Bir, India, July 2021

Introduction: The Monkey Month

From the astrological point of view, the holy monkey month corresponds to the 5^th month of the Tibetan lunar calendar. Terdak Lingpa, his brother and the great fifth Dalai Lama all considered that the 10^th day of the 5^th month marked the anniversary of Guru Rinpoche’s birth in the Dhanakosha lake. The Lama Gongdu is an extremely sacred earth treasure that was revealed in Kongpo by the king of all tertöns, Rigdzin Sangye Lingpa. Within the thirteen volumes of the ‘Golden Dharma’ of the Lama Gongdu, we find stated that the monkey month corresponds to the 6^th month of the Tibetan calendar, hence the anniversary of Guru Rinpoche’s birth falls on the 10^th day of the 6^th month. Jigme Lingpa, the king of vidyadharas, then explained that Guru Rinpoche was actually born twice on the Dhanakosha Lake, on the 10^th days of both Tibetan months. Since then, all lamas celebrate the 10^th day of both the 5^th and 6^th Tibetan months as the anniversary of Guru Rinpoche’s birth.

Our monastery celebrates the 10^th day of the 5^th month with an elaborate practice of Tukdrup Gongpa Kundu, which includes cham dances and so on. We have already conducted this practice this year. To celebrate the upcoming 10^th day of the 6^th month, we have been performing a drupchö based on Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s mind terma called Rangjung Pema Nyingtik, and we will perform the cham dance on the 10^th day. This is my first point.

Termas: A General Presentation

Now the next point. When the teachings of the Buddha first spread in Tibet, the land of snows, they were still thriving in India—they were like the sun shining in the middle of the midday sky. It was a time when the teachings were fully flourishing and hadn’t begun to wane. When our teacher, the Buddha, came into this world and began to teach, he didn’t teach widely all teachings from the sutras and tantras. During his lifetime, his teachings only reached people living in the area around present-day Patna, in the Indian state of Bihar. From there they spread progressively: during King Ashoka’s reign, the dharma penetrated every part of India and started to reach many other Asian countries too. The dharma first appeared in Tibet during the reign of the Indian king Nyima Senge of the Pala dynasty. The ruler of Tibet at that time was King Songtsen Gampo, but the teachings didn’t gain a strong foothold then; it was only during King Trison Deutsen’s reign that the dharma was transmitted widely and fully throughout Tibet. At that time, one hundred and eight great Indian panditas, such as Guru Rinpoche, Buddhaguhya, Shantarakshita and Vimalamitra, came to Tibet. One hundred and one lotsawas, including Vairotsana, Kawa Paltsek and Chokro Lui Gyaltsen, then joined those panditas at the Garden of Translation in the compound of the spontaneously arisen, eternal and inconceivable temple of Samye. So the buddhadharma was disseminated across India, the land of aryas, to Tibet, the land of snows. They then spread a little further during Tri Ralpachen’s reign. The teachings that were transmitted during this period are now known as the Nyingma teachings.

In a nutshell, the Nyingma teachings are transmitted in three ways: through kama, terma and profound pure visions. Of these three, the two main sets of teachings are the kama and terma. The kama teachings are the dharma that the buddha taught and that spread in India, as well as the later teachings of the seven patriarchs, the six ornaments who adorn this world, and the two supreme teachers. They form the main body of teachings of both sutras and tantras. All these teachings were translated in Tibet and published in the collections known as the Kangyur (103 volumes) and Tengyur (over 200 volumes). Further teachings such as sadhanas were brought together in the Nyingma Kama and the Nyingma Gyubum collections. The lineage of reading transmissions, empowerments and explanations of these teachings is still very much alive.

The terma teachings appeared in later times, thanks to Guru Rinpoche’s compassion and enlightened activity. They are greater and even more profound than the teachings of other buddhas. “In what way are they greater?”, you may ask. The termas came into being as a result of Guru Rinpoche’s compassion and his aspirations. There are many different kinds of terma. When Guru Rinpoche was in Tibet he hid dharma treasures under the ground, almost everywhere—these are known as “earth treasures” whose purpose is to benefit beings to be tamed. He hid five great treasures in the four directions and in the centre. He also prophesied the succession of tertöns who would later reveal these termas.

