The Life, Teachings, Parinirvana and Legacy of
Kyabje Dorje Chang Kalu Rimpoche

Kyabje Dorje Chang Kalu Rinpoche was one of the most eminent teachers of Vajrayana Buddhism in the 20th Century. Born in Kham in eastern Tibet, he spent over 15 years in solitary meditation retreat in the Himalayan mountains.  He was recognized as the activity emanation of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, the preeminent scholar of 19th Century Tibet and progenitor of the nonsectarian Rime movement. After his years of mountain retreats, Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche became the meditation master of Palpung Monastery. At the Tsadra Rinchen Drak retreat center there he taught the meditation and yogic practices of the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu. After the Chinese invasion, he emigrated first to Bhutan and then to India where he established the monastery Samdrup Tarjeyling Ling in Sonada, Darjeeling.  He thereafter travelled to North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia as one of the first teachers to bring the Buddhist traditions of Tibet to the world at large. He established numerous Buddhist teaching, meditation, and retreat centers around the world before entering parinirvana in 1989.

Lord of the Siddhas presents Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche's life story as told by others and as recounted in his own autobiography. It presents writings of Rinpoche including prayers, poems, essays, and his own guru yoga, as well as transcriptions of oral teachings.  It includes an episode of the Gesar of Ling saga, one of several he wrote in Tibet. Letters written by his closest disciples describe his parinirvana in 1989, and the ceremonies carried out thereafter leading to the enshrinement of his remains in a stupa at his monastery in Sonada.  Essays written by scholar disciples explain his legacy, including the Shangpa Kagyu practice tradition, the Rinchen Terdzod transmission of the treasury of termas, the translation of Jamgon Kongtrul’s ten volume Treasury of Knowledge, the establishment of the Kagyu Monlam in Bodhgaya, India, the origin and practice of the Six Armed Mahakala Wisdom Protector closely associated with him, and more. The book is introduced by the 12th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situ Rinpoche and includes several essays written by him.

The over 480 images in the book include photographs of Rinpoche and many of his eminent teachers and students, as well as landscapes of his homeland in Kham, the mountains where he practiced his yogic retreats, Palpung Monastery, and Sonada Monastery.  Also included are exquisite thangkas painted by devoted students of Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, as well as many beautiful traditional thangkas and woodblock prints related to his teachings and practices.