In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku (, also tülku, trulku) is a particular high-ranking lama, of whom the Dalai Lama is one, who can choose the manner of his (or her) rebirth. Normally the lama would be reincarnated as a human, and of the same sex as his (or her) predecessor. In contrast to a tulku, all other sentient beings including other lamas, have no choice as to the manner of their rebirth. In addition to choosing the manner of their rebirth, tulkus are able, on their deathbed, to make known the place of their next birth.

Presently, there are over two thousand tulkus known, although in Tibet before the Chinese invasion there were probably a few thousand. Each tulku has a distinct lineage of rebirths. For example, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama is held to be the reincarnation of each of the previous thirteen Dalai Lamas of Tibet, who are in turn considered to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezig, Bodhisattva of Compassion, holder of the White Lotus. The vast majority of tulkus (and lamas) are men although there are some women.

The tulku incarnation lineage should not be confused with the lineage of Buddhist masters and their disciples, which is concerned with the oral or written transmission of particular Buddhist teachings and spiritual practice from generation to generation.

Nomenclature and etymology

The term ''tülku'' is the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit philosophical term ''nirmanakaya''. According to the philosophical system of ''trikaya'' or ''three bodies of Buddha'', nirmanakaya is the Buddha's "body" in the sense of the bodymind (Sanskrit: ''nāmarūpa''). Thus, the person of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, is an example of nirmanakaya. In the context of Tibetan Buddhism, ''tülku'' is used to refer to the corporeal existence of enlightened Buddhist masters in general.

In addition to Tibetans and related peoples, Tibetan Buddhism is a traditional religion of the Mongols and their relatives. The Mongolian word for a tulku is ''qubilγan'', though such persons may also be called by the honorific title ''qutuγtu'' (Tib: '''phags-pa'' / Skt: ''ārya''), or ''hutagt'' in the standard Khalkha dialect. According to the ''Light of Fearless Indestructible Wisdom'' by Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal: ''designates one who is "noble" (or "selfless" according to Buddha's usage) and used in Buddhist texts to denote a highly achieved being who has attained the first bhumi, a level of attainment which is truly egoless, or higher.''

A recent Chinese word for tulku is ''huófó'' (活佛), which literally means "living Buddha" and is sometimes used to mean tulku although this is rare outside of Chinese sources. Also, modern Chinese sources typically refer to a young incarnation of a (presumably male) tulku as a "soul boy" (). However, according to the Dalai Lama, "''this is wrong. Tibetan Buddhism recognises no such thing.''" Also, in interviews that he has given, the Dalai Lama has frequently dismissed the notion of 'living Buddha' referring to it as ''"nonsense"''.

Characteristics

History

The Tibetan institution of the tulku as the emanation (often misunderstood as the rebirth ) of a lama developed during the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, as various Schools of Tibetan Buddhism began to accept the possibility that exemplary figures might remain within the human world as institutional teachers, manifesting from one lifetime to the next out of compassion. At this point, the notion of nirmanakaya, or created body of a Buddha, became linked to a notion of regular manifestation (). The most dramatic—and at that time controversial—innovation was the idea that a tulku could inherit the estate (Tibetan: ''labrang'') of their previous incarnation. This rule of inheritance allowed for the rise of hugely wealthy estates belonging to the lineages of reincarnating tulkus. The first recognized tulku of this kind within the Vajrayana traditions was the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism; precisely, the first to be recognized as a manifestation was the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1204–1283). The Karmapa is now in his 17th emanation.

While most tulkus historically have been Tibetans, some have also been born among various other peoples with whom the Tibetans have had contact, such as the Mongols. Now in the Tibetan diaspora, tulku are being found all over the world. In modern times, as Tibetan Buddhism has attracted followers across the world, a small number of tulkus have been found among Western people. Perhaps the most religiously significant such tulku is Tenzin Ösel (born 1985), the child of Spanish parents, who has been recognized as the reincarnation of Thubten Yeshe, an influential Tibetan lama.

In 1988 a conference was convened at the request of the Dalai Lama at which approximately 350 tulkus and Abbots attended from all five Tibetan spiritual traditions - Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, and Bon. The agenda was to discuss the future of the Tibetan spiritual traditions in the Indian subcontinent, Tibet and foreign countries, and the relationship with science and foreign religions.

Finding a successor

As a tulku nears death he (or she) may hint in writings or reveal signs, to those with the karmic proclivity, that will help determine his or her successor or next mindstream emanation. Sometimes, a tulku will leave a prediction letter or song describing where they will be found, sometimes adding various details about their future parents, the situation of their house and so on. If such details are lacking, the monks whose duty is to locate his reincarnation, resort to a lama-''tulku'' astrologer (or ''tsispa'') for directions. Prophecies, which may date forward or backward many generations, also play a role. The vetting of a potential successor often involves tests such as checking whether the child can recognize acquaintances or possessions from his previous life or answer questions only known to his former life-experience. According to the book ''Magic and Mystery in Tibet'' by Alexandra David-Neel, “A number of objects such as rosaries, ritualistic implements, books, tea-cups, etc., are placed together, and the child must pick out those that belonged to the late tulku, thus showing that he recognizes the things that were ''his'' in his previous life. This process was portrayed in the movie ''Kundun''.

The thoroughness of the testing procedure varies according to the eminence of the tulku. For minor figures, associated with a particular area or monastery only, the choice is sometimes made after a perfunctory search and often motivated by political considerations. For major tulkus, like the Dalai Lamas and the Panchen Lamas, a great deal of care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the process of finding a successor.

