Longchenpa's likeness

My guru, Samten Gyatso, also had a deep fondness for the masters Longchenpa and Jigmey Lingpa. He would often read aloud from Longchenpa’s Seven Treasuries, not as a formal reading transmission but just for himself—slowly and in a gentle tone of voice. He always carried one of these seven volumes with him wherever he went, so that by the end of the year he would complete his reading of all seven. After some years, he knew exactly where to find every single detail mentioned anywhere in these Treasuries. He would sometimes comment, “How wonderful! What an amazing master Longchenpa must have been! How profound his words are!” -- from Blazing Splendor.

The picture is of an old statue made at the time of Longchenpa himself. The recent Dzogchen master Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche treasured this image highly and had it reproduced innumerable times. One of his main attendants and students, Khenpo Sonam Tobgyal Rinpoche, who now heads Riwoche Temple in Canada, made many of these with his own hands.