A brief biography of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is an authentic representative of the ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born 1938 in East Tibet. When he was two years old, he was recognized as the reincarnation of Adzom Drugpa, one of the great Dzogchen masters of the early part of this century (1842-1924 or 1934).
When he was eight years old, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu was additionally recognised by both, the XVIth Karmapa and the then Situ Rinpoche to be a reincarnation of the illustrious Drugpa Kagyu master, Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), the historical founder of the state of Bhutan.
From the time he was eight years old until he was fourteen, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu attended monastic college, made retreats, and studied with renowed teachers, including the female master Ayu Khandro (1838-1953).
In 1954, he was invited to visit the People’s Republic of China as a representative of Tibetan youth. From 1954, he was an instructor in Tibetan language at the Southwestern University of Minority Nationalities at Chengdu, Sichuan, China. While living in China, he aquired proficiency in the Chinese and Mongolian languages.
When he was seventeen years old, following a vision received in a dream, he returned to his home in Derge and came to meet his root master, Changchub Dorje Rinpoche. From this master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu received additional initiations into and transmission of the essential teaching of Dzogchen. More importantly, according to Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, this master initroduced him directly to the experience of Dzogchen.

After this, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu set out on a prolonged pilgrimage to Central Tibet, Nepal, India and Bhutan. Returning to Derge, the land of his birth, he found that deteriorating political conditions had led to the eruption of violence. Travelling on, first to Central Tibet, he finally emerged in Sikkim. From 1958 to 1960 he lived in Gangtok, Sikkim, employed as an author and editor of Tibetan textbooks for the Development Office of the Governement of Sikkim. In 1960, when he was twenty-two years old, at the invitation of Professor Giuseppe Tucci, he went to Italy and resided for several years in Rome.
From 1964, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu has been a professor at the Instituto Orientale, University of Naples, where he teached Tibetan language, Mongolian language, and Tibetan cultural history. He has done extensive research into the historical origins of Tibetan culture, investigating little-known literary sources from the Bönpo tradition. For the past twenty-five years, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu has informally conduced teaching retreats in various countries. During these retreats, he has given practical instruction on Dzogchen practices in a nonsectarian format, as well as teaching aspects of Tibetan culture, especially Yantra Yoga, Vajra Dance, Tibetan medicine, and astrology. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is also the author of many books on Dzogchen meditation.

Informations extracted from Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light

ENGLISH BOOKS:

Dzogchen and Zen (1984)
The Crystal and the Way of light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen (1988)
The Cycle of Day and Night: An Essential Tibetan Text on the Practice of Contemplation (1987)
Primordial Experience: An Introduction to Dzog-Chen Mediattion (1987)
Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light (1992)
Dzogchen – The Self-Perfected State (1996)
The Golden Letters (1996)
The Mirror: Advice on the Present of Awareness (1996)
The Supreme Sourse: The Fundamental Tantra of the Dzogchen Semde (1999)
Self-Liberation: Through Seeing with Naked Awareness (2000)
Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light –revised- (2002)
Drung, Deu and Bön (2002)
Journey Among the Tibetan Nomads (2002)
Dzogchen Teachings (2006)New Schedule 2007-2008