The Life and Liberation of Padmakara, the Second Buddha from A Precious Garland of Lapis Lazuli

The biography featured here is extracted from Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé’s A Precious Garland of Lapis Lazuli, part of his Treasury of Precious Termas (Rinchen Terdzö). This collection includes life stories of the 108 main tertöns and is found in the first volume. In it, Jamgön Kongtrul acknowledges the variety of life stories about Guru Rinpoche, synthesizing and commenting on earlier sources. This prose account provides a comprehensive, traditional portrayal of Guru Rinpoche’s life, serving as an homage to the tradition. Its brevity and expert summation of key aspects of the Mahaguru’s life and deeds have made this biography famous, retold by many masters and translated multiple times into English. Below is a fresh translation based on these earlier versions.