Maura Oconnor – illustratör

A charming, beautifully illustrated, bilingual English-Tibetan picture book about one of Tibet’s greatest spiritual teachers—sure to inspire awareness, compassion, and wisdom in children and adults alike that includes an online guide for parents and teachers.Milarepa is celebrated throughout the Himalayas as one of the most inspiring Buddhist figures from Tibetan history. This beautifully illustrated telling of his life and teachings, with Tibetan translation, lets children explore his extraordinary story. Milarepa went through an incredible transformation, overcoming suffering and his own misdeeds with the help of a wise teacher to become a great spiritual teacher in his own right. Through the story and teachings of Milarepa, we can see that it is always possible to let our inner goodness shine, no matter what we’ve done in the past. Every moment creates a new opportunity to settle the mind and open the heart. Milarepa’s resilience, fearlessness, mental clarity, and compassion have been beacons of inspiration for a thousand years and resonate as deeply today as they have through the centuries. To honor Milarepa’s spontaneous songs—classically known as dohas in Sanskrit, which communicated his experiences to others—this book is written in poetic form. It explores the wisdom of his teachings in the form of a rhythmic, call-and-response duet. An online guide for parents and teachers at wisdom.org further expands on the themes of the book by providing lesson ideas, meditation activities, and guidance for learning about language, history, and art.