Nina became a student of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 1980 and in 2002 was authorized by him to teach the Mandarava longlife practice and went on to lead many retreats in various parts of the world. Sadly, she passed away at her home in Poggio Ferro in Italy in the early morning of Saturday 28 September, 2024. Recalling her dedication to the Mandarava practice, we remember her in these days that the Mandarava retreat is taking place at Dzamling Gar.
From the 1980s when she moved to Italy, Nina was a perfect example of a Dzogchen practitioner, always present, always ready to help, always committed to whatever work she was doing. She was one of the first people who decided to pull up roots in her home country and come to be an active part of the young Merigar Dzogchen Community in the early 1980s, ready to help with whatever work was needed. With her move to Italy in the 80s, she adopted Italy totally as her own country, learning the language and customs perfectly.
One of her first duties in the Community was to be part of the original team of editors of the Mirror, the newspaper of the Dzogchen Community at that time. Later on she became the secretary of Merigar and worked long hours in the office at the Yellow House. Nina was also a skilful translator and editor and lent her translation skills to translations of many teachings and books for the Dzogchen Community.
Nina was such a dedicated practitioner that Chögyal Namkhai Norbu appointed her to teach and lead the Mandarava Longlife practice. This responsibility to teach took her around the world several times to explain and lead this practice for hundreds of people. For many people Nina Robinson became synonymous with the Mandarava practice.
In her later year she worked whole heartedly making the land of Merigar more beautiful with her karma yoga around the Merigar Gönpa and the Yellow House, caring for the gardens, the flowers, bushes and trees that she loved so much. Whatever activity Nina undertook, she did it wholeheartedly, with love, dedication and sheer hard work, without counting the hours that she spent on it.
Nina was a special person to the many people who knew her. Her general knowledge was amazing and her particular knowledge of the Mandarava practice and the teachings of Namkhai Norbu was exceptional. And she was always happy to share all of this with those around her. She had an exceptional memory and love of story telling and it was always an enormous pleasure to spend time with her and listen to her experiences and stories. Her love of plants and the natural world manifested in much of the greenery at Merigar around the Gönpa and, in her later life, in the little jewel of her garden at Poggio Ferro.
She could be outspoken at times, even bossy, but that was also part of her character and directness and we still loved her for it.
Nina is already missed not only on Amiata and at Merigar but also by many friends from around the world but we are sure to meet her once again on the path that leads to liberation.
Ciao Nina.
Liz Granger for The Mirror
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Nina Robinson Our Mum & “Nonna”
Our mum’s rebellious nature, free thinking, and love of counterculture is clearly evident in her choice of mine and my brother’s names. My brother was named after the famous jazz musician, Louis Armstrong. I was named after a character from James Baldwin’s novel ‘Another Country’, a jazz singer who fought racism, called Ida Scott.
When Mum was a young girl she adored roller coasters. She loved the slow start that gets more and more intense, the excitement that increases as you anticipate reaching the summit, the sudden drop, the twists and turns, the screams and laughter.
Mum’s life was not dissimilar to a rollercoaster and she loved it all.
Her life would not have been this exceptionally fulfilling, if she hadn’t met such incredible people along the way, for which I am truly grateful.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank a very special group of people from the Merigar Community, set up by Christiane Rhein, called ‘Aiuto a Nina’. They made it possible for Mum to remain in her much loved home. The core of this group, Christiane, Fiorella, Christine, Kasia and Giorgio, showed such dedication, determination and love. It was plain to see that they are truly amazing people. I am very grateful – thank you for being Mum’s friends.
If you ever feel like you are missing our mum you might find comfort reading, ‘The Third Policeman’ by Flann O’Brien, or by taking a walk in nature to see how beautiful the world is, or maybe add some beauty of your own by planting a tree or a plant.
Thank you Mum
By Ida, Nina’s daughter
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Kenwood
Two tiny figures
On a wide green landscape
You thought of Hokusai
I thought of Oshima
Or Laurel and Hardy
In Zen and the Art of Comedy
Yellow bright the sky
Yellow glow your parasol
Under the pearl grey clouds
We ran
Looking for a rainbow
A short poem by Des Barry recalling a vivid moment he shared with Nina back in 1981
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Mi chiamo Fraser e sono il genero di Nina
I became Nina’s son-in-law on the 28 September 1996, when Ida and I married in Santa Fiora, and on that day one of the first things that Nina taught me was that I was now her “genero” [son-in-law].
The first time I met Nina was at the funeral of her mother, in March 1995. Ida and I had only been together since the previous summer but on that day Nina introduced me to her family as her son-in-law. This was a complete shock to me and I thought to myself, how dare she put such pressure on me – but over time I came to wonder that maybe she knew something I didn’t and had decided to start to write my story for me.
And it is this idea of an individual’s story that I would like to explore.
As Ida and I sat beside Nina’s coffin at her home, waiting for the undertakers to arrive, the spine of a book caught my attention as it was called “The Story Book” and I am fascinated by the role that stories play in our lives.
This particular story book contained 21 traditional Buddhist tales and as I looked at their titles and read the morals of each of them, I realized there was a 22nd story that may not be from the Buddhist tradition but was worthy of inclusion.
The title of it is “The Woman With The Iron Will Who Found Her Home On The Iron Hill”.
Now you may not immediately realize by only reading the title alone that you already know this story, its protagonist and many people who feature in it. But if I were to tell you that the name of the woman with the iron will is Nina, the home she found was in Italy, and that iron hill translates to “Poggioferro” in Italian, you surely now know the story I am referring to.
That being the case, I don’t need to recount it, but I would like to look at what I believe to be the most important part of the story – finding a home.
When Nina first visited Italy, in the early 60s, she immediately fell in love with it and thought, ‘How can anyone leave this beautiful country?’. So when in the mid-80s it was suggested by Norbu that Nina come to Merigar, it was the perfect invitation because now she had an opportunity to be able to make Italy her home and hopefully never have to leave ‘this beautiful country’.
To begin with, life in Italy was challenging and she did not immediately find her home on the iron hill. It would take time, hard work, dedication and, most importantly, the assistance of her very dear friend, Mary Keynes.
But finally, at the end of the 90s, she found her home and it is important to remember that this was the first home she had ever owned. Which meant she could truly make it her own and pour all her love and energy into it, transforming it into a physical and emotional representation of who she truly was. This also took time, hard work and the assistance of the many friends she had made in the community here. But slowly and surely her home took shape and it now stands as a true testament to her and her love of Italy.
Finding and creating a home is never easy and, perhaps more importantly, understanding that your home is not always the same as your place of birth takes time. But slowly and surely Nina was able to realize both of those things and in doing so she also became Italian, which quite possibly was what she was always destined to be.
So she finally found her home and, by doing so, she found the answer to the question she had asked herself when she first came to Italy, all those years ago, and that is you don’t leave this beautiful country and you certainly don’t leave the beautiful home you have created here.
Fraser Bensted
Featured photo by Paula Barry
