(Book review): Zangdok Palri, the Lotus Light Palace of Guru Rinpoche, is a book that contains vast information as well as spectacular pictures of Guru Rinpoche. The book was published, last year.
There are hundreds of photographs of murals, statues, Thangkas and holy sites from all over Bhutan, along with explanations of their significance.
The book is the first of the three books in the Zangdok Palri series. The massive 376-page book contains information translated into English from Choekyi on the Life of Guru Rinpoche in Bhutan. The book also shares the different visions seen by prominent Buddhist masters of Zangdok Pelri, the Lotus Light Palace of Guru Rinpoche.
“It was initially started by Her Majesty the Royal Grand Mother. She wanted a small book on Zangdok Pelri and Guru Rinpochhe.
“As it went on, Her Majesty wanted monasteries that were involved with Guru Rinpoche. She was very worried that a lot of the younger generation might not know about Guru Rinpoche and his time here in Bhutan because there are a lot of books on Guru Rinpoche in Tibet but there not a lot of books on Guru Rinpoche’s time in Bhutan in English. So Her Majesty felt that it would be really good if we had an English book,” said the co-editor, Kesang Choden Tashi Wangchuck.
Zangdok Palri contains a detailed article by Tulku Thondup, titled Zangdok Pelri, the Pure Land of Guru Rinpoche. This was the only article originally written in English. It also contains a prayer discovered by Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa.
“The information, with the help of Dungchen (Dasho Sangay Dorji) and Pema Wangdi it actually took us about half a year,” said Kesang Choden Tashi Wangchuck. She added that the National Library in Bhutan has a lot of archives.
“A lot of “Rinpoches’ and lamas helped us with getting all the texts, so that wasn’t a problem but the photographs took the longest. We actually took almost three years, getting to the monasteries, taking the pictures. Sometimes getting the equipment there was quite a big deal.”
The book was compiled by nine individuals with support from Her Majesty the Royal Grand Mother Ashi Kesang Choeden Wangchuck.
