Sarma
The term Sarma ( Tibetan གསར་ མ, transcription after Wylie gsar ma ) refers in Tibetan Buddhism to the schools of the New Translations ( 11th century ) of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan , in contrast to the " school of old translations " ( 9th century ) . Century ) and the Bon . The first school of New Translations in Tibet was the Kadam tradition. Later, the term Sarma was applied as a collective term to the Kagyu , Sakya and Gelug schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The first translator of Sarma texts was Lochen Rinchen Sangpo (Tib .: lo chen rin chen bzang po ; 958-1055), a student of Atisha .
Sanskrit texts of the root tantras
The tantric scriptures of the existing Sarma traditions today include the Guhyasamaja , Chakrasamvara , Hevajra , Yamantaka , Vajrayogini and Kalachakra tantra. But also the practice of Vajrakilaya , originally a tantra of the old school , is now taught in the new schools. A characteristic of all these tantras is the existence of a Sanskrit original of the respective root tantra, which cannot be proven for all tantras of the old school. The fragment of the original root tantra on Vajrakilaya was discovered relatively late by Sakya Pandita as a hidden treasure text which still contained Guru Rinpoche's handwritten notes on this tantra.
Different tantra classes
A new translation of the tantric scriptures already transferred in the first translation phase, from which the Nyingma school developed, did not take place. There is therefore a difference between the Nyingma tantric transmission system, which is based on six tantra classes, and that of the Sarma schools, which is based on four tantra classes. The different types of anuttarayoga tantra of the Sarma tradition are related to the inner tantras of the Nyingma tradition, and over the centuries there has been a lively exchange of tantric transmissions between Nyingma and Sarma.
Outer tantras
This is one of the outer tantras of all schools
- Kriyatantra
- Caryatantra or Upayoga (Nyingma)
- Yogatantra
These were largely transferred during the first translation phase.
Inner tantras
The inner tantras on which the New Traditions of Translation focused are known as Anuttarayogatantra, these are divided into:
- Father Tantra (e.g .: Yamantaka and Guhyasamâja)
- Mother Tantra (e.g .: Chakrasamvara and Hevajra)
- nondual anuttarayogatantra (e.g .: Kalachakra)
The inner tantras of the Nyingma school are called: