The feature length documentary, MY REINCARNATION, follows the renowned reincarnate
Tibetan spiritual master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, as he struggles to save his spiritual tradition,
and his Italian born son, Yeshi, who stubbornly refuses to follow in his fatherʼs footsteps.
When Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche escaped Tibet in 1959, he settled in Italy, where he married
and had two children, of which Yeshi was the first. Yeshi was recognized as the reincarnation of
Rinpocheʼs uncle, a famous Dzogchen master, who died after the Chinese invaded Tibet. Yeshi
grew up in Italy and never wanted to have anything to do with this legacy. He didnʼt want to be a
Teacher like his father, nor did he want to return to Tibet and the monastery of Rinpocheʼs
uncle, to meet the students waiting for him since his birth—something that his father continually
admonished him to do. Instead, he dreamed of a normal life, away from the hoards of devoted
students that always surrounded his father.
Through intimate scenes we see a young man grow from 18 years old to 39 years old and
maturity; and a father who begins the story in his 50 year-old prime turns to 70 years and old
age. As the story unravels what is at stake is Namkhai Norbu Rinpocheʼs spiritual tradition; for
Yeshi it is his own identity. Will Yeshiʼs Western lifestyle replace his family tradition and his
spiritual roots? Will his father succeed at transplanting the vanishing Tibetan heritage to the
Western world? The stories of both the father and the son combine to make MY
REINCARNATION a universal drama that taps into the classic narrative of family and
inheritance. As time passes, both father and son begin to change, giving MY REINCARNATION
the scope and depth of great fiction.