Usually the tulku heir has been male, that is, appeared in male form. However, discussing his own successor, the Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying that "''if a woman reveals herself as more useful the lama could very well be reincarnated in this form''". The Dalai Lama has also said (when speculating about the possibility that his people might have no use for a Dalai Lama after he dies) that he "''might take rebirth as an insect, or an animal...''".

Tulku lineages

Tibetologist Françoise Pommaret estimates there are presently approximately 500 tulku lineages found across Tibet, Bhutan, Northern India, Nepal, Mongolia, and the southwest provinces of China. The vast majority of tulkus are men, although there are a small number of female tulku lineages. The most prestigious female tulku lineage is that of the Dorje Phagmo of Samding Monastery.

By far the most politically powerful tulku lineage for the past several hundred years have been the Dalai Lamas, which has seen a total of fourteen emanations beginning with Gedun Drub. Note that the title "Dalai Lama" was not applied to this line from the beginning: the second emanation was seen simply as the rebirth of Gedun Drub. The same was true of the third emanation, Sonam Gyatso, until he was dubbed "Dalai Lama" as an adult, after which he applied the title posthumously to his predecessors and declared himself the 3rd Dalai Lama. It was Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682), the 5th Dalai Lama, who established the Dalai Lamas as Tibet's predominant political power. After their control was consolidated, recognition of some of the most important tulkus was vetted by the government at Lhasa, and could on occasion be banned if its previous incumbent fell out of favour. A notable example of this penalty was the Shamarpa, once the most powerful subordinate of the Karmapa, whose recognition of reincarnation was banned by order of the Dalai Lama in 1792. This ban remained in place until after the Dalai Lama lost power in Tibet during the 1950s, although it was later revealed that the Karmapa had recognized emanations of the Shamarpa secretly during the intervening period.

Lineages of tulkus may be interlinked—for example the Panchen Lama traditionally recognizes the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama and vice versa. In most cases there is no such relationship, but the potential candidate is always vetted by respected lamas (as described above).

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo is an enthroned tulku within the Palyul lineage of the Nyingma tradition recognized by Penor Rinpoche. In the late 1980s, she gained international attention as the first Western woman to be named a reincarnate lama.

Controversy and Criticisms

The recognition of tulkus has sometimes involved ambiguity as well as controversy. According to Tibetan historian Samten Gyaltsen Karmay, Lobsang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama, wrote in his autobiography:

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In the 2009 documentary film ''Tulku'', Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche argues against the institutionalized Tulku system stating,

The American film actor Steven Seagal, while already an adult, was recognized by Penor Rinpoche, the head of the Nyingma school, as the reincarnation of a 17th century tertön from eastern Tibet, ''Chungdrag Dorje''. Penor Rinpoche notes that "such recognition does not mean that one is already a realized teacher"; Seagal has not been enthroned and has not undergone the extensive program of training and study that is customary for a tulku.

Documentaries

''Tulku''

''Unmistaken Child''

''My Reincarnation''

In popular culture

In the film ''The Shadow'', a mystical tulku trains Lamont Cranston to use his inner darkness to fight crime.

In the book ''Tulku'', by Peter Dickinson, a young boy and his companions, fleeing the Boxer rebellion in China, encounter Tibetan monks awaiting the birth of a tulku.

The Green Lama was often referred to as Tulku by his associates.

See also

Kumari - a Nepalese Hindu goddess lineage with similar selection processes

Rebirth

Reincarnation Application

Bodhi

Avatar

Incarnation

Namarupa

Notes

References

Campbell, June (1996). The Emperor's Tantric Robes Winter 1996 issue of ''"Tricycle" magazin''

Logan, Pamela (2004). "Tulkus in Tibet". ''Harvard Asia Quarterly'' 8 (1) 15-23.

Ray, Reginald A. 1986 "Some aspects of the Tulku tradition in Tibet." in ''The Tibet Journal'' 11 (4): 35-69

Further reading

Reincarnate Lamas: Tulkus and Rinpoches - section from Berzin, Alexander. 2000 ''Relating to a Spiritual Teacher.''

Tulkus: Incarnate Lamas of Tibet - An Interview with His Holiness Sakya Trizin - An excerpt from ''Testimonies of Tibetan Tulkus; A Research among Reincarnate Buddhist Masters in Exile'' by Danial Barlocher, Opuscula Tibetana, Rikon-Zurich, August 1982

Tulkus: Incarnate Lamas of Tibet 2 - Interview with Sakya Gongma Dagchen Rinpoche - excerpted from ''Testimonies of Tibetan Tulkus; A Research among Reincarnate Buddhist Masters in Exile'' by Danial Barlocher, Opuscula Tibetana, Rikon-Zurich, August 1982. (Interview translator: Cyrus Stearns).

Tulkus : Masters of Reincarnation - focus article at WisdomBooks.com

A small explanation for the Lineages

Category:Buddhist terms Category:Tibetan Buddhist titles

bo:སྤྲུལ་སྐུ། bg:Нирманакая ca:Tulku cs:Tulku de:Trülku el:Τούλκου es:Tulku eo:Tulku eu:Tulku fr:Tulku it:Tulku ka:ტულკუ nl:Tulku ja:化身ラマ pl:Tulku pt:Tulku ru:Тулку simple:Tulku sk:Tulku sl:Tulku fi:Tulku uk:Тулку vi:Hóa thân (Phật giáo) zh:活佛

Background	#FFD068 | color black
Name	Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Birth date	1920
Birth place	Tibet
Death date	February 13, 1996
Nationality	Tibetan
Religion	KagyuNyingma
Title	Tulku
Reincarnation of	Chowang Tulku
Successor	Chokling of Neten
Website	}}

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920 - February 13, 1996) (). A contemporary Buddhist master of the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages, who lived at Nagi Gompa hermitage in Nepal, Urgyen Rinpoche was considered one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of our time.

Life

Born in Eastern Tibet in Kham, in 1920, he was recognized by Khakyab Dorje, 15th Karmapa Lama as both the reincarnation of the Chowang Tulku and Nubchen Sangye Yeshe, one of the twenty-five principal students of Padmasambhava.

Rinpoche's father was Tsangsar Chimey Dorje, a vajrayana instructor who began giving Rinpoche transmission for the Kangyur, the Buddha, and "The New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa." As he grew older, he studied Dzogchen with Samten Gyatso.

Urgyen Rinpoche spent thirty three years at Nagi Gompa Hermitage where he spent two decades in retreat, and eventually established six monasteries and retreat centers in Nepal. Urgyen Rinpoche was the father of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche.

In the early morning of February 13, 1996, Urgyen Rinpoche died.

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Later reincarnation

His reincarnation was discovered in March 2006, the four year old son of Chokling Rinpoche (known as the Chokling of Neten, not to be confused with Tulku Urgyen's son who is the Chokling of Tsikey). He lives in the village of Bir in Himachal Pradesh, in India.

Writings

His main transmissions were the Chokling Tersar and the pointing-out instruction.

He is the author of the 2-volume series titled 'As It Is', which deals with the subject of emptiness.

References

External links

Brief biography

Speech by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche on the recognition of his father's Tulku in 2006

Category:Lamas Category:Rinpoches Category:1920 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Modern Buddhist writers Category:Tibetan Buddhism writers Category:Kagyü Buddhists Category:Nyingmapa Buddhists Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Category:20th-century Lamas

da:Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche de:Tulku Urgyen fr:Tulku Urgyen Rinpoché pl:Tulku Urgjen Rinpocze ru:Тулку Урген Ринпоче

Background	#FFD068 | color black
Name	Dilgo Khyentse
Birth date	1910
Birth place	Denkok Valley, Kham Derge, Tibet
Death date	September 28, 1991
Death place	Bhutan
Religion	Tibetan Buddhism
School	Nyingma
Title	Rinpoche
Reincarnation of	Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
Website	}}

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1987 to 1991.

Biography

He was born in the Denhok Valley at Kham Derge, Eastern Tibet in 1910 to a family directly descended from the ninth century King Trisong Detsen. His father was a minister to the King of Derge. When he was seven years old, he was publicly recognized as one of the reincarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo by Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche (1871–1926) at Shechen, one of the six principal monasteries of the Nyingmapa school. During the next few years Dilgo Khyentse received full schooling from various tutors, in addition to training in meditation, and in the study of the Dharma in general, and of Tantra specifically.

His root Guru was Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche, and Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (1893–1959) was his other main spiritual master. After he completed what are known as the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro), Khyentse Rinpoche spent most of the next thirteen years in silent retreat in remote hermitages and caves near his birthplace.

After completing his retreat at the age of twenty-eight, Khyentse Rinpoche spent many years with Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. After receiving from Khyentse Chokyi Lodro the many empowerments of the Rinchen Terdzo (the collection of Revealed Treasures or termas), Dilgo Khyentse requested to spend the rest of his life in solitary meditation. But Khyentse Chokyi Lodro's answer was: "The time has come for you to teach and transmit to others the countless precious teachings you have received."

Additionally he received teachings at Palpung Monastery from the eleventh Tai Situ Rinpoche, and full instruction on the ancient Guhyagarbha Tantra and its various commentaries from Khenpo Tubga at Kyangma Ri-tro. In all he studied with over fifty great teachers from all the various oral and practice lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.

As his own teaching career developed, he became renowned within Tibet for his ability to transmit the teachings of each Buddhist lineage according to its own tradition. Later on His Holiness the Dalai Lama would regard Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche as his principal teacher in the Nyingma tradition and of Dzogchen.

In the 1950s, as rebellions broke out in Kham in response to the imposition of Chinese Communist rule, Khyentse Rinpoche and his family escaped to central Tibet, leaving behind his precious library of collected Dharma books and most of his own writings. Then in 1959, as the takeover of Lhasa became certain, Khyentse Rinpoche, his family and a few disciples decided to leave Tibet, and headed for Bhutan. The royal family of Bhutan invited him to stay there and teach, and as his reputation spread he attracted many new disciples, and he became the foremost Buddhist teacher in Bhutan.

Later, as he made frequent visits to give teachings to H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama at Dharamasala in India, he began giving teachings all over the Himalayas, India, Southeast Asia and the West. His life became a continual flow of teaching, yet he found time for extensive scholarship and composed numerous poems, meditation texts and commentaries. He was also a Terton (a discoverer of spiritual treasures), discovering numerous termas and was one of the leading masters of the pith-instructions of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, and one of the principal holders of the Longchen Nyingtik tradition.

In 1980, he founded the Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal, where he transplanted the Shechen tradition to a new home near the great stupa of Boudhanath, just northeast of Kathmandu. At this location over the years he gave many teachings, turning the wheel of the Dharma countless times for hundreds of other lamas, disciples, and students from around the world. Over this same time period, and up until his paranirvana in 1991, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was involved in publishing as much of Tibet’s extraordinary heritage of Buddhist teachings as possible, over three hundred volumes altogether.