He also hid “mind termas” which are even more special than earth termas. They are revealed when the wisdom mind of the tertön becomes inseparable from Guru Rinpoche’s wisdom mind, and the tertön receives his blessing. These tertöns, who are emanations of the twenty-five disciples, as well as incarnations of other great beings and masters, have the ability to reveal the termas that Guru Rinpoche hid within the expanse of his wisdom mind, since their minds have become indivisible with his. Once their wisdom mind becomes indivisible from Guru Rinpoche’s, Guru Rinpoche blesses them and the hidden terma is revealed. The tertön then masters all the dharma contained within the treasury of space. There are many such tertöns.

Termas also exist that are transmitted through “pure visions”. Guru Rinpoche in union with his consort, the great pandita Vimalamitra, and so on, appear to accomplished masters in visions. These masters meet them, hear their voice and receive the nectar of dharma from them; they are matured through empowerment and liberated by the instructions they receive. There are many pure vision teachings such as the twenty-five visions of the great fifth Dalai Lama.

“Re-concealed termas” are teachings that were revealed by a tertön but later hidden again (there are many different ways of hiding a terma) because there was a danger of them disappearing. These termas were destined to be re-revealed by a tertön in the future.

There are also “revelations from memory”—some tertöns come back as another incarnation, another tertön, who then remembers the termas that they revealed in their past life.

There is also the “hearing transmission”. Tertöns meet with Guru Rinpoche and Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal, who speak to them like two persons having a conversation. They grant empowerments, reading transmissions and all the special pith instructions without holding anything back. The tertön thereby receives full transmission.

In a nutshell, all Tibetan followers of Padmasambhava are extremely fortunate to have been blessed by his great kindness. Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye explained that we now live in a time when even more profound terma teachings on the lama Guru Rinpoche, Dzogchen, Avalokiteshvara, and the yidams of the Kagyé mandala, are available than during the time of Guru Rinpoche himself. In particular, the three sections of the Dzogpachenpo teachings, which were not widely available before, are now, in the time of the five degenerations, fully accessible. They still retain genuine lineages of transmission and enable practitioners to reach the rainbow body of great transference. Each terma contains the three complete sets of teachings on Guru Rinpoche, Dzogchen and Avalokiteshvara.

Terma teachings will be available in this world until Buddha’s regent, the Protector Maitreya, comes to ascend the high throne of the dharma. Therefore, termas are very special teachings that are part of the Nyingma tradition.

This concludes my general presentation of the terma teachings.

The Revelation and Lineage of Rangjung Pema Nyingtik

Many tertöns have graced this world with their presence. As is common knowledge, between the first tertön, Sangye Lama, and Chokgyur Lingpa, more than one hundred tertöns have appeared, and many other genuine treasure revealers have appeared since.

The terma that we are practising on this occasion is one of these extraordinary dharma treasures. I want to explain to you therefore the main factor that caused this terma to arise in the mind of its discoverer.

Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was giving the empowerments and reading transmissions for the Great Treasury of Precious Termas in Chime Drupe Gatsal, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s private chamber in the Dzongsar monastery. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Rabsal Dawa was present at that time and explained that while Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was giving the reading transmission for The Prayer in Seven Chapters, his recitation of the annotations between two prayers sparked the revelation of the Rangjung Pema Nyingtik in his mind.

The source of this terma is the inconceivable collection of teachings that Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Pema Ösel Dongak Lingpa received through the seven transmissions. Although he received the entire transmission of the Rangjung Pema Nyingtik, he was unable to write all of it down. However, to create the circumstances for the revelation of this teaching in the future, like a root or a seed, he wrote a short vajra song on taking all three root deities as the path[1]I haven’t seen a translation. The Tibetan title is rtsa gsum lam khyer rdo rje'i thol glu zab gsang sbas don gsal ba'i snang ba nyi zla'i sprin gyi 'jo sgeg., which appears in the two-volume collection of his spiritual songs.

