About Namchö Mingyur Dorje

Namchö Mingyur Dorje was an important tertön or "treasure revealer" in Tibetan Buddhism. His extraordinary "pure vision" revelations, which mostly occurred around the age of 16, are known as the Namchö (Wylie: gnam-chos "Sky Dharma" terma. He first transmitted these to his teacher Karma Chakmé, the illustrious Buddhist scholar of the Kagyu school, who wrote them down. The collection of his revelations fill thirteen Tibetan volumes and are the basis of one of the main practice traditions of the Palyul lineage, a major branch of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was considered to be a reincarnation of Palgyi Senge of Shubu, one of the ministers the 8th-century Tibetan King Trisong Detsen sent to invite Padmasambhava to Tibet. He recognized Kunzang Sherab as the Lineage Holder of the Namchö terma. Loden Chegse, one of Padmasambhava's eight emanations, had a vision which helped him learn to read and write. At age 7, his Dakini visions helped focus on reliance upon the lama. At age 10, after a vision and with a Dharma Protector's help, he met his root lama Karma Chagme. Karma Chakmé recognized him as manifestation of Padmasambhava, Senge Dradok. Mingyur Dorje revealed the Namchö treasures at age thirteen, which were written down with Karma Chakmé's help while they stayed in retreat together for three years.