Vimalamitra (in Sanskrit) (Chinese: 無垢友 (pinyin: Wúgòuyǒu); Tibetan: དྲི་མེད་བཤེས་གཉེན་ (Drime Shenyen, Wylie: Dri-med Bshes-gnyen)), an 8th century Indian adept, is key to the history of Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen practice. He lived equally in China, Oddiyana and Tibet, but was known as the "Sage of Kashmir". According to tradition, he was born in Western India and travelled to South India to become a disciple of Shri Singha. He was also a student of Buddhaguhya. He was invited to Tibet by emissaries of King Trisong Detsen where he established himself as a teacher and translator of Dzogchen texts and an important teacher within what centuries later came to be known as the Nyingmapa.

"Drime Shenyen" (Tibetan: དྲི་མེད་བཤེས་གཉེན་, Wylie: dri med bshes gnyen) and in devotion by the contracted "Vima" (Tibetan: བི་མ, Wylie: bi ma). Orthographic renderings of the Sanskrit differ eg. Vimilamitra and Vimalamitra.

Gyatso (1998: pp.153-154) relates how the Seventeen Tantras though not considered treasure (Wylie: gter ma) proper share in the treasure tradition as they are associated with literature first transmitted in the human realm by Vimalamitra (fl. 8th century) whose disciple, Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo, concealed them subsequent to Vimalamitra's journey to China, particularly Mount Wutai, for later discovery by Neten Dangma Lhungyal in the Eleventh Century:

Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche Tibetan: པདྨ་ནོར་བུ་, Wylie: pad ma nor bu (1932 - March 27, 2009) was the 11th throne holder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and said to be an incarnation of Vimalamitra. He was widely renowned in the Tibetan Buddhist world as a master of Dzogchen. He was one of a very few teachers left from his generation who received all his training (in the traditional sense) in Tibet under the guidance of what Tibetan Buddhists consider to be fully enlightened teachers.

The Third Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche, Thubten Lekshed Chokyi Drayang, also known as Do-ngag Shedrub Tenzin Chog-lei Namgyal was born in 1932 the year of the Water Monkey, in the twelfth month, in the Powo region of Kham, East Tibet. He was recognized in 1936 by the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche (Thubten Chokyi Dorje) and Khenpo Ngaga Rinpoche (also known as Khenchen Ngagi Wangchuk, Ngawang Palzangpo, or Khenpo Ngagchung). Pema Norbu was formally enthroned by his root teacher, Thubten Chökyi Dawa (1894–1959) the second Choktrul Rinpoche, and Karma Thekchok Nyingpo (1908–1958) the Fourth Karma Kuchen Rinpoche. He trained at the Palyul Monastery in Tibet, studying and receiving teachings from numerous masters and scholars, including the Fourth Karma Kuchen, the 10th Palyul throneholder.