Customer Reviews

The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava

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This book on the life of Padmasambhava is a beautiful story that lists his various accomplishments from his miraculous birth from a lotus to his attaining various spiritual accomplishments and establishing the Buddha Dharma firmly in the Land of Tibet. This book is translated from the original scripture, and is an authentic source for information on Padmasambhava's life.

The book may read as fantasy, but as any religious literature, it must not be read in a wooden-literal sense, because to do so, would defeat the purpose of the work in the first place. This book was originally written by Yeshe Tsogyal (Padmasambhava's consort) to inspire future generations and to deepen their faith in Padmasambhava and his works. To that end, this modern translation succeeds completely. The foreword by the much reknowned teacher-H.H Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche adds weight to the caliber of this book and the information it contains.

For practitioners of Tib. Buddhism, this book is an invaluable resource. For non-practitioners, the book reads like a fast paced fantastic story with many miraculous events and larger-than-life personages whose lives contain snipets of many former lives. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

It is SO refreshing to read a book on Buddhism, a biography nonetheless, where we are not inundated with rationalizations, psychological justifications, or de-mystifications. If you read other biographies of Buddhist saints, you realize know how rare this is. Thank you, thank you... Sometimes you just want to read a book with some real, genuine, magical meat on the bone. Especially when you're hoping to get some insight into a totally different culture -- it's a good lesson for us westerners to learn how to let go of what can or cannot happen in a story.

I love this book on many levels. There's also a great terms dictionary in the back, which I've referred to repeatedly.

giving this book a bad review, is like giving a "thumbs down" to the Bible... it is the autobiography of a buddha; believers will see its merit... let us rate this book, with an infinite number of stars... The writings of Padmasambhava are extremely deep.

I actually ordered this from amazon and it is on loan to one of my Sangha sisters. I could not find it at Half Price books but I did find Yeshe Tsogyal's biography, which I enjoyed very much.

This biography has quite alot of drama involving king's ministers, evil spirits, emanations of Avalokiteshvara (Compassion Buddha) and more. It seems to be told from a more "secret" perspective meaning that the events are described in very "mystical" terms which is how it was probably experienced by Guru Rinpoche. As such I need to get this book back from my friend and reread it - I feel I would understand more then a did before. I could probably reread it again in a few years and understand it even more! It's one of those books.

This book is rich in meaning and at the same time would make a good entertaining movie. Sounds funny but it is a very entertaing read, at least to me.

Interestingly, the origianl author of this work, a Nyingma monk I believe, wrote this 500 years ago or so and included a brief preface where he warned of the degeneration in his lineage that he saw at the time. Thus, we should be vigilant of our own motivations for practicing Buddha's teachings (Renunciation, Bodhichitta, etc) and not get caught up in just being "meditators" or "ritual junkies."

This edition of 'The Lotus-Born' is a slightly oversized paperback with wonderful clear font of just the right porportions. Although there are 325 pages, the story of Padmakara is concluded in 209. the rest consists of Notes, Bibliography, Index, and a very useful and substantial Glossary.
The story itself consists of forty-one short chapters, so it is easy to read a little here and a little there. You might not want to, because the story is so captivating, but you could.
The text relates Padmakara's origins, his transport to Uddiyana, subsequent expulsion to India, and eventual invitation to bring the dharma to Tibet. Along the way he is educated by the great Masters of the day and by the wisdom dakinis in various charnel grounds. Yeshe Tsogyal advises us, as the readers, to realize that Padmakara was not just another ordinary man, and it is helpful to keep this in mind. Indeed he is an emanation of the Shakyamuni Buddha, come to teach secret mantra, also known as tantra.
Each chapter is remarkably entertaining and instructive of its own. Chapters 38 and 39 are exceptionally beneficial to this reader, as they describe the meaning of the Six Syllables of the Lord of Great Compassion, and the benefits attained by their recitation; benefits such as avoiding rebirth in the lower three realms. You have probably heard this mantra before, but are also likely not to have full understanding.
This is a wonderful terma treasure. It closes with Padmakara leaving Tibet to go tame the rakshasa demons in another part of the world. Thus the later part of his life story is not related. But by finishing the book I am completely won over, and like the Tibetans in the story, would have liked to have gone on with Padmakara and his Grand Adventure.

It arrived safe and sound and very quickly. It is in perfect condition as promised.

Lotus-Born is a Dharma book. As such it should be sold and cared for in a proper manner. If you believe that this book is not being sold in a manner consistant with your teaching, please refrain from buying and causing the seller bad karma.

This so-called life story was written by Yeshe Tsogyel under the supervision of Padmasambhava (also known as Padmakara, Guru Rinpoche, etc.) and as tall a tale as the latter wanted it to be. Guru Rinpoche had a few consorts and Yeshe Tsogyel was his favorite but her past was not a untinted one. However the Guru had fabricated a filmsy life story for her and naturally this one about himself had to portray himself as perfection.

In this book, you will learn how the Guru is superior to Buddha Sakyamuni (he being born from a lotus while the latter was developed from a human womb) and fit to transmit vajrayana.... Also he had to pretend that he was learning things when he had perfect knowledge so that it would not astonish people...

On page 189, you will also learn that the Tibetan people were descended from a monkey bodhisattva (which was an emanation of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara) and rock demoness (which was an emanation of a Tara Goddess).

In conclusion, this is a very tall tale. If the believe it, I guess you can believe in ANYTHING. To be treated as a fantasy book.

if I were to live the life of a padmasambhava, I would probably start by seeing controversy with established religion as just plain "good mojo"...

That's the feeling I get after reading the whole book. Which part of it is true or the whole book is just plain fantasy stuff?

I also realized that some of the ridiculous ideas that people have are perhaps originated from the source for this book. It goes to show how gullible people can be. On the other hand, it goes to show why some people considered Padmasambhava (aka Guru Rinpoche) to be a charlatan. You are encouraged to read also "Tibetan Buddhism, With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in Its Relation to Indian Buddhism" (ISBN:0486201309) by Laurence Austin Waddell.

If you are going to buy this book, be prepared to think of it like a Marvel comics without pictures but only words ---- pure fantasy.