Praise to the Lotus Born

Praise to the Lotus BornA Verse Garland of Waves of Devotion. In 1972, a 21- year old Nyingmapa Buddhist monk was recovering from tuberculosis in a clinic in Switzerland. Turning his mind to Guru Padmasambhava, known to Tibetans as the second Buddha, he wrote these poems in a mere three days. Praise to the Lotus Bornis a verse biography of Guru Padmasambhava who, along with Kenchen Shantarakshita and King Trisong Deutsen, founded Tibetan Buddhism. Scholars, kings and queens sweep through these pages against a backdrop of philosophy, ritual, myth and magic. With the poems are notes containing Kentrul's lively commentaries which captivate and enlighten the reader. These poems of praise express the author's wonderment at the power, beauty, wisdom and compassion of the buddhas and other great beings. The verses bring readers closer to liberation because the poems themselves are blessings that inspire devotion and meritorious action. On a deeper level, they reveal that these enlightened beings are actually reflections of our higher, unobscured minds.