- At the age of 19 Ngakpa Chögyam returns from his first sojourn in the Himalayas having been recognised as the incarnation of Aro Yeshé, a visionary Lama of the early 20th Century. He finds himself with two names, living in two radically different worlds. These worlds co-mingle in the ordinary and extraordinary which expectedly and unexpectedly characterise the hippie epoque. Experiences of profundity and absurdity; creativity and chaos; hilarity and hostility; alternate in a perceptual adventure — rich in whimsy and wonder.
Ngakpa Chögyam does not see his odyssey as a ‘spiritual biography’ because, as he writes: ‘I am not particularly spiritual.’ Nonetheless, he studied one-to-one with some of the most revered Lamas of the 20th century, including Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche Jig’drèl Yeshé Dorje. He also spent lengthy periods of time in solitary retreat both in the Himalayas and Britain.
This book provides an informative and intriguing account for any reader looking for direct insights into Himalayan Buddhism. Lively reminiscences, describe life candidly and honestly as it was lived for someone seriously devoted to Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche and the Nyingma Tradition. Lacking independent means however, he financed his studies and retreats with building-site labouring and long-distance truck-driving. It is a working class memoire.
Life in the early 1970s, could be picaresque. He embraced chaotic scenarios with grand naïveté and inadvertent aplomb — and scenes ensued which occasionally teetered on the edge of Fellini’s Satyricon. The Rabelaisian character of the 1970s notwithstanding, Vajrayana permeates each episode. Finally, Ngakpa Chögyam returns to the Himalayas.
This is not a typical history of a Trülku — but that of an artist, poet, and Bluesman, whom Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche advises “Never divide Vajrayana from the Western Arts you have practised — or insulate yourself from everyday life in your own country.”