108 great tertöns

[yagmort]

is there a list of all 108 great tertons? i can not seem to find it.

[ratna]

https://dharmaebooks.org/tertons/

[yagmort]

thanks ratna

surprising Düdjom Lingpa is not on the list.

[Fortyeightvows]

maybe written slightly before his time ?

[yagmort]

imho unlikely, as both Chokgyur Lingpa and Jamyang Kheyntse Wangpo are there.

i don't quite get it if this list belongs to terma prophecies or Jamgön Kongtrul own creativity? if it's the latter case then perhaps he didn't include Düdjom Lingpa since he refused his termas be included in Rinchen Terdzö.. but that's just my uneducated assumption.

[Malcolm]

imho unlikely, as both Chokgyur Lingpa and Jamyang Kheyntse Wangpo are there.

i don't quite get it if this list belongs to terma prophecies or Jamgön Kongtrul own creativity? if it's the latter case then perhaps he didn't include Düdjom Lingpa since he refused his termas be included in Rinchen Terdzö.. but that's just my uneducated assumption.

There are many great Tetons not included in that list.

[yagmort]

so what is the origin of this hundred major/thousand minor tertöns?

[pemachophel]

The way I heard it is that Chogyur Rinpoche offered to include Dudjom Lingpa's termas in the Rinchen Terdzod but Dudjom Lingpa said no need, that where the Rinchen Terdzod was, there also would be His termas. Seems accurate so far.

[Tlalok]

so what is the origin of this hundred major/thousand minor tertöns?

IIRC, from reading Phakchok Rinpoche's "The Great Terton", the distinction between "Major" and "Minor" isn't a particular marker of value/quality but based on whether the Terton reveals certain classes of terma. I can't remember the specific details of what they are though.

[yagmort]

probably has to do with 7 transmissions.

quote from Blazing Splendour:

...Each major terton must reveal a minimum of three major termas: Guru Sadhana, Great Perfection, and Avalokiteshvara. In our time, Old Khyentse and Chokling were specifically endowed with seven transmissions...

in the book by Jamgön Kongtrül mentioned by ratna it is called "seven dispensation". to me it's not clear what first dispensation exactly is. looks like it is receiving teachings and empowerments in the their regular form from a qualified teacher and practicing them.

about Chokgyur Lingpa:

...As described in that and many similar prophecies, the two great tertöns — our lord guru Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the emanation of King Trisong; and Chokgyur Lingpa, the emanation of Prince Murub — each received the seven dispensations that are subdivisions of the three categories of profound dharma: kama, terma, and pure visions. Chokgyur Lingpa received most of the long lineages of kama — the first dispensation — that exist nowadays...

about Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo:

...Delighted by this experience,
Padma Ösal Dongak Lingpa supplicated Guru Rinpoche one-pointedly. His prayer enabled him to effortlessly obtain not only the well-known lineages, but even extremely rare ones, of the dharma of sutra and tantra, Sarma and Nyingma, kama and terma. He received their empowerments, instructions, and transmissions. He has practiced them and taught them. By doing so, he has revived the dying fire of the teachings. That is his first dispensation...

the second dispensation is earth terma, then
rediscovered terma (extension of earth terma)
mind terma
recollection (extension of mind terma)
pure vision
whisprered lineage.

so it seems getting all seven is what constitutes a "major terton".

[Malcolm]

probably has to do with 7 transmissions.

so it seems getting all seven is what constitutes a "major terton".

No, this was a unique quality of JKW.

[yeshegyaltsen]

The number 108 is purely symbolic in this case and actually in Tibetan they're usually referred to as the 100 Tertons (gter ston brgya rtsa) though some translators assume this implies 108. Kongtrul's biography collection is based on earlier similar collections as well prophetic lists of future Tertons, which by his time had already appeared. So he spends quite a bit of effort matching the prophetic verses with individuals he believed they foretold.

There's 215 individual entries in his bio collection, though some of those refer to groups of individuals and some to people who were the source of close lineages related to pure visions and not necessarily treasures. Out of those 215, 165 are represented in the most recent edition of the Rinchen Terdzo. The terma of the remaining 50 have apparently not survived.

As for Dudjom Lingpa, Kongtrul never received any transmission from him, so while that story sounds nice and certainly holds true, the Terdzo only includes revelations that Kongtrul had personally received and was thus able to transmit.