One day, as Patrul Rinpoche and a student close to his heart, Nyoshul Lungtok, were staying in retreat in the forest of Ari Dza, Patrul asked Lungtok, “Do you miss your mother?”

“Not really,” Lungtok replied.

“A-dzi!” said …

Patrul had decided to go to Kathok and gather merit by circumambulating the stupas at the Kathok Kumbum (the Hundred Thousand Images of Kathok). A few people noticed this shabby nomad lama stopping at each stupa, sticking his head inside, …

This huge building is entirely made of flat stones engraved with mantras and prayers. Province of Myniak, Eastern Tibet. Photograph by Matthieu Ricard.

Excerpts from The Enlightened Vagabond, the biography of the 19th century hermit and spiritual master Patrul …

During a teaching that I attended in Nepal given by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche he reminded us that all of the Buddha’s teachings were given so that we may realize, in stages, the ultimate truth. If we limit ourselves to only …

A landscape near Dzogchen Monastery, in eastern Tibet

Near the monastery of Dzamthang, Patrul was sitting on a grassy mound, having just finished teaching The Way of the Bodhisattva to a large crowd of people. An old man who had …

Patrul Rinpoche’s birthplace in Eastern Tibet. Photography by Matthieu Ricard.

A biography of the famous hermit and spiritual master Patrul Rinpoche, has recently been translated from the Tibetan and published as The Englightened Vagabond. This volume includes excerpts from …

A monk sits above the site where Patrul Rinpoche was cremated in Khormo Olu, Dzachuka, Eastern Tibet. Down in the valley below is also the place where Patrul Rinpoche was born. Photography by Matthieu Ricard.

Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887) was one …

“Simplify, simplify, simplify”. These refreshing words written by Henry Thoreau remind us that much of our suffering comes from adding unnecessary and disturbing complications in our lives. We seem to be continually weaving elaborate conceptual webs around even straightforward events. …

According to Buddhism, our view of the self as a singular, distinct, autonomous and lasting entity is at odds with reality and, therefore becomes a source of frustration and suffering. An exacerbated feeling of self-importance, self-cherishing, and self-centeredness are the …

Leonardo da Vinci wrote in his notebooks: “The time will come when people like me will think of the murder of an animal just as they think today of the murder of a man.” And George Bernard Shaw said, “Animals …