By followers of Tibetan Buddhism he is regarded as having been a great teacher of teachers, a realized being, who was also remarked upon as being a genuinely good human being. His entire life was devoted to the preservation and dissemination of the Buddha Dharma and he is still regarded with awe and amazement throughout the Tibetan diaspora, and western centers of Tibetan Buddhism. His importance within the Nyingma school in the 20th century was all-pervading. He was one of the few Tibetan Lamas accorded the honorific title of "His Holiness". Following the death of Dudjom Rinpoche in 1987, he became the head of the Nyingma School, and remained so until his own death in Bhutan on 28 September 1991.

Final cremation ceremonies were held for him over a three day period near Paro in Bhutan, in November 1992 and were attended by over a hundred important lamas, the Royal Family and ministers of Bhutan, five hundred western disciples and a huge crowd of some fifty thousand devotees.

Preservation of lineages

Gyatrul (b.1924), in a purport to Chagmé (Wylie: karma-chags-med, fl. 17th century), conveys Khyentse's 'samaya' (Sanskrit), diligence and humility in receiving 'wang' (Tibetan), lineal transmission and 'rlung' (Wylie) as rendered into English by Wallace (Chagmé ''et al.'', 1998: p. 21):

With respect to oral transmission, even if the lineage is impure, it is not a problem. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche often sought out and received any oral transmission he thought was on the verge of disappearing. It made no difference who was giving it. He would receive it and, in turn, pass it on to make sure that the lineage remained unbroken.

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, who currently resides in Bhutan, was appointed as the incarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche on December 1995 :

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche was born in Nepal on June 30,1993. When Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, his close students requested Trulshik Rinpoche, his most senior and accomplished disciple, to find his incarnation..

Publications

''Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of Atisha's Seven Point Mind Training''

: by Rab-Gsal-Zla-Ba, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche : Paperback: 120 pages; Publisher: Snow Lion Publications : (December 1, 1993); ISBN 1-55939-023-9

''Guru Yoga : According to the Preliminary Practice of Longchen Nyingtik''

: by Rab-Gsal-Zla-Ba, Matthieu Ricard, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Rigpa : Paperback: 101 pages; Publisher: Snow Lion Publications : (December 1, 1999); ISBN 1-55939-121-9

''Journey to Enlightenment: The Life and World of Khyentse Rinpoche, Spiritual Teacher from Tibet''

: by Matthieu Ricard (Photographer) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's disciple], Rab-Gsal-Zla-Ba, Padmakara Translation Group (Translator) : Hardcover: 151 pages; Publisher: Aperture : 1st ed edition (October 1, 1996); ISBN 0-89381-679-5

''The Excellent Path to Enlightenment''

: by H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche : Paperback: 128 pages; Publisher: Snow Lion Publications : (April 1, 1996); ISBN 1-55939-064-6

''The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones''

: by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Patrul Rinpoche (Foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama) : Paperback: 280 pages; Publisher: Shambhala; ISBN 0-87773-493-3

''The Hundred Verses of Advice : Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on What Matters Most''

: by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Padama Sangye : Hardcover: 176 pages; Publisher: Shambhala : (February 15, 2005); ISBN 1-59030-154-4

''The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava''

: by Erik Pema Kunsang, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, Yeshe Tsogyal : Paperback: 336 pages; Publisher: North Atlantic Books, Rangjung Yeshe : (October 10, 2004); ISBN 962-7341-55-X

''The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel''

: by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche : Paperback: 120 pages; Publisher: Shambhala; : Reprint edition (March 16, 1999); ISBN 1-57062-452-6

''The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse Vols. 1-3''

: by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche : Hardcover: 1808 pages; Publisher: Shambhala; (January 11, 2011) : 1st edition; ISBN 978-1590308875

Sources

References

Midal, Fabrice (2004) ''Chögyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision'' ISBN 159030098X

External links

Dilgo Khyentse Fellowship - Shechen

Longchen Foundation Founded by H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - at Rigpa Wiki

Category:20th-century Lamas Category:Nyingma Lamas Category:Rimé Lamas Category:Rinpoches Category:Tertons Category:Khyentse incarnations Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Category:Bhutanese Buddhist teachers Category:1910 births Category:1991 deaths

cs:Dilgo Khjence rinpočhe de:Dilgo Khyentse eo:Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche fr:Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoché nl:Dilgo Khyentse pl:Dilgo Khyentse Rinpocze ru:Дилго Кхьенце Ринпоче zh:頂果欽哲

Chagdud Tulku () Rinpoche (1930–2002) was a teacher of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. He was known and respected in the West for his teachings, his melodic chanting voice, his artistry as a sculptor and painter, and his skill as a physician. He acted as a spiritual guide for thousands of students worldwide.

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was the fourteenth recognized Chagdud incarnation. Chagdud Gonpa centers practice Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, primarily in the Nyingmapa tradition of Guru Padmasambhava.

Early life

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was born in the Tromtar region of Kham eastern Tibet in 1930. His father was Sera Khato Tulku, a lama in the Gelugpa sect. His mother was Dawa Drolma, who was widely considered to be an emanation of Tara and was from a Sakya family, and had a profound influence on her son's spiritual life.

By the time he was three years old, he was recognized as the incarnation of the previous Chagdud Tulku, and soon thereafter traveled to Temp'hel Gonpa, a monastery about two or three days by horseback from Tromtar. As he recounts in his autobiography, ''The Lord Of The Dance'':

For the next seven years, until I went into three year retreat at the age of eleven, my life would alternate between periods of strict discipline in which my every move would be under the surveillance of my tutors and interludes in which my suppressed energies would explode. Throughout, I had many visions, many clairvoyant experiences, many extraordinary dreams, and within these, I sometimes had glimpses of absolute open awareness.

