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    A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan: Autobiographical Reflections
    A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan: Autobiographical Reflections
    A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan: Autobiographical Reflections
    Ebook143 pages1 hour

    A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan: Autobiographical Reflections

    By Thinley Norbu

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    About this ebook

    In this autobiographical narrative, Kyabje Thinley Norbu Rinpoche sets a magical scene as he describes his early years in "Snowland" (Tibet) as one of seven children of the renowned Nyingma master Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche. After touching on his youthful training and experiences, Rinpoche describes how he traveled and taught in many different nations and cities in the East and West. Shifting between poetic observations and earthy humor, he shares stories of worldly and spiritual events accompanied by incisive commentary and sublime prayers.

    Rinpoche’s stories give readers an appreciation of the qualities of faith, respect, and commitment that he so beautifully embodied and strove to transmit. Moreover, they impart some of his most direct and trenchant instructions on the view of Buddhism and on what practitioners generally—and Western ones in particular—need to do in order to accomplish the goal of the Buddhist path. His sometimes provocative teaching style is an expression of the deep kindness with which he regarded his students.

    The narrative is brought to life visually with many rare personal color photos of Rinpoche, his teachers, his family, and the places he lived. Much more than a memoir, this book is an articulate expression of Thinley Norbu’s incisive wisdom and profound compassion.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherShambhala
    Release dateJan 6, 2015
    ISBN9780834829893
    A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan: Autobiographical Reflections

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      A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan - Thinley Norbu

      MY FATHER IS THE EMANATION OF Blood-Drinking Islander, Subduer of Evil. In sublime histories, Blood-Drinking Islander is described as very wrathful, radiant, and splendid, with a fierce white beard and piercing eyes. He wore spiral conch shell earrings and dressed in the ancient, snow mountain great yogi’s style. His hair was tied up at the top of his head in a knot, symbolic of abiding in the great samadhi of Mahasandhi, with the rest loose and uncontrived by worldly custom; his clothes were white and uncontrived by other colors; and his unending natural mind was self-liberated and uncontrived by dualistic thoughts. He received teachings on the alphabet and language from beings with ordinary human form visible to general perception, but mostly he received wisdom transmissions from sublime beings through his personal pure perception of visions invisible to others. He kept a sky-iron kilaya symbolic of the four great wish-fulfillments, and tucked in his sash a sword symbolic of the wisdom weapon, and sometimes, when exorcising possessed beings, he would hit them with a ferocious strike of the back of the sword. Everyone was terrified of his fierce nature. He was always subduing demon-minded beings through his wrathful compassion.

      Before his death he said to his disciples, Now it is the unlucky degenerate age and there will be war with the enemies of Buddhism, so we should go to the Hidden Land of Lotus Ornament blessed by Padmasambhava’s sunlight feet. You go before me. I am an old man and I will follow slowly after you. Then many disciples left their country for the Hidden Land of Lotus Ornament, but before most of them reached their destination, he had passed into his next emanation form.

      Dudjom Lingpa (Blood-Drinking Islander, Subduer of Evil).

      My father’s name is Fearless Wisdom Vajra. He was born east of the Himalayas in the Hidden Land of Lotus Ornament, as his previous incarnation had predicted. His mother’s family came from Dragonland. When he was young, because of his graceful, androgynous appearance, it was sometimes difficult for strangers to recognize whether he was a man or a woman. He had long hair that was sometimes left loose and sometimes plaited, and he wore clothes in the Snowland ordinary yogi’s style, except during special ceremonies when he dressed according to the Vajrayana custom. He had many sublime teachers, including Empowered Changeless True Meaning, his previous incarnation’s disciple, who recognized him in this next incarnation. Extraordinarily gifted, he has organized many texts of treasure holders, especially those of his previous incarnation. From the time he was a teenager, profound hymns and songs came to him naturally that awakened readers like the self-sounding of Dharmata. The fingers of old intellectual scholars could not write meaningfully in this way even with their pens aimed in tight concentration just like seagulls waiting at the shore for fish who rarely come. He has written many shastras and given initiations and tantric teachings up to the Great Perfection. His disciples include a great variety of scholars, monks, nuns, laypeople, yogis, yoginis, and lamas, and cannot be numbered. Everyone is spoiled by his gentle nature, and he is always blessing fortunate beings through peaceful compassion and subduing demon-minded beings through exposing their dormant evil qualities. He has no certain, definite ideas, so he just echoes other beings’ demands and desires. He has no self-grasping judgment, so many self-seeking beings often misuse him as capital for their own self-promotion, just as there are many beings surrounding the Gandhola of Bodh Gaya and the Stupa of Boudhanath who do not have even one iota of faith, but are relying on these stupas to do their business.

      Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche (Fearless Wisdom Vajra).

      My mother’s name is Turquoise Lamp of Firm Life. She was born west of the Himalayas near the Great Ocean River of Offering and came from a renowned noble family named Family Branch of Front-Facing Fortress. During her youth in Snowland, it was the custom for aristocrats to marry aristocrats, but she was only interested in marrying a Buddhist teacher. She has great faith in many sublime beings including Buddha, Padmasambhava, Tara, and her root guru, Noble Priestess Yogini of Phenomena Space, who was an emanation of a sublime-crazy yogini named Sole Mother Lamp of Labchi, whose teacher, a wisdom saint named Sole Holy Buddha Father, said, One night I heart-whispered three words and she was liberated.

      My mother often tells wonderful tales and sad histories of awesome Bodhisattvas and saints. Her nature is unpossessive and eccentric, detached and untouchable. She is always worshiping, praying, and making offerings. She especially likes to make offerings with fresh water, and wherever she stays, she is always bringing water, filling empty pots with water, and scattering water everywhere. When it rains, even if she is only half dressed, she runs outside, holding cups to the sky to collect water for offerings. She is so much in love with water, she seems like the emanation of Mamaki.

      She prefers candles to electricity, and her house looks like a chicken coop because the floor is covered with thousands of drops of wax. Sometimes in the autumn, she can be seen climbing the fruit trees to pick fruit for offerings from her pure intention before they have dropped on the land. She avoids the people left to take care of her, saying that they prevent her from being free, and prefers to be looked after by careless youngsters because they let her do what she wishes. She likes to cook by herself, and has often burned her clothes when she took the pots off the stove with her sleeves and skirt. When we scold her and say, This is not according to correct worldly custom, or This is not according to correct Dharma custom, she answers, There is no meaning to correct worldly custom, so how can I act according to it? There is no substance to correct Dharma custom, so how can I act according to it?

      With Mayum Tseten Yudron-la (Turquoise Lamp of Firm Life), mother, and Phende Norbu Rinpoche (Jewel of Beneficial Well-Being), brother, in Sikkim.

      Semo Dechen Yudron-la (Turquoise Radiance of Great Bliss), sister.

      With Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche (Sun of Dharma), brother (left), in Tibet.

      Semo Pema Yudron-la (Lotus of Turquoise Light), sister.

      Many ordinary people think my mother is crazy and insult her, and many sublime beings say she is truly a wisdom sky-goer and praise her. She always loves, praises, and prays for each

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