The song speaks of Hayagriva, the root of all yidam deities, in union with Vajravarahi. On the crown of his head, Guru Rinpoche, in the form of the dharmakaya Vajradhara, sits on three stacked lotuses, and is surrounded by his eight manifestations on blossoming lotuses. At his heart is Guru Rinpoche Dorje Tötrengtsal surrounded by the Guru Tötrengtsals of the four families. At Hayagriva’s head, throat, heart, navel and secret place all the yidam deities appear in the form of the Kagye deities. The dakinis are at the navel and the dharma protectors, such as the protectress of mantras, Ekazati, are in the secret place. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s visionary poem is devoted to all lamas, yidams, dakinis and dharma protectors, and the Rangjung Pema Nyingtik cycle expands upon this song of realization.

Mind termas are even better than earth termas. All sorts of obstacles can obstruct the revelation of an earth terma—the tertön can make mistakes, be unable to retrieve it, or it can even be stolen. But there are no such problems with mind termas. All tertöns who receive a mind terma have become indivisible with Guru Rinpoche. The mind terma arises as the expression or power of this realization. So there can be no mistake, no obstacle. Every word and its meaning is expressed without fault and can be written down perfectly.

After Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche wrote down this terma, he showed it to Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. Chökyi Lodrö said, “The words and their meaning resemble the ancient termas; this terma is similar to one of Jamyang Khyentse Ösel Dongak Lingpa’s songs of realization which is devoted to all three root deities. This cycle should be spread and it should not be allowed to disappear.” He then requested the empowerment and reading transmission, which Dilgo Khyentse conferred upon him. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche also transmitted it to a few others, such as Surmang Trungpa. However, this teaching didn’t spread very widely in Tibet.

The text was lost during the great upheavals of 1958-59, when both Khyentse Dorje Chang Chökyi Lodrö and the omniscient lama Tashi Paljor had to seek refuge in India. Later in 1974 or 1975, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was giving the reading transmission for the Kangyur in Nepal, at Darzang Rinpoche’s monastery near the Baudanath stupa, at the request of Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche who had sponsored the event. After the transmissions, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche said they should go to Yangleshö in order to make a mandala offering. Trulshik Rinpoche offered gold and silver in his mandala offering and this auspicious act, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche later said, created the circumstance for the terma to arise in his wisdom mind.

He then stayed on retreat for seven days afterwards. Orgyen Shenpen—who later went to the US and has now passed away, who was probably a son of Tulku Orgyen—was attending Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche at that time. Early one morning, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche told him to wash his body well and to then come back. Orgyen Shenpen went down to find some water so he could wash. When he returned, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche told him to prostrate to him three times, which he did. Then he asked him to write down what he dictated. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche took empty sheets of paper from his practice book and handed them to Orgyen Shenpen. He then dictated the entire Rangjung Pema Nyingtik cycle in one go. He later gave the empowerment and reading transmission of this terma to Trulshik Rinpoche and some other lamas, and spread it widely. In 1985 or 1986, Adru Tulku found the original copy of the terma that had been left in Kham—it was identical with the one that Orgyen Shenpen had written down. Only the colophon was different. This present-day terma is quite long, which you’ll notice if you look at the text.

In any case, if you practise this terma and rely on the Vajra Guru mantra, just as you rely on your own breath, thinking unwaveringly of Guru Rinpoche—who is never separate from the beings of Tibet—praying to him continuously, he himself said that he will be there for you, just like the sun is always there, even when concealed by clouds.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the tertön who revealed this terma, is known by many names such as Pema Osel Dongak Lingpa, Gyurme Tekchok Tenpé Gyaltsen, Tashi Paljor and others. Many people received this transmission from him, including some of you. He gave it once in Bir. Even those of you who haven’t received it from him, must have received it from Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche or Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche who are the main holders of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s teachings. So only the tertön stands between Guru Rinpoche and us in the transmission of this profound terma, and it is unstained by any breakage of samaya. The lineage is exceptional and brings great blessings.

The mandala of the Rangjung Pema Nyingtik includes Guru Rinpoche as the lama, the Kagye Eight Sadhana of the Assemblies of Sugatas as the yidam, and Vajravarahi as the dakini, and the ‘brother and sister’ dharmapalas as dharma protectors. This is why it is called “gathering of the three root deities” and is compared to a wish-fulfilling jewel.

The Tertön—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche came into this world not so long ago, just over 100 years from now, taking birth in the Denkhok Valley in Derge. He wrote an account of his life story and there are many other biographies that you can read.

If we know something about the background of this practice, it will inspire our confidence and trust in it. For this reason, since we are now practising this terma, I thought it important to talk about him. The confidence this inspires will ignite our faith, and it is when we have faith that we can receive the blessings of the practices of approach and accomplishment, as well as the prayers that we make.

Therefore, who was this master? In times such as now when the five degenerations are on the rise, a lama with all the qualities of a spiritual teacher is, as Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö puts it in a prayer that he wrote in Bodhgaya, like a mere drawing of a butter lamp. The drawing of a butter lamp resembles the real thing but is unable to dispel darkness. Likewise, there are many lamas nowadays who are like an image of a real spiritual teacher. But that was not the case with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche displayed the three qualities of a teacher: learnedness, abidance by the teachings and kind heartedness. However unless lamas have high realization, they won’t be able to help their students. Even if they are extremely learnèd, realization is essential. It is the same with the second quality—even if they are extraordinarily disciplined and follow all the precepts and instructions, they must also be highly realized. Someone who is highly realized doesn’t always need to seem particularly learnèd or disciplined. So the main quality that a spiritual master needs is high realization.

Highly realized spiritual teachers are from the start naturally motivated by great compassion. All their activities are embraced by a compassion for all sentient beings—they are solely motivated to benefit them, whether directly or indirectly. A lama must be completely devoid of selfish aims. This great compassion that underlies all their actions comes from the realized master’s direct experience of emptiness. They have eliminated the obscurations that cover the ground continuum of buddha nature present in all sentient beings. They perceive all that appears and exists only as the play of the kayas and wisdoms. This is how a spiritual teacher should be. Such people have all the enlightened qualities of a buddha. As Jetsun Milarepa said, just their name alone can protect us from all the fears of a lower rebirth and of life in samsara. This is what happens when someone is truly realized. Therefore, a lama must be highly realized.

A highly realized master who is motivated by great compassion is not stained by selfishness of any kind. That is why their activities are without mistake. If someone who knows the qualities of such a master, who has studied the scriptures and has some small experience of realization themselves, checks out such master, no matter how long they stay with them—whether for one, two or more years, or even their whole life— they will only see their enlightened qualities more and more, and less and less their ordinary aspects. That’s what happens. Otherwise with ordinary lamas, if we stay with them for a long time, we end up seeing their faults more and more, and our faith gets weaker and weaker. We may not have developed confident faith or irreversible faith, but that initial inspired faith that we once had disappears. As human beings, we can’t help thinking and investigating, and our investigations inevitably lead us to see faults. But if the master is such that he has no fault, there is no shortcoming to see; if he has exhausted all imperfections and realized all qualities, we won’t end up seeing any faults in him.

What was Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche like? He was knowledgeable in all the minor sciences (astrology, mathematics, performance, poetry, orthography, grammar, synonyms, composition and so on) which served as the basis for his study of the ‘inner science’, or dharma. Concerning the dharma, he studied the five categories of teachings (prajnaparamita, madhyamika, abidharma, vinaya and pramana) and had a thorough knowledge of them all. He then travelled to different monasteries to continue his studies with various khenpos, and was awarded a certificate with a seal and signature to attest to his learning. His studies lasted for several years and he spent further time applying what he had learnt.

He began to teach at an elementary level, and was later enthroned as a khenpo and entrusted with the hat of the three pitakas.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was very different from the lamas who readily give empowerments (when there is a clear manual available), and who explain the tantras and instructions even though they haven’t spent so much as a month practising those teachings. I’m not talking here about meditating on the nature of mind, but just simply practising whatever teaching you have received before you transmit it to others.

We human beings can develop certain qualities through learning—that’s definitely possible. However, in the case of Khyentse Dorje Chang, he was already endowed with great wisdom from an early age. Still, since many faults can come from not following a teacher, he took to many gurus. In one of the prayers that he wrote, he says that he followed fifty-five different teachers. Whoever he studied with, he made a great effort to learn what they taught in detail, even though a simple indication of the meaning would have been enough in his case. He received Maitreya’s five treasures and Madhyamika teachings from Khenpo Shenga, and fully mastered all the general dharma teachings. At that time, the country of Derge in the Kham region of Tibet was graced with an abundance of learned and accomplished masters. Yet all the lamas acknowledge that with regard to the common teachings, the greatest of them all was Tulku Salga (Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche). Whenever he wrote something, a five-finger tall Saravasti would appear on the tip of his pen.

In any case, this is a relatively small feat that can easily be achieved through learning. He also had qualities that didn’t come from learning. For example, he received from the wish-fulfilling jewel, Batur Khenpo Thubga, the Secret Essence Tantra and its commentary, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions. Khenpo Tubga taught them to him three times in a row. Afterwards, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche could teach the Tantra and Dispelling Darkness from memory—he could remember all the words and their meaning flawlessly.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was very learned in the sutras and tantras. But compared to his other qualities, this is just a small one. He met Guru Rinpoche and the great pandita Vimalamitra in person, who gave him predications, infused him with confidence, became indivisible from him, and entrusted him with treasure prophesies. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche discovered many termas and in this respect was comparable to the great tertöns of the past. These great tertöns of the past were the likes of Nyang Ral Nyima Özer, Guru Chöwang and Ratna Lingpa, for example, who discovered many termas.

Not just anyone can discover a terma—it’s not that easy. In a past life, the tertön must have met with Guru Rinpoche, heard his words, and made prayers of aspiration. Later they become regents of Guru Rinpoche and amplify the benefit of the termas. They inspire sentient beings and have the power to liberate whoever sees, hears, or thinks of them.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was the regent of Guru Rinpoche and of Vimalamitra, and he was the reincarnation of Gyalse Lharje Chokdrup Gyalpo. He was truly a great spiritual master, not just in name or a pale reflection. He also was able to see directly and clearly who he was. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo would sometimes think of things from his past incarnations, such as when he was the dharma king Trisong Deutsen, Gyalse Lharje, or Ngari Panchen, to name a few. There was no separation for him—he would think that he still owned the possessions from those past lives, and would sometimes look for them. After talking to his attendants he would realize that they belonged to a past life, and not from this one. He was able to remember clearly everything he’d done in all his past lives.

His incarnation, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, wrote down the root tantra of Khandro Sangwa Kundu, a sadhana of Vajravarahi that was revealed by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. After seeing the yellow scroll (a palm leaf with Nagari script interspersed with Lentsa letters, now in the Khyentse labrang), Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo revealed the terma that Jomo Menmo Pema Tsokyi had already discovered but was later hidden again. Khyentse Wangpo wasn’t able to write down the tantra of this cycle because of its great secrecy. Then, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche had a pure vision in which he entered Chime Drupe Gatsal at Dzongsar, and found Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo sitting there. He told him, “If you do the recitation of the Lama Dechok Khorlo[2]A terma on the nirmanakaya aspect of Padmasambhava by Gyatön Padma Wangchuk, revealed as rediscovered terma by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, you should be able to write down the root tantra of Vajravarahi. It is important you do that.” When he shared this vision with Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö said, “That’s right,” and presented him the texts and empowerment of Lama Dechok Khorlo. During his retreat, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche revealed as a mind terma the root tantra of Khandro Sangwa Kundu, which Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo wasn’t able to write down.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s Tsasum Ösel Nyingtik, which is like the heart blood of billions of dakinis, and is even more secret than the most secret of teachings, is a terma cycle that contains two Vajrakilaya practices. The Phurba Drildrup wasn’t complete even in the original. So Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö told Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche to write it down. He said that he could see the text clearly but hadn’t written it down, so he asked Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche to do this, adding “Since we are the same”. So Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche completed the text from “4. Approach and Accomplishment…” down to the colophon.

