Namkhai Norbu

At five, he was also recognized as a mindstream emanation of an emanation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594–1651).

Adzom Drugpa was a disciple both of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–92) and Patrul Rinpoche (1808–81).

At birth, two of Norbu's uncles, the Dzogchen masters Palyul Karma Yangsid and Shechen Rabjam, believed him to be the reincarnation of their master, Adzom Drugpa Rinpoche (1841–1934).

When Norbu was two years old, this was confirmed by a senior tulku of the Nyingma school.

When he was two years old, Norbu was recognized as the mindstream emanation, a tulku, of the Dzogchen teacher Adzom Drugpa (1842–1924).

Changchub Dorje was a disciple of Adzom Drugpa, Nyagla Padma Dündul, and Shardza Trashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche (1859–1935), and was the leader of a small community of lay practitioners, as well as a doctor of Tibetan medicine.

From Changchub Dorje, Norbu received authentic transmissions of all three series of Dzogchen (Semde, Longde, and Menngagde).

At the age of sixteen, he met master Rigdzin Changchub Dorje (1863–1963), who became his main Dzogchen teacher.

Namkhai Norbu (8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University.

He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, particularly in the fields of history, literature, traditional religions (Tibetan Buddhism and Bon), and Traditional Tibetan medicine, having written numerous books and scholarly articles on these subjects.

Namkhai Norbu was born on 8 December 1938 in the village of Ge'u in Derge County.

His name, Namkhai, means "sky", "space", and "aether", and has the possessive case ending, thus it may be rendered into English as "...of the sky".

Norbu means "jewel", "crystal", "gem", "cintamani".

Therefore, Namkhai Norbu may be rendered in English as "jewel of the sky".

In the late 1950s, Norbu made a pilgrimage that took him to central Tibet, India, Bhutan, and Nepal.

In 1951, he received various teachings from the female yogi Ayu Khandro Dorje Paldrön (1838–1953).

Norbu was invited to China in 1953 as a representative of the Tibetan monasteries.

After visiting Chengdu and Chungching, he accepted an invitation to teach Classical Tibetan in Menyag and also had the opportunity to learn Chinese there.

During this time, he met Kangkar Rinpoche, from whom he received instruction on the Six Yogas of Naropa, and other teachings.

After having had a vision in a dream, Norbu returned to Derge.

It was here that he met his root teacher, Rigdzin Changchub Dorje, in 1955 (when Norbu was sixteen).

He stayed at Dorje's residence in Khamdogar for six months, and it was under this teacher that Norbu gained real experiential knowledge of Dzogchen.

Because of the turmoil and aftermath of the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion, he could not return to Derge from Sikkim, so he stayed as a refugee in Gangtok, working as a writer and editor of Tibetan literature for the Chogyal government from 1958 to 1960.

It was here that he met with the Italian Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci.

Also during his time in Sikkim, he met and received teachings from the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa.

Already recognized as a knowledgeable figure in all aspects of Tibetan culture at the age of 22, Norbu was invited to Italy by Giuseppe Tucci to work at the Institute for the Middle and Far East (IsMEO) in Rome for two years.

He collaborated with Tucci and Geshe Jempel Senghe on a catalogue and library of Tibetan texts.

In 1960, he went to Italy at the invitation of Giuseppe Tucci and served as Professor of Tibetan and Mongolian Language and Literature from 1964 to 1992 at Naples Eastern University.

In 1976, Norbu began to give Dzogchen instruction in the West, first in Italy, then in numerous other countries.

He became a respected spiritual authority among many practitioners, and created centers for the study of Dzogchen worldwide.

In 1983, he hosted the first International Convention on Tibetan Medicine, held in Venice, Italy.

Furthermore, when he was five years old, the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa and the Situ Rinpoche together recognized Norbu as the mind emanation of the mindstream of another well-known teacher, who was in turn the emanation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel, the 17th-century Tibetan-born founder and spiritual leader of Bhutan.

Because of this, Namkhai Norbu also bears the honorary title 'Chögyal', meaning 'Dharma King'.

Such recognitions conferred a great deal of attention and prestige upon him from a very young age, leading him in later life to remark: "As I grew up, I was thus given quite a few names and titles, many of which are very long and grand-sounding. But I have never used them, because I have always preferred the name my parents gave me at birth".

In his early years, Norbu studied at the Derge Gonchen monastery.

At the age of nine, he entered a Sakya college, where he studied Buddhist philosophy for many years with Khyenrab Chökyi Odzer.

He also received numerous tantric and Dzogchen transmissions and teachings from many masters, including his paternal uncle Togden Ugyen Tendzin, his maternal uncle Khyentse Rinpoche Chökyi Wangchug, as well as Drubwang Rinpoche Kunga Palden, Negyab Rinpoche, Drugse Gyurmed Dorje, Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Dudjom Rinpoche Yeshe Dorje, and Bo Gongkar Rinpoche.

He also received teachings at Dzogchen Monastery.

Norbu taught Dzogchen for more than fifty years and was considered by the Tibetan government in exile as "the foremost living Dzogchen" teacher at the time of his death, in 2018.

Norbu founded the Dzogchen Community, which today has centers around the world, including in the US, Mexico, Australia, Russia, and China.