The Path of Compassion: A Biography of Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche — Part One: An Introduction to the Lineage of the Nyingma Tradition — Overview

If the nine vehicles of the Old Translation esoteric teachings of the Nyingmapa may be said to condense the essential meaning of the Buddhadharma, then the Sūtra Section of Dzogchen—called Kama in Tibetan—at the summit of the nine vehicles in sequence is the wish-fulfilling jewel among all treasures. This precious collection is a comprehensive treasury of knowledge compiled according to the ninefold sequence by Samantabhadra Buddha, the progenitor of Dzogchen who possesses the three lineages, and by the venerable vidyādharas. It is the most exceptional great Dharma of the Nyingmapa. It may be divided into three major classes: root tantras, liturgies, and commentaries. The root-tantra class contains the Sūtra Section, the Illusory Section, and the Mind Section. The liturgical class contains the thirteen great practice-and-offering liturgies. The commentarial class consists of treatises—the crystallized wisdom of great learned masters throughout the ages, as vast as the ocean.

All benefit, happiness, and well-being arise from the Buddhadharma, whose founder was Śākyasiṃha. After our teacher, Buddha Śākyamuni, attained perfect buddhahood at Bodh Gaya in India, he turned the Dharma wheel for the first time at Deer Park and taught the sacred teaching of the Four Truths; on Vulture Peak he turned the Dharma wheel for the second time and taught the wondrous Dharma of the Prajñāpāramitā, free of characteristics; and at Vaiśālī, the volcanic Mount Malaya, Oḍḍiyāna, and other places he turned the Dharma wheel for the third time, transmitting the definitive sūtric and tantric Dharma teachings.