An Ocean of Blessings: Heart Teachings of Drubwang Penor Rinpoche

by Penor Rinpoche, Ani Jinba Palmo (Translator)

The first published collection of essential teachings by Penor Rinpoche, one of the most important Buddhist masters of the 20th century.

This inspiring work is the first available collection of teachings by one of the most well-known Nyingmapa masters of the twentieth century, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Ani Jinba Palmo compiled and translated this valuable collection of Penor Rinpoche's fundamental instructions for practitioners on the Vajrayana path. Coming straight from the heart and realization of this great master, these honest and clear teachings emphasize the indispensable foundations of loving-kindness, mindfulness, and simplicity needed to become a true yogi. Profound yet accessible, this work serves to remind Buddhist practitioners of the heart of the Tantric and Dzogchen traditions.

149 pages, Paperback

Published November 7, 2017

About the author

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche (Tib. པད་ནོར་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wyl. pad nor rin po che) or Kyabjé Drubwang III Pema Norbu (also known as Thubten Legshed Chokyi Drayang and Do-ngag Shadrub Tanzin Chog-las Namgyal) was the 11th throne holder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He served as the third supreme head of the Nyingmapas from 1993 to 2001. Having escapted the advance of the Chinese into Tibet in 1959, and receiving asylum in India, he went on to found Namdroling Monastery in 1963 near Bylakuppe, Karnataka state, which went on to become the largest teaching center of the Nyingma lineage in the world. There, Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche co-founded the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in 1978, where he remains one of the principal instructors of the nine-year shedra (Buddhist college) program.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been a direct student of Drubwang III, Kyabjé Penor Rinpoche, I am pretty sure that I may have been in the room from which many of these "fundamental instructions" were given, or at least ones that were indistinguishable from these. I do not know Ani Jinba (or, if I did, it was before she took the vows and changed her name, which I doubt), but her translations are clear and lucid, and retain the essence of Penor's voice—even though he does not generally teach in English, I could just about hear him as I read many of these, recalling the retreats in upstate New York over 20 years ago.

The instructions here make an excellent introduction to the Nyingma approach to Vajrayana in general, and the Palyul lineage—of which he was the eleventh throneholder—in particular, though only perhaps three of these brief teachings touch directly upon matters specific to that subsect, notably including the last regarding Migyur Dorje, whose terma teachings form the literal foundation of Palyul practice. The majority cover all of the uttermost basics of tantric Buddhism, common across the Nyingma lineages and mostly common to the "new" schools of Tibetan practice as well, though with some differences of view and terminology not herein addressed. If you are curious about Nyingma practice, you would have to look long and far to find a less overwhelming, more practically useful introduction cut into such bite-sized pieces.

On the other hand, if you are already a Palyul practitioner and have been for any significant length of time, you are not likely to learn anything new here at all. For such readers, the primary use of this text would be to touch in once again with the guru who is no longer directly approachable in the flesh.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ani Jinba Palmo's translation renders H.H. Drubwang Penor Rinpoche's basic Nyingma teachings in a readable and even conversational manner. Part One develops the basics of Vajrayana Buddhism according to the Nyingma understanding and what is necessary as preliminaries to Dzogchen, part two explains the practices that are somewhat unique to Vajrayana, and the last part is teachings on tantric ethics. More accessible than but largely overlaps with Words of My Perfect Teacher. H.H. Drubwang Penor Rinpoche was the third lineage holder of Nyingmapa, although it is important to note that Nyingmapa traditions did not have have a head before the Tibetan diaspora, the consolidation under thinkers like His Holiness has been largely along the lines presented in these teachings.

[The Sombre Nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing and insightful book that contained various interesting short stories of past buddhist masters, and important teachings and advices by His Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche.