Tertön

Tertön (Tibetan: གཏེར་སྟོན་, Wylie: gter ston ) is a term within Tibetan Buddhism. It means a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or terma. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava. A vast system of transmission lineages developed. Nyingma scriptures were updated by terma discoveries, and terma teachings have guided many Buddhist and Bon practitioners.

Prominent tertöns

According to generally accepted history, the rediscovering of terma began with the first tertön, Sangye Lama (1000–1080). Tertöns of outstanding importance were Guru Chowang (1212–1270), Rigdzin Gödem (1307–1408), Dorje Lingpa (1346–1405), Ratna Lingpa (1403–1478), Pema Lingpa (1450–1521), Namchö Mingyur Dorje (1645–1667), and Jigme Lingpa (1729–1798), Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892) and Orgyen Chokgyur Lingpa (1829–1870).

Throughout the centuries many more people were known as tertön. Five of them were widely recognized as very important ones and called the "five tertön kings:"