Although hundreds or thousands of explanations are given,
There is only one thing to be understood –
Know the one things that liberates everything –
Awareness itself, your true nature.
- Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje
Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-1987) was one of the most important and impactful Buddhist masters of the past several centuries. He was recognized as the immediate reincarnation of Dudjom Lingpa three years after taking birth in the sacred land of Pemako, southeastern Tibet, to a noble family from the royal lineage of Powo. Extraordinarily peaceful in nature and inconceivably deep in spiritual learning and realization, Dudjom Rinpoche profoundly touched all fortunate enough to meet him, inspiring awe and pure devotion. He was refined, precise, gracious and dignified in all manners and activities. Many who met him, even briefly, experienced the penetrating clairvoyance of his wisdom mind.
Dudjom Rinpoche’s innate vast realization was accompanied by a formidable education. Regarding his training, Dudjom Rinpoche said, “I studied all the basic sciences –grammar, spelling, poetry, astrology, and medicine – as well as the Dharma texts and commentaries of Madhyamika, Prajnaparamita, the Five Treatises of Maitreya, the Bodhicharyavatara, the Three Vows, and more. I particularly respected the maturing and liberating tantras, their commentaries, and the profound instructions of the oral and Treasure teachings of the Nyingma tradition. These ranged from the thirteen great activities of a vajra master to the rituals of the various practice traditions, making and decorating tormas, dancing, drawing mandalas, chanting, and music. Without overlooking anything, I trained most diligently in all the practical details of the Vidhyadhara lineage.”
Crowned the Supreme Head of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism after leaving Tibet, Dudjom Rinpoche tirelessly worked over the next several decades composing volumes of original scholarship including one of the most important works on the history of the Nyingma School existent today.
He also revised and edited the entire canon (kama) of the Nyingma School, toiling away in the elegant simplicity of his residence at Le Pechardie in the Dordogne region of southern France. Like his predecessor, Dudjom Rinpoche had direct communication with wisdom deities who offered him his own share of secret and transformational Treasure teachings and practices. The twenty-seven volumes of his writings and revealed Treasures, combined with Dudjom Lingpa’s collection, comprise the Dudjom Tersar.
