Reflections on Pema Lingpa's Key to the Eight Principal Tantric Medicines, and its relevance today

Abstract

The category of the Eight Principal Tantric Medicines (sman rtsa brgyad) is ubiquitous in tantric sources, such as the regular medicinal cordial offerings (sman mchod) found in many tantric sādhanas. These substances form some of the key ingredients to be included in medicinal accomplishment (sman sgrub) practices, when sacred medicinal pills are compounded and consecrated in the course of a Major Practice Session (sgrub chen), conducted over a number of days. The category is referred to in early sources, such as in the works of the ancestral forefathers of the Nyingma school, the twelfth century Nyang ral Nyima özer (nyang ral nyi ma 'od zer) and the thirteenth century Guru Chöwang (gu ru chos dbang). In the revelations of the national saint of Bhutan, Pema Lingpa (padma gling pa, 1450-1521), we find a short pithy text relating to this classification: "A Key to the Eight Principal and Thousand Varieties of Medicines" (rtsa brgyad yan lag stong gi lde mig), which reiterates a revelation of the earlier Ratna Lingpa (ratna gling pa, 1403-1479). This article explores the text, and the themes which live on in later works and contemporary practice.</p