Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in India is the second installment of our three part series, following our previous release, The Lotus-Born Guru in Nepal. The project began seven years ago, auspiciously on the Dakini Day of September 2014. Since then, Lhasey Lotsawa has collected some of the most treasured stories from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet with the goal to provide a rich source of inspiration for pilgrims through the ages. In the future, as our team continues their diligent writing and research, we will release our final installment, The Lotus-Born Guru in Tibet. Those who wish to follow in the footsteps of the Lotus-Born Guru will find these authentic books essential companions on their journey.
While the previous Nepal volume tells of the Guru’s vast aspiration made at the Boudha Stupa to be reborn as a tantrika and great propagator of the Vajrayana teachings, the India volume represents the culmination of these aspirations. Starting with Padmasambhava’s miraculous birth from a lotus and upbringing as a young prince in Uddiyana, the book guides us through the Mahaguru’s incredible journey in the sacred landscape of India as he brings to fruition the great aspirations made long ago.
As we venture through India’s most profound places following the Guru’s tracks, we find ourselves woven through the entire development of Buddhism in its land of origin. The Guru’s journey in India takes us through the haunting Eight Charnel Grounds, elucidating the beginnings of the Vajrayana teachings, long before his birth from a lotus.
The Lotus-Born Guru in India offers a translation of Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo’s summary of the Pema Kathang, along with teachings by the contemporary Tibetan masters Neten Chokling Rinpoché and Phakchok Rinpoché. You will also find a collection of essential supplications and prayers—in both English and Tibetan—and beautifully rendered paintings to guide and inspire your journey into this miraculous world.