Terma
Terma are spiritual treasures, including sacred teachings, ritual texts, and material objects such as statues, ritual implements, and sacred substances, concealed primarily by Guru Rinpoché and Yéshé Tsogyal. Termas can be hidden both in the earth and within the mind streams of their direct disciples, to be revealed at the destined time by tertöns, or "treasure revealers." While the vast majority of termas were concealed by Guru Rinpoché and Yéshé Tsogyal, some teachings were also hidden or re-concealed by other accomplished masters, including their direct disciple Vairocana and his subsequent incarnations, as well as by the great Indian scholar and sage Vimalamitra in the ninth century. Within Düdjom Lingpa's Tröma Nakmo revelations, the termas stemming from Saraha and Machik Labdrön are particularly important.
Since the early 8th century, Tibetans and Himalayan people have treasured "Namtars" as written or spoken narratives that demonstrate the realization of the Buddhist path by exceptional practitioners. These namtars, or spiritual biographies, serve as inspirational guides on the path to enlightenment.
Today, Namtars Foundation aims to record, preserve, and freely offer the world a written and electronic treasury of the oral wisdom of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism.