After this retreat he received numerous teachings, empowerments, and oral transmissions, from various spiritual masters. One of them, Sechen Rabjam Rinpoche, told him that Tara meditation would be one of his major practices.

In 1945, shortly after completing his first three year retreat, he went to see Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. From Chökyi Lodrö Rinpoche he received the Rinchen Terzod empowerments, and caught his first glimpse of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who was attending the empowerments. By 1946 he entered his second three year retreat, this time under the guidance of the Tromge Trungpa Rinpoche. Near the conclusion of this retreat, the death of Tromge Trungpa forced him to leave before its completion. He then returned to Chagdud Gompa in Nyagrong, and after staying there for a while, proceeded on a pilgrimage to Lhasa with an entourage of monks. He then did an extended retreat at Samye, the monastery built by Guru Padmasambhava, and afterwards attended empowerments given by Dudjom Rinpoche, who would become a main teacher as well as a source of spiritual inspiration for him.

After this in 1957 he stayed for a year in Lhasa, Tibet, in the same household as Khenpo Dorje, whom he regarded as his root lama. Among his other teachers were Shechen Kongtrul, Tulku Arig and Dudjom Rinpoche.

During 1958, his last year in Tibet, Chagdud Tulku was advised to marry in order to have a companion and helper in the unsettled times to come. He later wed Karma Drolma, the daughter of a wealthy landowner in Kongpo. Later, in exile in India, they would have a son and a daughter, Jigme Tromge Rinpoche and Dawa Lhamo Tromge.

Life in exile from Tibet

Following Tibet's invasion by China in 1959, Chagdud Tulku escaped along with Khenpo Dorje to India, after enduring hunger, and many close calls, where it looked like they would not make it out. His route took him through Padma Kod region of Tibet, and his party came out from there into the Naga land area of India. In India Rinpoche lived in a number of Tibetan refugee resettlement camps ─ Kalimpong, Orissa, Dalhousie, Bir, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi. He practiced Tibetan medicine, and was much in demand as his fellow refugees had trouble coping with the heat, and subtropical diseases found in India.

A year or two after his arrival in India, Rinpoche entered a retreat in Tso Pema, a lake sacred to Guru Rinpoche, located near the city of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. At this location he met Jangchub Dorje, a primary disciple of Apong Terton and a lineage holder of this great treasure revealer's Red Tara cycle. Jangchub Dorje gave him empowerments for the Red Tara cycle, and then he re-entered into retreat and signs of accomplishment in the practices came very swiftly. Later, when he began teaching in the West, Red Tara Sadhana would become the meditation most extensively practiced by his Western students.

While he was living in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, circumstances there gradually led to an estrangement with Karma Drolma, and eventually they separated.

After giving a teaching in Kulu Manali, the Dalai Lama extended an invitation for Rinpoche to go to the United States and teach, contingent upon him getting a visa. It was at this time that he moved to Delhi, and lived in Majnukatilla, a Tibetan camp on the banks of the Yamuna River. The process of trying to get a visa went on for three years, and was ultimately unsuccessful. During this time period he met his first Western students, but he also caught malaria and nearly died, and was saved by an Indian doctor who finally made the correct diagnosis of what was ailing him.

In the fall of 1977 empowerment cycles were given in Kathmandu, Nepal by Dudjom Rinpoche in order to propagate the sacred lineages to a new generation. Chagdud Tulku decided to travel there in order to receive all the empowerments of the Dudjom treasures from Dudjom Rinpoche. Hundreds of tulkus, scholars, yogis and lay practitioners gathered at Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's monastery for these empowerments. About his experience he says this in his autobiography:

During my stay in Nepal I received empowerments and oral transmissions for all the treasures he had discovered in this life and in his previous life as Dudjom Lingpa. It was a wealth of practices whose splendor is unsurpassed, and deep within me I formed the aspiration to offer this transmission to others through empowerment and teaching.

While attending them Chagdud Tulku met an older lama from Western Tibet, Lama Ladakh Nono, who was known for doing mirror divinations. He subsequently did a mirror divination for Chagdud and told him he should go to the West and benefit many people there by teaching the Dharma. He also predicted that a Western woman would come into his life and that this would be good.

He continued to stay in Nepal on into 1978 in order to attend a new series of empowerments in the Choling Tesar cycle given by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. It was while attending one of these empowerments that a Western woman, Jane Dedman (later Chagdud Khadro), approached Chagdud Rinpoche with the offering of a white scarf and a jar of honey. Afterwards he invited her to lunch, and shortly after this he gave her some teachings. A month or so later he accepted her offer to serve as his attendant in retreat after the empowerments. This retreat lasted for several months, after which Dudjom Rinpoche among other things suggested Chagdud go to America to teach.

Life in the West

After many months of waiting he was finally granted a visa and landed in San Francisco on Oct. 24, 1979. Shortly after this, he married Jane in South Lake Tahoe, California. The early years of his teaching in the Americas was spent in Eugene, and Cottage Grove, Oregon. In 1983, at the request of his students, he established Chagdud Gonpa Foundation. He soon ordained his first lama, a Western woman named Inge Sandvoss, as Lama Yeshe Zangmo (in 1987).

Additionally in the time period of 1980 through 1987 he traveled widely and gave many teachings, accompanied by his interpreter, Tsering Everest. He invited many other Lamas such as Dudjom Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, and Kyabje Penor Rinpoche to Oregon where they bestowed many empowerments and teachings. He also helped set up Padma Publications which eventually published his two books: ''The Lord of the Dance'', and ''Gates to Buddhist Practice''. With the assistance of Richard Baron, Padma Publications also began the monumental task of translating Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries from Tibetan into English, three volumes of which have been published to date.

In 1987 he returned to Tibet for the first time since 1959. He traveled to Kham, visiting the three monasteries of his youth, and actually bestowed empowerments to the monastic staff there. His son, Jigme Tromge Rinpoche, traveled with him to Tibet and the next year immigrated to the United States, entering a three-year retreat a few months after his arrival. Then in 1988, after land was acquired in the Trinity Alps of Northern California, the main seat of Chagdud Gonpa Foundation was created there as Rigdzin Ling.

It was here that Chagdud Tulku offered the empowerments and oral transmissions of the Dudjom Treasures in 1991, and several years later, of the supreme Dzogchen cycle, Nyingt'hig Yabzhi.

In 1992 he received an invitation to teach in Brazil and he would become a pioneer insofar as spreading the Dharma in South America. Throughout the 1990s he maintained an extensive teaching schedule, put some of his senior students into three year retreats, and helped to establish many Chagdud Gonpa centers throughout the Western Hemisphere. These include more than 38 Dharma centers under Chagdud Tulku's supervision and inspiration, in USA, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Switzerland and Australia. The best known are Rigdzin Ling in Junction City, California and Khadro Ling, his main center in Três Coroas, Brazil.

In all his teachings he was known for stressing pure motivation in doing spiritual practice. He once wrote, "In the course of my Buddhist training, I have received teachings on many philosophical topics and meditative methods. Of all teachings, I find none more important than pure motivation. If I had to leave only one legacy to my students, it would be the wisdom of pure motivation. If I were to be known by one title, it would be the 'motivation lama.'" ”"

In this context, ‘pure motivation’ means the cultivation of ''bodhicitta'', which is the enlightened intent of doing practice for the benefit of oneself, and all other sentient beings.

In 1995 he moved to Khadro Ling, in Río Grande do Sul, Brazil, and it became the main seat of his activities for the rest of his life. Before moving to Brazil, Chagdud Tulku enthroned Lama Drimed Norbu (Alwyn Fischel) one of his main Western students, head lama of the Chagdud Gonpa foundation and gave him authorization to teach the Great Perfection teachings. In 1996 the first Brazilian Dzogchen retreat took place at Khadro Ling and a large Guru Rinpoche statue was created there. In the next few years, he traveled in South America, giving teachings in Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, in addition to different parts of Brazil. He also continued to travel to his centers in the United States, and made frequent visits to Nepal, a return to Chagdud Gompa in eastern Tibet and a visit to mainland China. During this same time period, in addition to leading Drubchens and month long Dzogchen retreats, he also trained his students in the sacred arts of sculpture and painting, as well as ritual dance, chanting, and music.

In 1998, construction began on the ''lha khang'' (temple) of Khadro Ling. In July 1998, the empowerments of the Taksham Treasures were bestowed by Terton Namkhai Drimed in the still incomplete temple. This temple was followed by an enormous prayer wheel project, perhaps the largest in the Western Hemisphere, then eight magnificent stupas, and a monumental statue of Akshobhya Buddha. In the same period, in Parping, Nepal, Rinpoche built a new retreat center where eight people began training according to the Kat'hog tradition under Kyabje Getse Tulku.

While Chagdud Rinpoche kept up a tremendous amount of Dharmic activity, in the last few years of his life he was somewhat slowed down by diabetes, and in 1997, he entered a clinic and was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. In the last year of his life Rinpoche's body began to hinder his outer activities. He tired more easily, and travel became difficult. In 2002, he cancelled a trip to the United States, which had been scheduled for October, and instead entered strict retreat.

In the last week of his life, he concluded this retreat on Tuesday, November 12, worked with a student artist to complete a statue of Amitabha, talked with many of his students, and led a training in ''phowa'' (transference of consciousness at the moment of death) for more than two hundred people. He continued teaching with great vigor until about 9 pm on Saturday night November 16. Then on Sunday morning of the 17th, at about 4:15 a.m., Brazilian daylight time, he suffered massive heart failure while sitting up in bed.

According to his son, Jigme Tromge Rinpoche, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche then remained in a state of meditation for almost six full days. The ability to remain in meditation after the breath stops is known as (''t'hug dam''). Jigme Tromge Rinpoche described this in a release to the Brazilian press:

After his last breath, my father remained in a state of meditation for almost six full days that prevented the usual deterioration of his body. The ability to remain in a state of meditation after the breath stops is well known among great Tibetan masters, but circumstances have rarely allowed it to occur in the West. Chagdud Rinpoche remained sitting in a natural, lifelike meditation posture, with little visible change of color or expression. During that time, no one touched his body. Until the sixth day, Friday, November 22rd, Rinpoche showed no physical signs that his meditation had ended. In the interim we were in constant consultation with a lawyer and other officials about local customs and regulations. Friday midday, his meditation ended and his mind separated from his body. Within hours, his appearance changed. He took on the signs typical of those occurring within the first 24 hours of death.

Afterwards his ''ku dun'' (the physical body) was flown to Kathmandu, Nepal, and then to the retreat center in Parping. During the forty-nine days that followed, Getse Tulku Rinpoche and Jigme Tromge Rinpoche led ceremonies in Parping, to purify inauspicious circumstances to Rinpoche's rebirth and to generate great merit through offerings and practice.

A year later on the full moon of December 8, 2003, Rinpoche's cremation was held on Jigme Rinpoche's land in Parping, with Kyabje Mogtza Rinpoche, one of the highest lamas of Kat'hog Gonpa, serving as Vajra Master. Hundreds of Rinpoche's students gathered, to mourn the loss of his direct physical presence, and made prayers and offerings for his eventual rebirth.

