Kama

The Nyingma Kama (wyl. rnying ma bka' ma), the Oral Transmission Lineage of the Nyingma, is together with the terma the two modes of transmission of the vajrayana teachings of the Nyingma School.

Kama is often referred to as the 'long lineage' (Tib. ring gyü), and terma the 'short lineage' (Tib. nye gyü) because the Kama is the oral transmission passed from master to master ever since the first appearance of a particular teaching. The terma teachings, on the other hand, were concealed by Padmasambhava and then revealed centuries later, so that there is a direct transmission from Guru Rinpoche to the tertön in question.

The Kama lineage consists of the unbroken oral lineage of transmissions related to the tantras of Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. In the seventeenth century Orgyen Terdak Lingpa and his brother Lochen Dharmashri gathered the Nyingma Kama texts and compiled them into a 58 volume collection in order to preserve them.