ABSTRACT
Theory in religious studies is bound up with the concept of transmission, because, in order to understand a religion, it is necessary to examine its development over time. Although Buddhism was first introduced by Songtsen Gampo, the first transmission is associated with the actions in the 8th century of King Trisong Detsen who, together with Padmasambhava, founded the Buddhist monastery Samye, and established a series of teachings which came to be known as the Nyingma tantras. The second transmission saw a number of practitioners journeying to India in order to retrieve a variety of teachings which took the form of texts, rituals, and yogic practices. Their transmission in Tibet was the essence of the foundation of the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelukpa schools in the 11th century. The transmission system of the Nyingmapa school also generated the specific role of the Treasure-discoverer, perhaps the most complex and developed use of the symbol of the jewel in Buddhism.
