The Life of Longchenpa: The Omniscient Dharma King of the Vast Expanse

by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart (editor)

Renowned as a peerless teacher, practitioner, and scholar, Longchenpa thoroughly studied and mastered every one of the many Buddhist vehicles and lineages of teachings existing in Tibet at his time. Through his radiant intellect and meditative accomplishment, in both his teachings and written works, he was able to reconcile the seeming discrepancies and contradictions between the various presentations of the view and the path within the many lineages of transmission. His written works are also famous for being able to transfer true blessings just by reading or hearing his enlightened words. Compiled from numerous Tibetan and Bhutanese sources, including Longchenpa’s autobiography, and stories of his previous lives and subsequent rebirths, The Life of Longchenpa weaves an inspiring tale of wonder and magic, of extraordinary visions and spiritual insight, set in the kingdoms of fourteenth-century Tibet and Bhutan. It also reveals for the first time fascinating details of his ten years of self-exile in Bhutan, stories that were unknown to his Tibetan biographers.

Genres: Buddhism, Biography, Spirituality

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2013

About the author

Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, M.S.O.M., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (b. 1951) is the founder and director of the Healing Tao Institute.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is what the cover says it is. More specifically, this is a brief, non-academic biography cobbled together from various translated namthar, stories, and legends, mostly focused on Longchenpa's 14th Century life in Tibet and his self-exile to Bhutan, but also touching upon his previous incarnations—principally the daughter of King Trisong Deutsen, Princess Pemasal, to whom Pasdmasabhava is held to have entrusted the Khandro Nyingthig teachings ("the secret treasury of Dzogchen"), and the tertön Pema Ledrel Tsal, who subsequently revealed those teachings as earth terma in the 13th Century—and several subsequent incarnations, chief among which is the "tertön king" Pema Lingpa of 15th-century Bhutan.

Also included are overviews of Longchenpa's writings and an even more succinct bio of the 18th-century tertön Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, who revealed the Longchen Nyingthig teachings that unite the Vima Nyingthig of Vimalamitra and its scholarly approach with the Khandro Nyingthig of Padmasambhava and its more yogic approach, and from whom proceeds the renowned Khyentse line of tulkus—notably including Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Dilgo Khyentse, and Dzongsar Khyentse—as well as Patrul Rinpoche. A 26-page glossary of technical terminology is included at the back for those who are not well versed in the technical jargon of Tibetan Buddhism, and perhaps those who are used to alternative translation schemes; I found little of use there, but I have a 30-year head start.

Despite the fairly dry presentation typical of the genre, and the degree of epoché necessary to accept the more… er, supramundane events, I found this as useful as I usually do in terms of generating a greater connection to the figures whose teachings I study and practice, as I have been immersed in a close reading of Longchenpa's Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra for just over four years now. Having a greater sense of the man, even with the mythology surrounding him, helps his voice come through his (translated) writings just that much more clearly.

If you're looking for entertainment, or for a biography rich in detail and adventure, this probably isn't it. However, if you are like me in seeking something more along the lines of an answer to, "Who is the Longchenpa guy anyway, and why is he so famous and well-respected by so many Tibetan Buddhists, even outside of the Nyingma tradition?" then this may well fit the bill.