SANGTER The Secret Treasure || Sujit Chakraborty

In mediaeval India, Buddhist masters of Nalanda University were looking for a synthesis between Mahayana Buddhism and Tantric practices which were first enunciated in the Vedas. It is around this time that a massively powerful Indian tantric named Padmakara, arrived in Nalanda to train in Buddhism. Later, Padmakara adopted the method that is known as Vajrayana Buddhism, and he went on to become the guru of the emperor of Tibet, and came to be known as Guru Padmasambhava, and a few centuries later, Second Buddha. Dorje Lingpa was one of the Five Terton Kings to be named by Guru Padmasambhava. A Terton is a revealer of ters, or those hidden prescriptions left behind by Guru Padmasambhava, for the salvation of mankind. These five were the preeminent leaders of Vajrayana Buddhism. In 1978, in a South Sikkim village a mother gave birth to a baby wrapped inside a sack. A neighbor helped cut the sack and bring out the boy, who, as he grew up, seemed uncontrollably notorious for his misdeeds. As he became older, his life became shrouded in mystery, and time revealed that he was Sangter Tulku-Dorje Lingpa’s reincarnation. A man who is himself the terton and the ter. Two friends, Sujit, a journalist, and Karma, a Sikkimese businessman-writer set out to bust what they felt could be a myth, or even worse, a marketing gimmick. Together they launch a no-holds-barred investigation, searching for the truth. But it is very tough to investigate a universally revered person. Is he genuine? For if that were to be true, then Sangter Tulku would be the only person in the entire history of Vajrayana Buddhism to be the terton who is himself the terma. Their journey is exhaustive and exhausting, but terribly exciting. So, did they find the truth? Is Sangter indeed the reincarnation of Dorje Lingpa?