"It was not always easy to be the guru's wife," writes Diana Mukpo. "But I must say, it was rarely boring." At the age of sixteen Diana broke with her upper-class English family and left school to marry Chogyam Trungpa, a young Tibetan lama who would go on to become a major figure in the transmission of Buddhism to the West. Trungpa attracted thousands of students in North America and is credited for introducing many key Buddhist concepts into the English language and psyche. During his lifetime he founded more than one hundred meditation centers and authored dozens of popular books on meditation and Buddhism. Among Asian masters living and teaching in the West, Trungpa was known for having an unorthodox and unpredictable teaching style - and for leading an unconventional personal life.In "Dragon Thunder", the reader gets an intimate look at this compelling and enigmatic figure through the eyes of his wife of seventeen years. Diana herself led an extraordinary and unusual life as the "first lady" of a burgeoning Buddhist community in the American 1970s and 80s. Diana gave birth to four sons, three of whom were recognized as "tulkus" or reincarnations of high Tibetan lamas.
It is not a simple matter to be a modern Western woman married to a Tibetan lama, let along to be married to a man who is adored and sought out by thousands of eager students. Surprising events and colourful people fill the narrative as Diana seeks to understand the dynamic, puzzling, and larger-than-life man she married - and to find a place for herself in his unusual world.