Chögyal Namkhai Norbu
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu was born in 1938 in Derghe, in Eastern Tibet and was recognised at birth as the reincarnation of a noted master of the Dzogchen tradition. Notwithstanding his youth, he was already well known by the end of the 1950s as a person with a profound knowledge of the Tibetan culture and also as a great spiritual teacher.
His fame, in India and in Tibet was such that in 1960 Professor Giuseppe Tucci, an eminent scholar and founder of the Is.M.E.O. (Instituto per l'Africa e l'Oriente, one of the mayor institutes of oriental studies in Italy), invited him to Rome to collaborate in research. In 1962 he took up a post teaching Tibetan language and literature in Naples at the Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli where he worked until 1992. For the first fifteen years of his residence in Italy Chögyal Namkhai Norbu concentrated mainly on the Ancient History of Tibet. His works are evidence of his deep knowledge of Tibetan culture and are addressed to the young people of Tibet in order that their awareness of an ancient cultural heritage should not die out.
From the mid seventies Chögyal Namkhai Norbu began to teach Yantra-Yoga and Dzogchen meditation to a few Italian students and the growing interest in his teachings convinced him to dedicate himself increasingly to such activities.
Together with a number of disciples he founded the Dzogchen Community in Arcidosso in Tuscany and then later founded other centres in various parts of Europe, Russia, the United States, South America and Australia.
The Dzogchen Community
The Dzogchen practitioners, followers of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, have founded Dzogchen communities in more than 40 countries. The main centers (Gars) exist in Italy, Russia, U.S.A., Argentina, Venezuela and Australia. The centers create together a worldwide network for studies and practices of Dzogchen teachings. The communities form a unique and living mandala, the aim of which is to provide mutual support, to maintain and to realize this precious way of the Great Perfection. The Czech and Slovak Dzogchen Community was officially established by the civic association Dzogchen at the beginning of 2001. The practitioners started meeting on a regular basis at the end of 1998. The communities - informal fellowships of practitioners - provide a base for practicing the teachings and work under the principle of mutual support, friendship and the awareness of the common journey. The communities elect a board of three members (Gakyil) every year. The board represents the community members, is responsible for organizing its activities and ensures the needs of the community are met in the mutual cooperation. Moreover, the International Dzogchen community has founded a project named A.S.I.A., focused on providing humanitarian help for Asia, especially for Tibet.