“Paolino” Perrella was a historical figure of our Community. Among the first students of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, he arrived at the Subiaco retreat in 1976, actively participating in the birth of the Dzogchen Community. Over the years, he had the fortune of receiving the transmission of all the Master’s precious Teachings, including the Rigpai Zal Wang of the Jetsun Nyingthig.
His spiritual journey began back in the 1970s, when the call of the East led him to Nepal. In Swayambhu, he had the privilege of meeting the 16th Karmapa, from whom he received the Ngöndro practices according to the Karma Kagyü tradition. Paolino dedicated himself with profound devotion to the practice of Vajrasattva, completing the recitation of the one hundred thousand mantras. It was the 16th Karmapa himself who pointed the way back, telling him that in Italy he would finally meet his true Master.
Shortly after his return, Paolino heard of a Tibetan Lama who was to give teachings at a private villa in Subiaco: it was the beginning of an unbreakable bond. From that moment on, he followed Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s Teachings without interruption, applying them in an essential, no-frills style. A man of humble soul and straightforward character—at times short-tempered, but always authentic—he lived with extreme simplicity, embodying a natural detachment from material possessions and concerns for his own body.
His life was a tapestry of crafts and passions. A refined guitarist, in his youth he had learned the art of lutherie, specializing in the construction of classical guitars. But the mountains were his true element, a love born during a long stay in Langtang, a remote area of Nepal on the border with Tibet, among nomadic shepherds and yaks. From that period he carried with him the language, which he spoke fluently, and the traditional Nepalese dress in which he appeared at Subiaco, earning him forever the nickname “Paolino the Nepalese”.
His solitary and resilient soul led him to live for many years in a cabin he built himself in Bardonecchia. There, he raised goats, producing cheese and milk which, in winter, he would carry on foot with snowshoes down to the village to exchange for the essentials needed to live in isolation among the peaks.
In recent years, immediately after the purchase of Dzamling Gar, Paolino moved to Tenerife. He first worked at the Gar as a laborer and later for the municipality of Adeje. As his health declined, he retired to a tiny house in Las Galletas, halfway between the Gar and the airport, where he lived with dignity and simplicity until his passing in January 2026.
Paolino leaves behind the memory of an “old-school” practitioner, whose devotion lay not in words, but in the consistency of a life lived on the fringes of worldly concerns and at the heart of the Teaching.
Paolino passed away on January 11th at 2:20 AM, Tenerife time. As those who had helped him during these difficult days left the Santa Cruz hospital, they were greeted in the courtyard by a vivid double rainbow. We like to imagine our dear Paolino greeting us this way, singing the praises of his Sacred Master whom he always called, with immense devotion: “The Very Best”.
Andrea Dell’Angelo
