pt. 1. Childhood -- My mother has a prophetic dream -- Raised by a family of 4,000 monks -- Living under the great leap forward -- Following a Tibetan hero -- pt. 2. Under the dragon's claw -- "Comets in the sky, chaos on Earth" -- Enter the Cultural Revolution -- Removing paper hats -- pt. 3. On the political stage -- A communist matchmaker meets the Panchen Lama -- The sacred tree and the time machine -- Becoming a political Buddhist -- pt. 4. Taking flight -- Stepping into my birthright -- The feast of privilege reveals its price -- Final days with the dragon -- From Kumbum to Kumbum West -- Epilogue -- Appendix A: How Buddhism came to Tibet, and the lineage of the Arjia Rinpoches -- Glossary of terms and names.