Me First! An account of the rise of the Wrathful Buddhas
Me first! An account of the rise of the Wrathful Buddhas.
James Low
(Simply Being, UK, 2022) ISBN: 9780956923981
Kindle eBook (Simply Being, UK 2026) Print replica
Text by James Low. Illustrations by Diana Collins.
This is a traditional Tibetan epic tale of the havoc created by the arrogant entitlement that proclaims, “Me first!”. When pride turns demonic, the Buddhas manifest many faces of kindness (both peaceful and wrathful) to tidy up the mess.
This illustrated book tells the story of an ancient Tibetan Buddhist account of how a teacher’s liberating instructions on the path to freedom were misunderstood by one of his disciples. A student’s misunderstanding that fed into his overweening ambition and many disasters that ensued on an epic and cosmic scale.
This story points to the dangers of unconstrained power and the associated temptation to follow the path of dictatorship. It highlights how important is the creative collaboration among the forces of good in order to constrain the power of delinquent self-assertion.
The illustrations bring the key points of this story to dramatic life and invite the reader to share in the excitements of this heroic engagement.
The text by James Low is based on the Padma bKa’-Thang by Padmasambhava and revealed by the terton, Urgyen gLing-Pa.
For the full translation of the original Tibetan text see Facet 4 (Getting Lost Invites Trouble), in This is it: revealing the great completion. James Low. (Simply Being, UK, 2020) ISBN: 978-0956923974.
Hindi
Annu Gupta has translated Me First! into Hindi as मैंं हीी मैंं! [August 2025]. You can download the PDF file here. It has not been published.
Italian
Francesca Fazzio has translated Me First! into Italian as Prima Io! [August 2025]. You can download the PDF file MeFirst Hindi v6 MS 28.07.25 It has not been published.
Polish
Me First! has been translated into Polish by Bartek Czajkowski as and is now published as a Kindle e-Book, 2025.
Portuguese
Me First! has been translated into Portuguese by João Pereira Vale Neto
(reviewed by Madalena Gomes Pedroza) and is now published as a Kindle e-book and as a hardback book.
Russian
Me First! has been translated into Russian by Marina Samarina 2025 and is available as a PDF file. СНАЧАЛА Я!
Spanish
Me First! has been translated into Spanish by Juan Bautista García and is now published as a Kindle e-book and as a hardback book.
Turkish
Me First! has been translated into Turkish as Önce Ben!: Öfkeli Budaların ayağa kalkışının hikayesi by Pinar McGivern, 2024. Free pdf.
Animated Book on YouTube
Me First! This has been animated by Marja Shramko and sound added by Marina (Marie) Samarina. It is prepared and read in various languages. Click here.