Rainbow Body

Translated from Tibetan by Adriano Clemente

One of the highest attainments of Dzogchen, an ancient spiritual path recognized as the supreme vehicle of Tibetan Buddhism, the rainbow body is the transmutation of the physical constituents of the body into the essence of the five elements. This book traces the life story of twentieth-century Tibetan yogin Togden Ugyen Tendzin (1888-1962), whose amazing realization of the rainbow body at his death was witnessed in Eastern Tibet.

The author of this fascinating biography is Chögyal Namkhai Norbu (1938-2018), one of the great masters of Dzogchen, and nephew, on the paternal side, of the Togden, a title meaning “endowed with realization," an expression accorded to highly realized yogins in Tibet. The Author, who received profound teachings from his uncle, based his book on extensive notes he took while with Togden in 1954 in Derge, and on information given to him by Sala Kama Samten (1919-1993), also a disciple and nephew of the yogin. Togden's master was Adzom Drugpa, Drodul Pawo Dorje (1842-1924), one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of the last century, renowned for the depth and clarity of his teachings. A short biography of this master is here included, together with a biography of the yogini Lhundrub Tso (1864-1946), also a close student of Adzom Drugpa and grandmother of the Author.