Rinchen Terdzo Preface

Preface to the Shechen Edition of the Rinchen Terdzö Chenmo

The Rinchen Terdzod Chenmo is the largest of the Five Treasuries that Jamgon Kongtrul the Great ('Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, 1813-1899) compiled throughout his life. This extraordinary collection is comprised of the main Rediscovered Treasures (gter ma) of Tibetan Buddhism and the texts necessary to bestow the related empowerments and explanations to practice them. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo traveled for thirteen years throughout Central and Eastern Tibet in order to collect the texts and receive the transmissions for the many lineages that had become almost extinct and held by only a few people. The actual redaction and editing of the Rinchen Terdzod was done by Jamgon Kongtrul at the monastery-hermitage of Dzongsho Deshek Dupa, a secluded mountain retreat located between Dzongsar and Kathok, where Khyentse Wangpo had revealed a set of termas related to the Eight Herukas (grub pa bka' brgyad)." Wooden-blocks were then carved at Pal pung Monastery creating a 60-volume edition. From this edition another set of wooden-blocks was carved at Tsurphu Monastery with three additional volumes. These three included the 'dod 'jo'i bum bzang, which was compiled by Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje (1646-1714) and is considered to be the "seed" of the Rinchen Terdzo, the autobiography of Jamgon Kongtrul, and the root text of Chogyur Lingpa's Lamrim Yeshey Nyingpo with a detailed commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul.

During his lifetime, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991) gave the transmission of the Rinchen Terdzod five times and had the collection reprinted in India. In this 1976-1980 "Thimphu Edition", Khyentse Rinpoche included the four volume written by the XVth Karmapa Khakhyap Dorje (1871-1922), which contains complementary texts that are indispensable for giving the numerous empowerments (around 1700) found in the Rinchen Terdzod. He also included a few volumes that, according to the indications give by Jamgon Kongtrul himself, should have been added to the original collection. These are Chogyur Lingpa's Dzogchen Desum, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's Tsasum Osel Nyingthig, and Jedrung Trinley Jampa Jungney's Pema Sangthig. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche himself gathered three volumes of supplementary texts to be inserted at the appropriate places in the collection. These contain lineage prayers, texts for giving empowerments, manuals for recitation practice, and so on.

Thus, this edition consisted of 70 volumes. It was printed in Delhi, India, by Khyentse Rinpoche's treasurer, Lama Ngodrup, and his team. It was published thanks to the matchless support of E. Gene Smith and the United States Library of Congress. Since the Library of Congress did not commission volumes containing more than 600 pages, the Thimphu Edition was skillfully divided into 111 volumes for use in foreign libraries, and rearranged into the original 70 volumes for the use of monasteries. Five hundred sets were distributed by Khyentse Rinpoche - more than half for free - to monasteries, lamas, and practitioners. The transmission of the whole cycle of these teachings could then be given in several occasions to thousands of lineage holders and disciples. This collection is in nearly thirty university libraries throughout the world. At the outset Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche had wanted to use prints from the original Palpung edition. However, only one set of prints of this edition existed outside Tibet, at the Institute of Tibetology in Sikkim, and at that time it was not available for reproduction. Therefore, Khyentse Rinpoche used the Tsurphu edition, which was available in India. Since many of the prints of this edition were not clear enough for direct reproduction by photo offset, a group of Tibetan and Bhutanese copyists traced most of the volumes using semi-transparent tracing paper which created some additional mistakes. Consequently the edition was not up to the standard that Khyentse Rinpoche had wanted to achieve, even though it served a most beneficial purpose. This edition has been out of print for more than ten years.

We therefore felt that it woutd be an appropriate fulfillment of Khyentse Rinpoche's vision to prepare a new edition based on the Palpung prints. We used a reproduction (printed in Chengdu) of a set of Palpung prints kept in the Nyarong province of Kham in Eastern Tibet. For the last 30 volumes, we also used an additional set of scans of the Palpung prints that we were able to make at the Namgyal Institute Library in Sikkim thanks to the kind support of its director, Burmiok Rinpoche. Whenever we found unclear prints and doubtful readings, we consulted our former edition. We also had a set of wooden blocks newly-carved at the Great Printing Press of Derge in Kham under the inspiration of Pewar Rinpoche. These prints were kindly provided by Tulku Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche.

The main challenge of such a project is indeed the proofreading of the texts, which is a never ending task. For the first step of this process, each volume was inputted twice by two different typists and the two versions were compared electronically to highlight the smallest difference between the inputs. These differences were then corrected to match the original text. This eliminated practically all typing mistakes. However, occasionally both typists may have read incorrectly the same unclear sections of the wooden-block prints. Another difficulty was that the original had mistakes created during the many steps involved in the preparation of the wooden blocks. Therefore, a second and a third round of proofreading were carried out successively by Ven. Tulku Rigdzin Pema Rinpoche and by Ven. Dagpo Tulku Rinpoche, each of whom dedicated two years to this demanding task. It is very difficult to find qualified scholars who can commit themselves to such a long-term project, and we are extremely grateful to both .of them for their deep commitment and diligent work. We also welcome expert readers who can bring our attention to any remaining errors, so that we may continue to improve the digital version of this precious collection, which will be available to all on CD for a nominal cost. We also warmly thank all those who worked very hard for the double input, comparison and checking of the 70 volumes: Samten Dorje, Sonam Wangpo, Ugyen Phuntsok, Tsewang Rigdzin, the late Tenzin Gyaltsen, Perna Tsechok Dorje, Do-ngak Tenzin, Karma Tenzin, Tenzin Wangpo, Lopon Amdo Temphel and the Lopons of Shechen College, as well as Kongchog Lhadrepa, the head master of our Tsering Art School, who kindly drewt.he illustrations and· calligraphed the Dakini scripts, and Samdrup Tshering, in charge of Shechen Publications, who was responsible for all the printing work in Delhi. We are indebted to Tony Duff for most kindly proving his TibetDoc software that has been essential for realizing this work and for accomodating our many requests.

Especially, we are deeply appreciative of the generous and continued support of the Tsadra Foundation, which fully sponsored the input, proofreading, and printing of this new edition. This edition could never have come into existence without its invaluable help.

Thus, it is a great joy for us to present this new Shechen Edition of the Great Treasury of Rediscovered Teachings. May its merit be dedicated to the benefit of all sentient beings, to the perpetuation ofthe Dharma, which is the source of all temporary and ultimate happiness, to the long life and compassionate activities of all the great holders of the Buddha's teachings, and especially to the flourishing of the beneficial activities of the ~ reincarnation of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Yangsi Rinpoche, Ugyen Tenzin Jigme Lhundrup,

Shechen Rabjam and Matthieu Ricard

Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu, Nov. 2006