I am very grateful for the causes and conditions that have aligned to help me write this book, and for all the wonderful people who contributed along the way. I am especially grateful to the teachers and protectors of these teachings, without whom these practices and this book would not have been possible.
It was through Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche that I first heard that Tibetan Yoga existed. He called it Yantra Yoga and taught from the Union of Sun and Moon text. I was able to learn those practices from him and Fabio Andrico. I thank them for opening this magical door.
Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal has been a very sacred place for me, and it was there that I first learned the Tibetan Yoga from the Bon tradition. My gratitude to Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak, Khenpo Nyima Wangyal, and Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung. And to Yungdrung Tenzin, then a young monk who had recently arrived from Amdo, who taught me those first Bon magical movements.
I cannot find enough words to thank Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, my continuous spiritual and academic mentor. He noticed how I fell in love with these magical movements and guided me to deepen my study and practice, not only with him but also with his teachers in the United States and in their monasteries.
Rinpoche also wrote the foreword for this book and kindly drew, at my request, the calligraphy of the homage of the A-tri Trul khor text and the calligraphy of the A.
His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, and Lopon Trinley Nyima, from Menri Monastery in India deserve most of the credit for teaching me the Tibetan Yoga from the Instructions of the A. I cherish and thank them from the very depth of my heart for their commitment to teaching and guiding me during the couple of months I spent at the monastery and on my many subsequent visits with each one in the United States and at the monastery.
Geshe Tenzin Yangton, Geshe Tenzin Yeshe, and I teamed up under the direction of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche to condense those magical movements of the Instructions of the A into the Ligmincha 16 that you see in this book. I am honored to have practiced and learned from them, and to have co-taught so many times at Ligmincha International.
My immense gratitude goes to Patty Gift from Hay House, whom I met—perhaps serendipitously—on a bus ride to Omega Institute over a decade ago. Since then she has been the main sounding board and fairy godmother of this book.
Lisa Cheng has been my main editor from Hay House, helping me over the last year and a half with countless back-and-forth e-mails to bring this book to its present form. An enormous thanks to her and all the Hay House team, from copy editors to marketing, including Nancy Elgin, KB Mello, Marlene Robinson, Anne Barthel, Blaine Todfield, and others behind the scenes.
As a former art director in an advertising agency, I know the importance of graphics in any book. I am very grateful to Howie Severson for designing the beautiful cover and Bryn Starr Best for the elegant interior design.
The amazing multiple-exposure photos of the magical movements are the artwork of Andreas Zihler from Zurich. Thank you so much for your time, expertise, and kind disposition to have these photos illustrate this book.
Tom Maroshegyi has been a good friend and student, who created and manages my website. I greatly appreciate the many photos of still poses and hand details that he took for this book when I was teaching in Esalen. Big thanks!
Angel Alcalá very kindly gave me permission to use the beautiful photo of His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima for the dedication of this book. ¡Muchas Gracias!
My thug je che to Lhari-la Kalsang Nyima, who was happy to let me use his illustrations of the channels and chakras.
Volker Graf, also a friend and student who is very dedicated to Trul khor, trained with me in Europe and filmed the magical movements in Gran Canaria. He did a wonderful job editing the film, and the link is provided for you in the Resources at the end of the book. Vielen Dank to you and Vision is Mind Prod.
I want to thank Mark Adamcik from UT TV who has recorded my numerous MD Anderson meditation audios and videos. You can find them at the MD Anderson Integrative Medicine website, also provided in the Resources section of this book.
Friends and students read versions or parts of the book and contributed to this more polished version. I want to extend my gratitude to Rob Patzig, Anne Forbes, Laura Shekerjian, and Amy Hertz. Other friends, teachers, and colleagues whom I admire read it and wrote endorsements for this book: Roshi Joan Halifax, Sharon Salzberg, Elissa Epel, Lorenzo Cohen, Susan Bauer-Wu, Jeff Kripal, Cyndi Lee, Mary Taylor, and Richard Freeman. A deep bow and my profound gratitude to each one of you.
A heartfelt gracias to my family, Erika, Matías Namdak y Karina Dawa, who are such an important part of my life and have accompanied me in many of my dharma-related trips and have met many of my teachers. Our evenings usually end with reciting the prayer included in the afterword of this book.
To my mom, Susi Reich, who early in my life opened my eyes and mind to different perspectives, and to the role of what today we call integrative medicine. Thanks for all your inroads into new fields, even if they seemed “weird” at that time.
I also thank my dad, Fred Chaoul, through whom I entered the world of people with cancer and got a better understanding of the human aspect of it. Both he and his wife, Mirtha, have been very supportive of my work.
Last but not least, I want to thank my in-laws, Katy Chamberlain and Delfino De la Garza. Katy has been a strong foundation for the whole family, and I always feel her comforting support toward my work and elected path of life. Delfino, one of my most enthusiastic cheerleaders who passed away a few years ago, came to some of my Tibetan yoga retreats in Mexico and even early morning meditations in the cold of La Guasteca, Monterrey. I can visualize you in the sky, like the last time I visited you: sitting in a hospital bed, opening your arms to greet me with the kind heart and big smile that characterized you. This book is also for you.
Thank you, thugjeche, vielen Dank, and mil gracias to all of you!!!