Biographies of Rechungpa

New paperback edition. This study traces the life story of Rechungpa, renowned Tibetan Kagyu master and student of Milarepa, using rare and little-known manuscripts, and discovers how the image of both Milarepa and Rechungpa underwent fundamental transformations over a period of over three centuries. The translator Peter Roberts compares significant episodes in the life of Rechungpa as portrayed in a succession of texts and thus demonstrates the evolution of Rechungpa's biography.

This is the first survey of the surviving literature that includes a detailed analysis of their dates, authorship, and interrelationships. It shows how Rechungpa was increasingly portrayed as a rebellious, volatile and difficult pupil, as a lineage from a fellow pupil, Gampopa, prospered to become dominant in Tibet. Paperback,