Phendé Rimpoche was born in 1934 in Kham, Eastern Tibet, into a family of Tantric masters and received his early education and initiations there. But he 1959 he was forced to flee to India to escape from the invading Chinese army.
After some years he eventually went to England where he met his future wife, a French Buddhist translator. Returning with her to France, he founded Ngor Ewam Phendé Ling monastery in Normandy. They now have three children all of whom are recognised as Tulkus.
In 1989, after 30 years in exile, he and his family were given permission to return to Kham, and this film, by Bruno Vienne, follows their return, and the reception he received, and examines some of the problems he found there, after nearly all the monasteries had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
The film dates from 1992, and is now a historical record, not only of Rinpoche’s return but also of a culture which has changed significantly over the past 30 years.
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