His main students and the lamas he ordained continue to teach and carry on Chagdud's many projects and practices.

At Brazil Gonpa the project of Padmasambhava's Pureland has been realized, the Consecration having taken place in the meantime. To build a replica of Zangdog Palri was Chagdud Rinpoche’s last wish and great project before he died in 2002.

Chagdud Rinpoche made it a point to not only ordain many western lineage holders and lamas, but to surround himself with powerful female practitioners. Over half of the 30 some-odd westerners he has ordained as lamas have been women..." The first lama whom he had ordained as Lama Yeshe Zangmo was a Western woman named Inge Sandvoss.

As a "true Dzogchen master" he at least authorized one western teacher to teach Dzogchen, Lama Drimed - there may be more. In September 2010, Lama Drimed offered his resignation to the Board of Directors of Chagdud Gonpa Foundation from his positions as Spiritual Director and President of the Foundation, while remaining an ordained lama with authorization to teach the Great Perfection.

Bibliography

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1993). ''Gates to Buddhist Practice: Essential Teachings of a Tibetan Master''. Padma Publishing. ISBN 1-881847-02-0

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (2000). ''Life In Relation To Death''. Padma Publishing, 2nd edition. ISBN 1-881847-11-X

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1992). ''Lord of the Dance: Autobiography of a Tibetan Lama''. Padma Publishing. ISBN 1-881847-00-4

References

External links

Official website biography

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche : Red Tara

Chagdud Gonpa/North America

Chagdud Gonpa international

Category:1930 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Lamas Category:Nyingma Category:Tibetan painters Category:Tertons Category:Tulkus Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Category:Rinpoches Category:20th-century Lamas Category:Tibetan Buddhists from the United States

fr:Chagdud Tulku Rinpoché pt:Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

Background	#C11B17 | color white
Name	Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
Birth name	Gě Yíshān (葛宜山)
Alias	Iska Minh, Burcha Bugayeff
Dharma name	Tenzin Sopa
Birth date	October 24, 1965
Birth place	Taipei, Taiwan
School	Tibetan Vajrayana
Lineage	Gelug
Title	Rinpoche
Location	Malaysia
Teacher	Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Reincarnation of	Kentrul Rinpoche Thubten Lamsang
Present post	Spiritual advisor of Kechara House Buddhist Association
Website	}}

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche (born October 24, 1965) is a tulku, a reincarnate lama of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and the founder and spiritual guide of the Kechara House Buddhist Association in Malaysia.

Tulku lineage

Tsem Tulku is the third in the line of tulkus associated with Ganden Monastery's Shartse college and the Gyuto tantric college. His predecessors were Gedun Nyedrak, a Khampa who served as Ganden Shartse's 72nd abbot; and Kentrul Thubten Lamsang, from Drikung, who died in Phari during the 1950s. Since the former came from a family which owed ties of fealty to Tsem Monastery, which housed a tooth of Tsongkhapa as a holy relic (''tsem'' being the honorific Tibetan word for "tooth"), the name "Tsem" came to be applied to the tulku lineage; hence Tsem Tulku's appellation. ("Rinpoche" is an honorific meaning "precious," which is customarily affixed to the names of lamas.)

Biography

Tsem Tulku was born in Taipei, Taiwan to Dewa Nimbo, an Old Torghut Mongolian woman whom Tsem Tulku describes as a "princess" (she was the grand-daughter of Prince Palta, a Xinjiang government official during the Qing and Nationalist periods; and the daughter of Mingyur Wang, briefly a member of the ROC National Assembly); and Lobsang Gyatso, a Tibetan from Ngawa with ties to the Tibetan exile government who, after fleeing to Taiwan, ran a school for Tibetan refugee children. According to Tsem Tulku's website,

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The future Tsem Tulku spent his first seven years in Taipei, living under the care of a foster family. His Chinese (and presumably original) name was 葛宜山 (Gě Yíshān).

:Note: Rinpoche gives his Mongolian name as Iska Minh, affecting the title of "prince." In the United States, he was known as Burcha Bugayeff, while his ordination name is Tenzin Sopa.

In 1972 his mother's family arranged for him to be adopted by a Kalmyk family in Howell, New Jersey, where the U.S. government had resettled a number of Kalmyk refugees. His adoptive parents (whom he was led to believe were his birth parents) were Dana and Boris Bugayeff. Tsem Tulku remembers the couple as controlling and abusive, and reports that he attempted several times to commit suicide, and several times to run away from home.

Tsem Tulku recalls having been attracted to Buddhist deities from an early age. He drew amulets featuring them and at one point, imagined "a red lady" (Vajrayogini) with the power to "take us from this world fast!" Despite his adoptive family's disapproval of his involvement in religion, he gravitated towards Rashi Gempil Ling, a nearby Mongolian Buddhist temple where Khensur Lobsang Tarchin resided. He received his first tantric empowerments (into the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum and the "Eight Verses of Mind Transformation") during a 1979 visit of the Dalai Lama.

In 1981, at the age of 16, he ran away from home for the final time after an argument with his father. His website reports:

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In Los Angeles, he worked several jobs (including McDonalds and Fotomat); earned a GED while attending Mark Keppel High School in 1983; and lived in Thubten Dargye Ling, a Gelugpa dharma center. For six months he served as a personal assistant to visiting lama Zong Rinpoche, who became his Root Guru. At this time he received the Yamantaka initiation, which he describes as "critical" for other teachings he would later receive. At the same time he attempted to find work as an actor. He was an extra in the 1983 Stephen King / John Carpenter film ''Christine'', and was apparently sought for a role in the 1986 Eddie Murphy vehicle, ''Golden Child''.

