The epic of Gesar has been the national treasure of Tibet for almost a thousand years. An open canon of tales about a superhuman warrior-king, the epic is still a living oral tradition, included on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This book is a translation of the beginning portion of this enormous corpus, covering all the events from Gesar's divine conception to his human birth and mischievous childhood to his coronation as king of Ling.

Born in the pure lands the son of two wisdom deities, Gesar takes rebirth in the human realm in order to defeat the demon kings who had taken over the empires of Asia and to thus liberate the people from suffering. His jealous uncle Trothung proves to be the first major threat to this goal, but Gesar outwits him every time using magic. In the last chapters of the book, he and Trothung's son face off in a high-tension horse race to decide who will win the throne of Ling and the hand of the coveted Princess Drugmo in marriage.

Gesar's story is popularly read as an allegory, with Gesar representing the ideal of spiritual warriorship--that is, fearlessness in the face of obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Just as Gesar rides his flying steed, we too can ride the energy of our inherent dignity, confidence, and strength, subduing inner demons and claiming victory.
Epic of Gesar of Ling: Gesar's Magical Birth, Early Years, and Coronation as King; Robin Kornman, Lama Chonam, Sangye Khandro (translators); Shambhala Publications; Paperback; 680 pages; 2015; $39.95

Robin Kornman is best known for his work as a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, as well as a founding member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. Up until his death, he had spent many years working on an English translation of the Tibetan (living) epic Gesar of Ling - it is his work on this translation that has gained him the most recognition. A longtime student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Kornman had been co-director of Trungpa Rinpoche's first Shambhala retreat center in North America, Karme Choling, when first established in 1970.

Having earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University, Kornman was a professor of Comparative Literature, as well as a scholar-in-residence and Kluge Fellow at the Library of Congress; he has published various translations and articles dealing with Buddhism, and had acted as a meditation instructor and mentor to the Shambhala Buddhist Community.

Lama Chonam, Choying Namgyal, is a teacher in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. His root teacher, Khenpo Munsel, was a direct disciple of Khenpo Ngagchung and was himself one of the great authentic Dzogchen masters of the twentieth century. Lama Chonam escaped Tibet in 1992 and later came to the United States, where he resides today. Over the past sixteen years he has been teaching Tibetan language and the Buddhadharma. With Sangye Khandro, he is one of the founders of the Light of Berotsana Translation Group, which produced the first complete English-language edition of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and Longchen Rabjam's extensive commentary thereon under the guidance of Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche.

Sangye Khandro, born Nanci Gay Gustafson to a Mormon family, became a student of Tibetan Buddhism in 1972. Since then, she has become one of the most prolific English-language translators in the field, having studied closely with such masters as Kyabje Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (Dudjom Rinpoche), Kyabje Pema Norbu Rinpoche, Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, and her husband Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche, with whom she helped to establish Buddhist centers in California and Oregon. In 1999, she became one of the founders of the nonprofit Light of Berotsana Translation Group, where she has been working with Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche on translations related to the Guhyagarbhatantra (Secret Essence Tantra).

CONTENTS: The Epic of Gesar of Ling
Foreword by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama	vii
Foreword by Alak Zenkar Rinpoche	ix
Foreword by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche	xi
Preface	xiii
Historical Introduction	xv
Translator's Introduction	xxiii
Acknowledgments	lix
VOLUME ONE The Events Leading to Gesar's Incarnation in the Land of Ling	1
VOLUME TWO Gesar's Birth and Childhood in the Land of Ling	149
VOLUME THREE Gesar Wins the Horse Race and Becomes the King of Ling	307
Postscript	519
Notes	523
Glossary of Terms	571
Glossary of Names	605
Bibliography	618