Cantwell and Mayer have, since 1996, published four monographs on the ''rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum,
and have critically edited a number of its texts. Their work has established that the nine easily available extant versions fall into three distinct lines of descent. Thus, the four Bhutanese versions of Tshamdrag
, Gangteng-A
and -B
, and Drametse
form one line of descent, all from a Lhalung
original. The Rigzin
, Tingkye
, Kathmandu
and Nubri'' versions all hail from a common ancestor in South Central Tibet, but Kathmandu and Nubri are of a slightly different sub-branch to the Tingkye and Rigzin. Dege is unique in itself. Harunaga & Almogi (July 2009) hold that there are, at minimum, seven extant versions of the
Nyingma Gyubum of different sizes, ranging from 26 to 46 volumes in length.
Degé (Wylie: sde dge) Edition The
terton Ratna Lingpa (1403–1471) was important in the compilation of the Nyingma Gyubum's first evocation and
Jigmed Lingpa (1729–1798) built upon this compilation and it was published with the impetus of
Getse Mahapandita (1761–1829), one of Jigme Lingpa's disciples, through patronage of the royal house of Degé. Further to this, Rigpa Shedra (2009) hold that the Nyingma Gyubum: "...was first compiled by the great tertön Ratna Lingpa after similar compilations of texts made in the 14th century, such as the Kangyur and the Tengyur, had omitted many of the Nyingma tantras. It was first published towards the end of the 18th century under the guidance of the Omniscient Jigmed Lingpa, in Derge, thanks to the patronage of the regent queen
Tsewang Lhamo." Jigme Lingpa gathered
Nyingma texts that had become rare, starting with
Nyingma tantras held in the manuscript collection of the
Mindrolling Monastery. This collection of the Nyingma tantras led to the amassing of the 'Collection of Nyingma Tantras', the
Nyingma Gyübum (Wylie: ''rNying-ma rgyud-'bum'') for which Getse Mahapandita wrote the catalogue, proofread and arranged for its printing by soliciting the expensive and labour-intensive project of carving the wood blocks for the
block printing. The wood block carving was forded through the patronage of the 'Degé' (Wylie:
sDe-dge) Royal Family of
Kham who favoured and honoured Jigme Lingpa. Getse Mahapandita proof read the
Nyingma Gyübum. An admirable pioneering catalogue of this collection, including all titles, chapters and colophons, was made by Kaneko in Japan. Some years later, this was usefully rendered into a digital version by THDL.
Tsamdrak (Wylie: mtshams brag) Edition • Catalog of The Collected Tantras of the Ancients, Tsamdrak Edition @ THL Tibetan Literary Encyclopedia Anthony Hanson-Barber provided the first title and colophons catalog of this collection. His work was then expanded into a fuller catalog including chapter headings by the THDL team. Importantly, the
Kunjed Gyalpo is the first text in the Tsamdrak edition of the Nyingma Gyubum.
Catalog of the Master Edition Though not a true extant edition, the THL Tibetan Literary Encyclopedia under the directive of
Germano has distilled a Master Edition taking the above mentioned editions into account. • Catalog of the Master Edition of the Nyingma Gyubum @ THL Tibetan Literary Encyclopedia
Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition Cantwell, Mayer and Fischer (2002) in association with their partnerships document the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition of the Nyingma Gyubum. • The Catalogue of the Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum • The Rig 'dzin Tshe dbang nor bu Edition of the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum: An Illustrated Inventory
'Gangteng' (Wylie: sgang steng) Edition Cantwell, Mayer, Kowalewski & Achard (2006) have published a catalogue in English of this edition of the Nyingma Gyubum. ==Indigenous Himalayan discourse rendered in English: an emic narrative==