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I finally made it to Tibet eight years later in the autumn of 2018. I was working on a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and history and again, I wandered into these studies like a blind man on a busy freeway. My intended thesis was an examination of the Epic of King Gesar. The Epic of Gesar plays a fascinating role in Tibetan culture and identity. It’s on a par with other famous epics like Homer’s Oddysey and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s one of the world’s oldest long form oral epics and one of the major elements of Tibetan culture that survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Where Tibetan monasteries were razed, sacred texts, images, and sculptures destroyed, and Buddhist monks, nuns and laypeople imprisoned, raped, and murdered, the Chinese government allowed the bards of the epic to continue.

I was interested in the ritual texts featuring King Gesar written by a 19th century Buddhist master, Ju Mipham Gyatso. Mipham was part of a small group of super yogis and scholars in 19th century Eastern Tibet called the Ri-mé, or “non-sectarians”. Their mission was to collect the vanishing traditions of the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism in Eastern and Northeastern Tibet (ie. Kham and Amdo).

Think of them as Tibet’s answer to the Beatles. The two primary scholar-yogis were reknowned for their brilliance, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. They were, if you will, the “John” and “Paul”, of the group. Like “Paul”, Jamyang Khyentse was the group’s driving force and directed the equally gifted Jamgon Kongtrul to various projects.

One of these projects, was producing and editing a written form of the Gesar epic. The Ri-mé edition placed Gesar and his adventures within the Buddhist cosmology of the Buddha, Amitabha, the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, and the mystical tantric guru, Padmasambhava. This is noteworthy because of the role Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara play in Tibet and Asia. There are adherents of Pure Land Buddhism throughout Asia who seek to reach Amitabha’s Pure Land and outside of Asia, Avalokiteshvara is known as the extremely popular goddess of compassion, Kuan Yin. In Tibet, Avalokiteshvara is a central figure of devotion as is Guru Padmasambhava, the teacher who helped bring Buddhism to Tibet.