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The Lamp That Enlightens Narrow Minds: The Life and Times of a Realized Tibetan Master, Khyentse Chokyi Wangchug
The Lamp That Enlightens Narrow The Life and Times of a Realized Tibetan Master, Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug presents an engaging account of the life of Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug, a realized Tibetan tulku (reincarnated lama or teacher). The book's historical references provide a detailed portrait of Tibet on the verge of invasion and occupation by Chinese forces in the decades leading up to 1959 when Chinese repression led the Dalai Lama to take refuge in India.
Narrated by Chökyi Wangchug's nephew, author and international Tibetan teacher Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, this inspired biography describes the extraordinary events of Chökyi Wangchug's life during this momentous period in Tibetan history. Born in 1909 in a valley south of Derge, an ancient center of Tibetan culture, Chökyi Wangchug was recognized at an early age as a reincarnation of a tulku and thus received Buddhist teachings from the greatest masters of the epoch . A privileged observer of his uncle's life, Namkhai Norbu reveals the complexity of Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy and the conflicts caused not only by Chinese forces, but also by people close to Chökyi Wangchug who had become members of factions motivated by bigotry and personal greed. Despite the difficulties he encountered, he maintained a state of equanimity and dedicated himself to a life of peace and compassion for all sentient beings. Ultimately tortured and imprisoned by the Chinese, he and two other realized Tibetan teachers passed away at the same moment while meditating.
Narrated by Chökyi Wangchug's nephew, author and international Tibetan teacher Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, this inspired biography describes the extraordinary events of Chökyi Wangchug's life during this momentous period in Tibetan history. Born in 1909 in a valley south of Derge, an ancient center of Tibetan culture, Chökyi Wangchug was recognized at an early age as a reincarnation of a tulku and thus received Buddhist teachings from the greatest masters of the epoch . A privileged observer of his uncle's life, Namkhai Norbu reveals the complexity of Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy and the conflicts caused not only by Chinese forces, but also by people close to Chökyi Wangchug who had become members of factions motivated by bigotry and personal greed. Despite the difficulties he encountered, he maintained a state of equanimity and dedicated himself to a life of peace and compassion for all sentient beings. Ultimately tortured and imprisoned by the Chinese, he and two other realized Tibetan teachers passed away at the same moment while meditating.
- GenresBuddhism
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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About the author
Namkhai Norbu
90 books95 followersChögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (Tib. ཆོས་རྒྱལ་ནམ་མཁའི་ནོར་བུ Chos-rGyal Nam-mkha'i Nor-bu) was one of the foremost 20th century masters of Dzogchen and lead Buddhist retreats through out the world. As a child he was recognized as the reincarnation of the great Dzogchen Master Adzom Drugpa (1842-1924) and later by the sixteenth Karmapa as a reincarnation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), the first Dharmaraja of Bhutan. (Dharmaraja in Sanskrit and Chögyal in Tibetan are both honorific titles meaning "King of the Teachings." Rinpoche is likewise an honorific meaning "Precious One.")
In 1960, following the deterioration of the social and political situation in Tibet, he moved to Italy on the invitation of the well-known orientalist Prof. Giuseppe Tucci. There, he contributed to giving a concrete stimulus to the spread of Tibetan culture in the West. After teaching Yantra Yoga in Naples for several years, in the mid-seventies he started giving Dzogchen teachings, encountering a growing interest throughout the West.
In 1960, following the deterioration of the social and political situation in Tibet, he moved to Italy on the invitation of the well-known orientalist Prof. Giuseppe Tucci. There, he contributed to giving a concrete stimulus to the spread of Tibetan culture in the West. After teaching Yantra Yoga in Naples for several years, in the mid-seventies he started giving Dzogchen teachings, encountering a growing interest throughout the West.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 20, 2012
I'm a fan of the namthar (life of liberation) genre of Tibetan literature. I am most interested in what the great masters practiced, under what circumstances and what the outcome was.
This namthar is strong on recountings of what transmissions the tulku received, gave, his miraculous deeds, what the politics were like around his recognition.
Given by enjoyment of knowing the details of what masters have practiced, I was a wee bit disappointed in the generic reporting of those aspects of this lama's life For example, at age 15 he completed an austere three year retreat in a cave practicing "the developing and accomplishing stages of tantric meditation." Well, nearly every three year retreat included Kyerim and Dzogrim, that doesn't really tell me much as a reader. He also had visions of Guru Rinpoche and discovered a Guru Rinpoche related terma during that retreat, but no juicy details were forthcoming.
This lama did two more years of retreat, and intermittent retreat thereafter, and was uninterested in wealth and monastery politics. However, politics and responsibility chased after him as a high tulku.
Interestingly, he engaged in dark retreat after his miraculous feats already indicated he was on the Boshisattva bhumis.
There are some great treasure revelation stories here.
Note to Nook readers--this book contains photographs, so if you don't have a color reader you may want to look at it on your computer or ipad.
This namthar is strong on recountings of what transmissions the tulku received, gave, his miraculous deeds, what the politics were like around his recognition.
Given by enjoyment of knowing the details of what masters have practiced, I was a wee bit disappointed in the generic reporting of those aspects of this lama's life For example, at age 15 he completed an austere three year retreat in a cave practicing "the developing and accomplishing stages of tantric meditation." Well, nearly every three year retreat included Kyerim and Dzogrim, that doesn't really tell me much as a reader. He also had visions of Guru Rinpoche and discovered a Guru Rinpoche related terma during that retreat, but no juicy details were forthcoming.
This lama did two more years of retreat, and intermittent retreat thereafter, and was uninterested in wealth and monastery politics. However, politics and responsibility chased after him as a high tulku.
Interestingly, he engaged in dark retreat after his miraculous feats already indicated he was on the Boshisattva bhumis.
There are some great treasure revelation stories here.
Note to Nook readers--this book contains photographs, so if you don't have a color reader you may want to look at it on your computer or ipad.
January 22, 2018
It was hard for me to follow with all the different complex but similar names, especially different names for the same person. I think I could have used a reference map to track the who is who.
I also had the strange reaction of losing faith in the practices after reading this. It says he was a realized Tibetan Master, but it seems like it was assumed he was born realized, in which case I am not sure what he was doing here, besides teaching. It appears there were miracles associated with him, but I am not really impressed by miracles. I would have liked to get a sense of what his state of mind was. Since I was not born realized, I am not sure how his life and times apply to me. I prefer to read about people that practiced and realized something. It seems like he did a lot of retreat time, but it wasn't clear if he realized anything during his retreats. I also like to read what people actually did to become realized.
This book does give a historical account of Tibet and a glimpse at politics. It would be a great read for people interested in those things.
I also had the strange reaction of losing faith in the practices after reading this. It says he was a realized Tibetan Master, but it seems like it was assumed he was born realized, in which case I am not sure what he was doing here, besides teaching. It appears there were miracles associated with him, but I am not really impressed by miracles. I would have liked to get a sense of what his state of mind was. Since I was not born realized, I am not sure how his life and times apply to me. I prefer to read about people that practiced and realized something. It seems like he did a lot of retreat time, but it wasn't clear if he realized anything during his retreats. I also like to read what people actually did to become realized.
This book does give a historical account of Tibet and a glimpse at politics. It would be a great read for people interested in those things.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews