The Illuminated Life of the Great Yolmowa

Free
Yolmowa Tenzin Norbu — renowned as a tantric adept, teacher, author, and painter — was one of the most fascinating figures of seventeenth-century Tibet, a century of towering Buddhist masters. He is particularly famous for his autobiography. Writing in a direct and candid style marked by profound insight and maverick humor, he explores the challenges of embodying the Buddha’s teachings. He accompanied his autobiography with his own full-color illustrations. These extraordinary images are the only known example of a Tibetan visual autobiography.
Yolmowa’s autobiography is translated here for the first time. Opening with an informative essay on his life and times, this volume brings to life all forty-four of the remarkable autobiographical illustrations, beautifully presented here with explanatory essays providing detailed analyses of each. Scholars will be rewarded with a full translation of the autobiography, along with an extensive bibliography and index.
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Book signing in colonnade, Himalayan Happy Hour
6:00 p.m. Tour of the galleries (free with the purchase of a book)
7:00 p.m. A few words about the book from Benjamin Bogin followed by a Q&A

About the Author

Benjamin Bogin is Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Theology Department at Georgetown University. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. (Buddhist Studies) from the University of Michigan and spent six years living in Kathmandu, Nepal where he directed study-abroad programs in the Himalayas for students from American high-schools and colleges. His primary research interests are Tibetan Buddhist autobiography and the intersections of visual art, narrative, and sacred geography in Buddhist cultures.