Ebook: Visionary Encounters: The Dzogchen Teachings of Bönpo Treasure-Revealer Shense Lhaje

Visionary Encounters presents four chapters from the collection known as The Golden Teaching of Trenpa Namkha, a cycle of Dzogchen teachings recovered or rediscovered by the thirteenth-century master Shense Lhaje, an important scripture-revealer in the Bön tradition. These chapters include unusual autobiographical detail, providing a window into the daily life of this "wandering beggar," as he calls himself, as well as a record of the extraordinary messages he received from visionary beings known as knowledge-holders and dakinis. It also includes an introduction that places the work in its historical and literary context.


Review
“This book is a treasure that fills a critical need for translation of ancient Bön texts. Through it, we are very blessed to have access to the deep personal experiences and discoveries of Shense Lhaje, whose understanding of the teachings of the important Bön master Trenpa Namkha is connected with the source. In translating these texts from The Golden Teaching, Adriano Clemente has been supervised by great living masters of our tradition and is very qualified both as an academic and as a practitioner. I highly recommend that students of Dzogchen delve deeply, both intellectually and experientially, into the knowledge this book conveys.”
—Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, author of Healing with Form, Energy, and Light

“Be ready for a direct introduction to the visionary arcana of an ancient Bönpo cycle of Dzogchen. The fluidity of the translation guarantees both genuine understanding and inspiration as well as a full immersion into one of the greatest classics of this tradition. The texts revealed by the Bönpo master Shense Lhaje are visionary teachings associated with an early master known as Trenpa Namkha who plays a central role in the lineage of Bön. The unprecedented translation of these teachings now offers Western readers access to the whole universe of a Tibetan treasure-revealer of the thirteenth century. Through his careful and lively translation of the original texts, Adriano Clemente leads us into the amazing spiritual intimacy of a mind filled with mystical encounters in which the entire core of Dzogchen is revealed in its total simplicity. At the heart of these encounters lies the highest truth of Bön, displayed with an in-depth knowledge of the tradition, pregnant with such a clarity that the teachings revealed in this way appear in their full pellucidity.”
—Jean-Luc Achard, author of Enlightened Rainbows: The Life and Works of Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen

“Tibetologist, translator, and scholar Adriano Clemente, who has worked closely for many years with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, has done a great service to those of us who are interested in the transmission of the Bonpo Dzogchen teachings from ancient Tibet.”
—John Myrdhin Reynolds, author of The Practice of Dzogchen in the Zhang-Zhung Tradition of Tibet

“The great merit of Visionary Encounters is the author’s ability to transmit the spiritual and existential message of the text in an elegant and authoritative translation. This book will therefore be of great interest to scholars as well as to others who are interested in a still far from well-known tradition of Tibetan spirituality.”
—Per Kvaerne, author of The Bon Religion of Tibet
About the Author
SHENSE LHAJE was a thirteenth-century Tibetan writer, visionary, and adept who received and expounded the teachings presented here. The cycle of texts from which this work is selected, known as The Golden Teaching of Trenpa Namkha, has been revered in the Bön tradition for eight centuries. ADRIANO CLEMENTE has worked closely with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu for forty years, translating several of his most important works into English. He lives in Italy.