Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu (1938–2018) was an internationally renowned Dzogchen master and a distinguished scholar of Tibetan history and culture. Born in Eastern Tibet, he received a rigorous traditional education in Buddhist philosophy from a very early age. He was fortunate to receive profound teachings from the Dzogchen master Rigzin Changchub Dorje, as well as from many other eminent Tibetan masters of his time.

In 1960 he was invited to Italy by the renowned Tibetologist and scholar of Asian cultures Giuseppe Tucci to collaborate as a research assistant at ISMEO (the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East) in Rome. He later became Professor of Tibetan Language and Literature at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” where he taught until 1992.

Beginning in the 1970s, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu started transmitting the ancient practice of Yantra Yoga and later the profound teachings of Dzogchen to a growing number of students in Europe, North America, and gradually throughout the world. The interest generated by his teaching led to the foundation of what is now known as the International Dzogchen Community, a global network dedicated to the study and practice of this spiritual tradition.

A tireless author, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu published a wide range of works dedicated to Dzogchen, Yantra Yoga, and many aspects of Tibetan history, medicine, and culture.

In 1988 he founded ASIA, with the mission of safeguarding the cultural and spiritual identity of the Tibetan people and improving the living conditions of populations in the Himalayan region.

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu passed away peacefully at his residence of Gadeling, in Arcidosso (GR), on September 27, 2018.

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