Inseparable across Lifetimes: The Lives and Love Letters of the Tibetan Visionaries Namtrul Rinpoche and Khandro Tare Lhamo

Description

A true story of love, separation, and rediscovery in a time of cultural and spiritual upheaval in Tibet. In the wake of the Chinese Cultural Revolution that led to the systematic suppression of Buddhism in Tibet, two spiritual masters fell in love before ever meeting in person. After hearing of the reincarnate lama Namtrul Rinpoche, Khandro Tare Lhamo, who was six years his senior, wrote a letter in verse urging them to spread the Dharma teachings throughout Tibet. Their courtship was thus initiated in 1978 through letters they exchanged in secret recalling their past lives together and envisioning a future where they restore Buddhism in the region. While Namtrul Rinpoche resided in Serta in Sichuan Province, Khandro Tare Lhamo lived in Padma in Qinghai Province in the eastern Tibetan region of Golok. Since travel was restricted, they wrote more than fifty letters over the course of two years, meeting only once during that time. The letters are poetic, affectionate, prophetic, and written in a traditional folk style. These inspiring exchanges reflect the sacred bond these realized Buddhist masters shared over the course of countless lifetimes, and their connection in this life would eventually help to reinvigorate Buddhism in Tibet. In 1980, Khandro Tare Lhamo joined Namtrul Rinpoche in Serta, where they rebuilt Nyenlung Monastery. Over the following decades they traveled together throughout the region, teaching side-by-side, building stupas, raising funds for monasteries, and conducting Buddhist rituals. Holly Gayley, who was given their letters by Namtrul Rinpoche himself, has translated their lives and letters in order to share their incredible story with the world.

HOLLY GAYLEY is associate Professor in the department of religious studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on the revitalization of Buddhism in contemporary Tibet, and she has traveled extensively throughout South Asia and China. Her publications address issues of Buddhist ethics, literature on Buddhist women, and studies of collective trauma in Tibet. She is currently conducting research on the Larung Buddhist Academy in Serta.

"An instant classic, Gayley's translations of contemporary love letters between a Tibetan visionary couple are luminous. The couple's spiritual courtship animates a relationship that bridges the traditional and modern, transcendent and mundane. This is an inspiring page-turner that shows mutually transformative love is really possible."-Judith Simmer-Brown, author of Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism "Inseparable across Lifetimes tells the amazing personal stories of two Buddhist masters in twentieth-century Tibet, and their love letters are skillfully translated here into soaring yet intimate English. Few publications record this crucial time period after the cultural devastation of Tibet, and fewer still offer such visionary hope for some kind of transformation."-Sarah Harding, author of Niguma, Lady of Illusion "In a love relationship that was not just based on ordinary passions, but rather the union of incisive knowledge and skillful means, Namtrul Rinpoche and Khandro Tare Lhamo came to know the pure essence of wisdom exaltation as the sacred union of male and female. They used this unobstructed power to work for the welfare of others through their enlightened deeds. I am grateful to Holly Gayley for bringing their exemplary life stories and songs of profound union into the English language so that readers can glimpse the best of our Tibetan Vajrayana tradition."-Lama Chonam, teacher and translator, Light of Berotsana Translation Group "There is a decided feeling of closeness, care, and devotion in this wondrous tale-a taste of bliss."-Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly