Lord of the Dance
Chagdud Tulku Lama
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 Padma Publishing
ISBN: 1881847004

Autobiography of Chagdud Tulku Lama.

Son of Dawa Drolma, one of Tibet's most renowned female lamas, Chagdud Rinpoche was recognized early in life as a “tulku”, or incarnation of a realized master, and was rigorously trained by many great lamas.

Forced into exile by the Chinese invasion, his was the last generation to inherit the highest teachings & methods of Buddhism in Tibet.

This candid autobiography helps Westerners understand the astonishing culture that is bound up with Buddhist Vajrayana teachings.

His Eminence Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, a renowned & highly revered Vajrayana Buddhist Master, lived in exile in India & Nepal for two decades, serving his fellow refugees as both lama & physician. He came to the West in 1979 at the invitation of American students, & in 1983 established Chagdud Gonpa Foundation, which now has over 20 centers around the world.

Lord of the Dance is a rich & conversational autobiography of a multi-layered life, from the far reaches of the Himalayas, down to the lowlands & refugee camps, into both the jungles of nature & India's poor, until, finally, coming to America.

Here is a man, an incarnation, an entity, whose grasp of history is epic & who has walked a path few can comprehend. His memories encompass ideas, actions & deeds which take some getting used to, for they include places of mystery & grandeur, deeds of transcendental spirituality, & a horde of people, both enlightened & struggling.

Be prepared to read slowly, meditavely, as you follow this author along his long & winding road from conception on the Roof of the World to his recognition, at age three, as the incarnation of Tanpai Gyaltsan, the Chagdun Tulku; from mountain cities & Buddhist monastaries into retreats & escapes; on journeys fraught with travails few Western travelers can grasp, carrying little, hurrying from destruction toward his destiny, here in the West.

Read Lord of the Dance for the sheer adventure of a rare time & among a rare people. Notice the way the author describes things, especially his experience of awareness; listen to the voice tell the tales so unlike any in the West; hear the laughter & “see” the dreams, & your life will be enriched a thousandfold.

I had to let most of the peoples' names go, although the photos helped. I had to let the map go because it simply wasn't detailed enough. The Foreword by Ken Wilbur helped a lot, as did the Glossary. However, above all else it is the Voice of the Lord of the Dance, which has been captured for all time, a satisfying mixture of down-to-earth tersity & inspired story telling. Chagdud Tulku died in 2002.

Kudos to the team of Lisa Leghorn, Tsering Everest & Jane Tromge, Chagdun Tulku's wife, for their ministrations in translating & massaging the Buddhist Master's memories.

More from Chagdud Tulku Lama:
Change of Heart
Life In Relation To Death
Gates to Buddhist Practice: Essential Teachings of a Tibetan Master, & many more!
(05/02/04)

Rebecca