not identically to the tantra-classes of the “new schools”.
By form and contents the “old tantras” differ considerably from the
“new tantras” that were translated to Tibetan by the protagonists of the
“later spread”. Disputes between both parties could obviously therefore
(^53) The text itself is lost, but numerous citations are contained in chos-’byungs dating
from the twelfth century onwards (cf. Germano 2002, pp. 226ff.). Rong-zom chos-kyi
bzang-po already wrote his texts in an atmosphere that demanded a defence of the
rNying-ma tantras against a growing tendency of doubts about their authenticity (cf.
Karmay 1988, p. 13).
(^54) For a history of the abbots of this monastery, see Eimer 1978 and 1982.