Born in Tibet

The author was identified at the age of 13 months as a "tulku", or reincarnation of an enlightened teacher. As the eleventh in the teaching lineage known as "Trungpa tulkus", he underwent a period of intensive training in meditation, philosophy and fine arts, receiving full ordination as a monk in 1958, at the age of 18. This is the story of these early years, and how the young Trungpa spent many harrowing months trekking over the Himalayas, narrowly escaping capture as he fled from the Chinese communists. the epilogue describes the author's emigration to the West and the Western thirst for Tibetan Buddhist knowledge and wisdom.