Zong Rinpoche urged him to become a monk, come to India, and stay with him at Zong Ladrang (in Ganden Monastery). The future Tsem Tulku promised to do so. Although Zong Rinpoche died soon after, in 1984, he kept his promise, and in 1987 received monastic vows from the Dalai Lama. For the next nine years (1988–1997) he studied at Ganden Shartse (in Mundgod, Karnataka), under Kensur Jampa Yeshe Rinpoche and Lati Rinpoche, while living in a small room in Zong Ladrang. Tsem Tulku remembers this as a time of poor health and financial hardship.

In 1992, on the instructions of his gurus, Tsem Tulku embarked upon a fund-raising tour to Malaysia. The trip was a success, and a number of Malaysian Chinese Buddhists requested his return. Accordingly, Tsem Tulku Rinpoche left India and settled in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1999 he and a local sponsor, Dato' Eric Tan, opened "Kechara Paradise," a store (now a small chain) selling dharma items. ("Kechara" is the name of the Pure Land of Vajrayogini.) Rinpoche would give teachings there, or in people's homes. By 2002 his disciples were meeting on rented premises ("Tara House" in Kelana Jaya). In 2004 the first permanent dharma center, "Kechara House," opened. In 2006 Tsem Tulku created a "Liaisons Council" to head what was becoming a network of centers, shops, and activities, all with "Kechara" as part of their names. (See below for a description of these.)

Kechara House Buddhist Association

Kechara House Buddhist Association (KHBA), formally registered in 2001, is led by a "Liaisons Council" consisting of (presently) 21 Liaisons, 6 of whom double as the KHBA's Board of Directors. New Liaisons are voted in by existing Liaisons. The structure was apparently modeled after that of Ganden Monastery. The Liaisons Council supervises thirteen departments, whose heads may or may not simultaneously serve as Liaisons.

As of 2010, some 95 people work for the organization in some capacity (often on a volunteer basis). The Kechara group seems to have several hundred active members, and a less-committed following of perhaps a thousand or so. Except for a few Westerners, nearly all participants are Malaysian Chinese. (To proselytize Muslim Malays would be illegal under Malaysian law; see Religious freedom in Malaysia.)

Spiritual practice

Tsem Tulku particularly emphasizes the practices of guru devotion to Tsongkhapa (traditionally credited with having founded the Gelugpa order); propitiation of Setrap Chen (the dharma protector associated with Ganden Shartse); and the highest yoga tantra of Vajrayogini (which he considers the most suitable highest yoga tantra for modern laypeople for its relative simplicity and erotic imagery, modern society being highly sexualized). He often recommends the study, recitation, and practice of Lojong texts such as the "Eight Verses of Thought Transformation", the ''Wheel of Sharp Weapons,'' and Tsongkhapa's "Twenty-Seven Verses on Mind Training."

Tsem Tulku is a strong supporter of vegetarianism and animal rescue (or release). (He owns a number of pets, who are often mentioned on his blog.)

Teaching style

Tsem Tulku's personal style is difficult to describe objectively, yet is crucial to any understanding of his influence. He cuts a flamboyant figure, calling himself "the Neon Lama." He is an active blogger and user of Facebook and Twitter. His numerous You-Tube postings include, for example, his imitation of "a Baptist evangelist" (in which the expressions "Halle-Buddha-Jah" and "matchy-matchy-poo" come up) and a running commentary on the 1962 film ''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?''. He reports a deep interest in UFO's and other "unsolved mysteries." Despite being a monk, he does not normally wear robes outside of religious settings (on the advice of his gurus).

He does not give any initiations, not even as blessings to normal laity.

Writings

Tsem Tulku is the author of ''Gurus for Hire: Enlightenment for Sale'' (Kuala Lumpur: Kechara, 2007), which combines autobiography with spiritual commentary. It discusses "the precarious, often tricky Guru-disciple relationship" and "all the political games that are played behind closed temple doors." He also wrote ''Compassion Conquers All: Teachings on the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation'' (Kechara, 2007), a textual commentary.

Several books have been compiled from Tsem Tulku's teachings. These include ''Why I Make Myself Unhappy'' (Kechara, 2005), ''Faces of Enlightenment'' (Kechara, 2006), and ''Peace: A Compilation of Short Teachings'' (Kechara, 2009). ''If Not Now, When?'' (Kechara, 2008) is a coffee-table book of quotations.

A number of Tsem Tulku's dharma talks are available for sale as DVD's, or free through various forms of electronic media (see links elsewhere in this article).

Several of Tsem Tulku's disciples have published spiritual memoirs. These include Jamie Khoo's ''Call Me Paris'' (Kechara, 2010) and David Lai's ''There's No Way But Up'' (Kechara, 2010).

See also

List of Rinpoches

References

External links

Tsem Tulku official website - includes link to blog

* Tsem Tulku at Facebook and Facebook group

* Tsem Tulku at Twitter

* Tsem Tulku videos on YouTube

Kechara House website

Lama’s brand new approach - article in The Star newspaper

Finding his own peace - article in The Star newspaper

Painted with a prayer Buddhist Channel interview with Tsem Tulku about thangka paintings

Look at bigger picture to tackle homelessness, says Rosmah - article in Bernama

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Tulkus Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Taiwan Category:Rinpoches Category:Gelug Lamas Category:20th-century Lamas Category:People from Taipei

de:Tsem Tulku fr:Tsem Tulku Rinpoché