Tibet House US recently hosted the launch of a landmark historical fiction novel on the life of the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (1683–1706) by writer, poet, and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts Annie Bien and co-authored by the renowned Buddhist scholar and activist Robert A. F. Thurman. Titled The Magical Adventures of the Sixth Dalai Lama: His Life and Loves, and based on period sources and official biographies, the new book was launched on 30 October at Tibet House US in New York City in an in-person and online event.
“This richly woven story brings to life the mystical and romantic journey of Tsangyang Gyatso, the Sixth Dalai Lama,” Tibet House US shared with BDG. “Drawing from Tibetan biographies and historical sources, the book invites readers into a world where poetry and politics intertwine, and where love and wisdom flow through the heart of a spiritual leader.”
Author Annie Bien observed of her book: “This historical novel is a sangway namtar—a secret liberation story that reveals the meditative state of a siddha, an accomplished master or saint. [The Sixth Dalai Lama’s] poems provide the narrative thread for revealing the complex relationships entangling Tibet, Mongolia, China, and India. The Sixth Dalai Lama’s words are filled with humor and longing, joy and dismay, with expressions of the profound and evoke the essence of being human.” (Annie Bien)
Bien is a veteran translator of Tibetan scriptures and texts into English, having worked on behalf of Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, and Khenpo Pema Wangdak of Vikramaśila Foundation. She is also an award-winning writer of fiction and poetry, with two published poetry collections and flash fiction in literary journals. She conducts Dharma and meditation classes at Shantideva Center (FPMT) in Brooklyn, New York, and is a certified Qigong instructor.
“In our translation class, the first thing that we did was an external biography of the Sixth Dalai Lama, which ended up being the outline for what we were going to write about.” Bien explained during the book launch. “Like what we normally read in biographies: when someone’s born, they did this, then they went to school, and all of their other accomplishments.
“By having a biography, you know the order of how things are going to happen and you also know their end, according to the biography. But there are a lot of things that are left out. And a lot of times, it’s those parts that are left out that, for me as a writer, are the most interesting, because they will say, well, he was very troubled, and then in this year he gave up his vows, [and so on].
“But there’s all that time in between! What happened to make him think that? Why did he want to give up his vows? Because he’s very devoted to begin with. And that, for me, was really interesting to think about, and also because Bob gave me a lot of books to read for research, and that had been translated into English, so I could have an idea of what was going on with the Dalai Lamas at that time.”
Bien noted that the Sixth Dalai Lama’s poetry offered some key insights into his mind.
“He was so compelling,” she remarked, “because his poetry—they’re love poems, he gave up his vows, he fell in love, he fell in love with other people, other women, and it really affected his life. . . . What was it that made him do this? It’s a huge thing to do.
“And so that was what I was really interested in writing about. It was translating his poetry, I think, that made me really feel connected to him, because his poetry’s very accessible. It’s easy to understand . . . and he’s very popular among the Tibetan people, they sing his poems still, because he actually could describe longing, and a loss of love, and falling in love, just like we do.”
“The working title was A Dalai Lama in Love,” Robert Thurman observed wryly. “And by using ‘A,’ we were not incriminating any other [Dalai Lamas]! But some people thought that was a little too risqué, so we switched it a little bit and we put in ‘life and love’ there.
“I originally asked the Dalai Lama, did he mind if I engaged in this project with a co-writer—a real writer, Annie Bien, great poet that she is—to do a fictional novel [that] fit into the actual history of the Sixth Dalai Lama; you know, historical fiction, right?
“Well, you know the historical events and [you know] the different people’s names and [so on], but you don’t know what they actually said to each other, do you know what I mean? Although you know when they got mad with each other and did things, but you don’t know why—what they actually said, and that’s . . . where the fiction comes in.”
Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, co-founder and president of Tibet House US in New York City, is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies in the Department of Religion at New York’s Columbia University. He is also president of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University.
Thurman, born 1941, has earned renown for his translations and explications of Tibetan Buddhist religious and philosophical literature. He has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism, and notably translated the Vimalakirti Sutra from the Tibetan Kangyur into English. In 1997, Thurman was named one of the 25 most influential Americans by Time magazine. He received the Light of Truth human rights award from the International Campaign for Tibet in 2003, and in 2006, New York magazine named him one of the “Influentials” in field of religion.
Thurman continued: “When I said to [the Dalai Lama], ‘Do you think it’s a good idea if I do this project when we’re just at the beginning?’ And [His Holiness] said, ‘Oh yes, great idea, great idea!’ And . . . before he could be more enthusiastic . . . I said, ‘Are you sure, Your Holiness? Because actually, that was the one Dalai Lama who was a ‘lover boy’ Dalai Lama!’ I actually said that purposely to try to be shocking.
“And, His Holiness said, ‘Oh, that’s okay, it’s all right.’ . . . And then he turned to his translator and told him, ‘Make sure he has the book about [the Sixth Dalai Lama’s] deeds after 1706.’ Although he didn’t specify the year, but after he supposedly died, you know. . . .”
Concluding, Thurman added: “You know, I think young Tibetans will like this book very much. I think some Tibetans will probably criticize us: ‘How dare they think of what the Sixth Dalai Lama might have said,’ and so on, but I think that, in general, Westerners, will also be interested.”
The Magical Adventures of the Sixth Dalai Lama: His Life and Loves is published by Tibet House and distributed by Hay House.
Tibet House US was founded in 1987 as a nonprofit institution dedicated to preserving the wisdom and beauty of Tibet’s unique cultural, philosophical, and spiritual heritage, at the request of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Early and ongoing supporters include actor Richard Gere, composer Philip Glass, and writer Melissa Matheson, as well as Robert Thurman, who holds the first-ever endowed chair in Buddhist studies in the West. Located in Manhattan, New York City, and part of a worldwide network of Tibetan institutions, Tibet House US maintains an extensive library, a diverse art gallery, Traditional shrine room, and lecture spaces.
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