BUDDHADHARMA: THE PRACTITIONER’S QUARTERLY 109
WITHIN TIBETAN BUDDHISM, much has been written about
the consorts of great lamas—their remarkable lives, and also
their role in helping the dharma to flourish through assisting
male partners achieve spiritual realization. Many scholars have
easily critiqued the tradition of sangyum (“secret consort,” an
honorific term for wife or long-term partner of a spiritual mas-
ter), pointing out the obvious sexism in determining a woman’s
value from her sexuality and caretaking role rather than her
own qualities. Holly Gayley’s Inseparable Across Lifetimes is
not this kind of story.
Gayley introduces readers to an extraordinary woman and
to a couple deeply in love, not just with the dharma but with
each other. Their love and devotion was not a distraction from
their life’s purpose; rather, it became the substance and fuel of
their bodhisattva vows to work for the benefit of sentient beings.
Khandro Tare Lhamo (1938–2003) was considered the rebirth
of two important figures from Golok: one male, Tra Gelong
(1866–1937), and Sera Khandro (1892–1940), a female terton,
or “treasure-revealer.” On these grounds, combined with aston-
ishing spiritual power, she was bestowed numerous transmis-
sions. Namtrul Rinpoche (1944–2011) was descended from the
royal line of Mukpo Dong and, as did Tare Lhamo, had a series
of miracles attributed to him from the time of his birth. Namtrul
Rinpoche was recognized as the fourth Namkhai Nyingpo eman-
ation of Zhuchen and began revealing treasures in his youth. At
age nine he prophesied his mother would soon die and was said
to transmit phowa instruction to her corpse. He received visions
that he would one day meet a partner who was an emanation of
Yeshe Tsogyal. When the two finally met in 1979—after a year
of a secret messenger bringing letters back and forth, two days
on horseback—other great masters in the region shared in this
prophecy, confirming that Tare Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche
were mutually destined for one another.Inseparable Across
Lifetimes: The Lives and
Love Letters of
Namtrul Rinpoche and
Khandro Tare Lhamo
translated by Holly Gayley
Shambhala, 2019
304 pages; $24.95Along Came a Tigress
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YLEY