The year was 1967. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who had fled Tibet and would eventually move to North America, was at Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland. His star, and that of Buddhism, was already rising on that side of the Atlantic, attracting a new generation of seekers. Some of them were stars themselves. One — so the story goes — was David Bowie, who had started coming around Samye Ling at the inspiration of his friend and collaborator, Tony Visconti (who even worked on Bowie’s brilliant swansong, the just-released Blackstar), as well as that of Bowie’s girlfriend at the time, Hermione Farthingale.
“I was within a month of having my head shaved, taking my vows, and becoming a monk,” Bowie has said about that period of his life. But, he was torn and so sought the counsel of a Buddhist teacher, usually assumed to be Trungpa — though that’s now been refuted. The teacher replied to the famous young seeker that he should remain a musician, for that was how he could be of the most benefit.
You, of course, know the rest.
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