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364 THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING<br />

across all limitations <strong>of</strong> time or space. Believe in the level <strong>of</strong><br />

his attainment <strong>and</strong> call upon him with your whole heart, <strong>and</strong><br />

you will find that he will be with you instantly. How could<br />

he, who loved all beings with such a perfect love, ever ab<strong>and</strong>on<br />

us? And where would he go to, who had become one<br />

with everything?<br />

How fortunate we were that a master such as he, who<br />

embodied all that the <strong>Tibetan</strong> tradition was, should be with us<br />

for thirty years after the fall <strong>of</strong> Tibet, <strong>and</strong> teach in the<br />

Himalayas, in India, in Europe, in Asia, in the United States.<br />

How fortunate we are to have hundreds <strong>of</strong> hours <strong>of</strong> tapes <strong>of</strong><br />

his voice <strong>and</strong> his teachings, many videos that convey something<br />

<strong>of</strong> the majesty <strong>of</strong> his presence, translations into English<br />

<strong>and</strong> other languages <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the rich outpourings <strong>of</strong> his<br />

wisdom mind. I think in particular <strong>of</strong> the teachings he gave in<br />

the south <strong>of</strong> France near Grenoble in the last year <strong>of</strong> his life,<br />

when, gazing out toward the valley <strong>and</strong> the mountains, in a<br />

setting <strong>of</strong> almost <strong>Tibetan</strong> gr<strong>and</strong>eur, he granted the transmission<br />

<strong>of</strong> the most important Dzogchen teachings to 1,500 students,<br />

many <strong>of</strong> them, which gave me particular joy, students <strong>of</strong> mine<br />

from all over the world. A number <strong>of</strong> the masters present felt<br />

that through this act in the last year <strong>of</strong> his life, Dilgo Khyentse<br />

Rinpoche was placing his seal definitively on the coming <strong>of</strong><br />

these teachings to the West, <strong>and</strong> blessing their reception with<br />

the accumulated power <strong>of</strong> lifetimes <strong>of</strong> meditation. For my<br />

part, I felt, with amazed gratitude, that he was giving his<br />

blessing also to all that I had been trying to do for the teachings<br />

in the West over the years.<br />

To think <strong>of</strong> Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> what he has<br />

done for humanity is to find gathered <strong>and</strong> displayed in one<br />

person the greatness <strong>of</strong> the gift Tibet is giving to the world.<br />

It has always seemed to me far more than a coincidence<br />

that Tibet fell finally in 1959, just at the moment when the<br />

West was about to open its heart <strong>and</strong> mind to the traditions<br />

<strong>of</strong> Eastern wisdom. So just at the moment when the West<br />

was receptive, some <strong>of</strong> the deepest teachings <strong>of</strong> that tradition,<br />

which had been preserved in the pure solitude <strong>of</strong> the mountain<br />

l<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> Tibet, could be given to humanity. It is vital now,<br />

at all costs, to preserve this living tradition <strong>of</strong> wisdom, which<br />

the <strong>Tibetan</strong> people have suffered immeasurably to make available<br />

to us. Let us remember them always in our hearts, <strong>and</strong><br />

let us all, also, work to see that their l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> its traditions are<br />

returned to them. <strong>The</strong>se great teachings I have shared with<br />

you cannot be practiced openly by the very people who

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