Similarly, in the three weeks after Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa passed away, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo had a pure vision in which he went to the Lotus Covered buddha field in the west, a division of the pure field of Sukhavati, where he saw Chokgyur Lingpa presiding in the form of the great bodhisattva Pemé Nyugu. He received empowerments, sadhanas and instructions, which he then dictated to Jamgön Kongtrul who wrote them down at Dzongsar. But this terma was also incomplete as a few elements were missing at the end of the empowerment text, after “use a lamp…” When Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was requested to complete the text he was able to write it down without hesitation or needing to think about it, as if he were resuming the writing of something he’d started just a few hours ago. The text is in the Treasury of Precious Termas. All this shows that Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was the genuine incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo.

There are many incarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, but the supreme of all is Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The life of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo is beyond anything we can imagine. As it is said, “In Tibet, the land of snows, among all the great holders of the teachings, there has been none like Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo who came before him, nor will there be any after.” When Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima went to Lhasa, on the way from Trelung, someone pointed out the Dilgo estate to him. He later said he and his all party prostrated in its direction hundreds of times. “Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo was the master of all the teachings of the Victorious One on this earth; it was as if the Buddha came to the world”, he added.

So, the practice that we are doing now is a mind terma discovered by this great master who was Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s unerring incarnation, and who worked tirelessly to benefit sentient beings until his 82^nd year. He was not just a learnèd master, a diligent practitioner, someone who had visions and received prophecies from one or two yidam deities, or a yogi who had developed signs of his accomplishment of tsalung practice. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was far more than that.

In any case, he was inconceivably learnèd, as witnessed by his collected works. But he was not just learnèd—there are many learnèd people, especially nowadays when study is so prevalent. Anyone who studies will become learnèd. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was also highly realized. He was one and the same with Guru Rinpoche and Panchen Vimalamitra. His mind-stream was liberated within the wisdom of realization, he could lead all sentient beings to buddhahood, and mature disciples through the wisdom of empowerment.

The Rangjung Pema Nyingtik that we have been practising for many years is a mind terma revealed by this great being. We also practise the Nyaluk Phurba regularly, another of his termas. We have been very fortunate to be able to do these practices. Even if you were to meet Guru Rinpoche in person, he wouldn’t have a better teaching to give you than these.

It goes without saying that if you can spend time on the approach and accomplishment practices, you will experience the power of this terma. But even if you can’t do that, and simply offer tsok on the 10^th day based on this practice, just as we’ve been doing for the past five days, you will see the benefit. You should make sure during these practices to increase your faith and pure perception, and to pray to Guru Rinpoche and the tertön as being one and the same. If you do that, you will receive all the blessings and accomplishments mentioned in this text, without a doubt. You’ll see what I’m talking about if you look at the end of the terma text. There is no doubt about this—this teaching is undeceiving.

Therefore you should all realise how fortunate you are and rejoice greatly. You have obtained a precious human body endowed with the freedoms and advantages, and with all your faculties complete. You were born into a culture of dharma and live in a monastery as a monk—not just any monastery, but one where everyone has faith in the three Jamgöns and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and practises their termas to the best of their abilities. This can only be the result of great merit. It is your positive karma that brought you all this. As Buddha said,

When the time arrives—and even if a hundred eons pass—

Fruit is born of every act that sentient beings amass.

Karma basically is a power. You have accumulated positive karma in the past and when you practise these termas, thanks to your karma, you will again accumulate a positive karma that will stop the constant flow of negative karma in all your future lives, and lead you to be reborn in pure buddhafields such as Lotus Light where the lord of lamas, Tashi Paljor resides. And in his presence, in his close retinue, you will receive the prophecy of your impending great enlightenment.