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The Buddhist calendar is used on mainland Southeast Asia in the countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma (officially known as Myanmar) and Sri Lanka in several related forms. It is a lunisolar calendar having months that are alternately 29 and 30 days, with an intercalated day and a 30-day month added at regular intervals. All forms of the Buddhist calendar are based on the original version of the Surya Siddhanta, which dates to the 3rd century CE (both the original and medieval forms of the Surya Siddhanta are used by the various Hindu calendars).^[1][2]

Intercalation system[link]

Its lunisolar intercalation system generally adds seven extra months (adhikamasa) every 19 years and 11 extra days (adhikavara) every 57 years, but this is only a rough guide to the results of the actual calculations. The average year is 365.25875 days reckoned from the mahayuga of 4,320,000 years, simplified to 292,207 days every 800 years by removing a common factor of 5400 from the total days and years. This year is slightly longer than the modern sidereal year and is substantially longer than the modern tropical year. The Hindu version adds extra months and days (or removes months and days) as soon as the astronomical formulae require, whereas the southeast Asian versions delay their addition. The Thai/Lao/Cambodian version does not permit an extra day to occur within years having an extra month, whereas the Burmese/Sri Lankan version permits an extra day only in years having an extra month. Thus there are four types of lunisolar years, of 354, 355, 384, or 385 days. Even though the intercalation cycles imply a tropical year, the sidereal year that is actually used causes the 'cycles' to gradually shift throughout history.

Names of the months[link]

The month names are Sanskrit (except in old Burmese):

Caitra, Vaisākha, Jyaiṣṭha, Āṣāḍha, Śrāvaṇa, Bhādrapada,

Āśvina, Kārttika, Mārgaśirṣa, Pauṣa, Māgha, Phālguna.

The old Burmese month names were:

Tagu (တန်ခူး), Kason (ကဆုန်), Nayon or Nayone (နယုန်), Waso (ဝါဆို), Wagaung (ဝါခေါင်), Tawthalin (တော်သလင်း),

Thadingyut (သီတင်းကျွတ်), Tazaungmone or Tarzaungmon (တန်ဆောင်မုန်း), Nataw or Natdaw (နတ်တော်), Pyatho (ပြာသို), Tabodwe (တပို့တွဲ), Tabaung (တပေါင်း)

The Mon month names are:

Ce (စဲ, /coa/), Pas (ပသာ်, /pəsaik/), Hje (ဇှေ်, /cèh/), Daguin (ဓဂိုန်, /həkɜ̀n/), Sresi (သ္ဍဲသဳ, /hədoa sɔe/), Bhat (ဘတ်, /phòt/)

Hva (ဝှ်, /wòh/), Gahtuin (ဂထိုန်, /kəthɒn/), Mreggatui (မြေဂ္ဂသဵု, /pəròikkəsɒ/), Puh (ပုဟ်, /paoh/), Ma (မာ်, /màik/) Phawraguin (ဖဝ်ရဂိုန်, /phɔrəkɜ̀n/)

The month names in Pāḷi are:

Citta, Visakha, Jeṭṭha, Āsāḷha, Sāvaṇa, Poṭṭhapāda,

Assayuja, Kattikā, Māgasira, Phussa, Māgha, Phagguṇa.

The month names in Sinhala are:

Bak, Vesak, Poson, Æsala, Nikini, Binara,

Wap, Il, Undhuvap, Dhuruthu, Navam, Mædhin.

The month names in Tamil are:

Chiththirai, Vaikasi, Aani, Aadi, Aavani, Purattasi,

Aippasi, Kaarthikai, Maarkazhi, Thai, Maasi, Pankuni.

Common years have months that alternate 29 and 30 days with an extra day being added to Jyestha/Nayon making it 30 days, and an extra month is obtained by counting Ashadha/Waso twice. Each month has a waxing half of 15 days and a waning half of 14 or 15 days.

Burmese names of the months[link]

Kason, Nayon, First Waso, and Second Waso have 30 days each and are called the "four even continuous months" in a year with an extra month.

Year numbering[link]

The numbered year coincides with the sidereal year containing twelve zodiacal signs (rasi) so it can begin on any date from 6 Caitra/Tagu to 5 Vaisakha/Kason, meaning the rest of the month will be in an adjacent year. Thus any particular numbered year may be missing some days of the month while an adjacent year has the same set of dates at both its beginning and end.

Four eras were/are used:

• Anchansakarat, from 10 March 691 BC (rarely used),
• Buddhasakarat, Buddhist Era or BE, from 11 March 545 BC, believed to be the date of the death of the Buddha. (BE–AD of 544 used to be common, but BE–AD is now 543 in Thailand, beginning after April before 1940, then began and still begins 1 January),
• Mahasakarat from 17 March 78 (same as the Saka Era in India, used in Thailand until the mid-13th century, standard in Cambodia),
• Chulasakarat from 22 March 638 (adopted in Thailand mid-13th century, standard in Burma).

All years are elapsed/expired/complete years, thus their epochal year is year 0, not year 1, because a complete year had not yet elapsed during it. The epochal dates only apply to year 0 — modern dates for the entry of the Sun into the first rasi (the beginning of the sidereal year) occur later in the Gregorian calendar due to precession of the equinoxes. The calculations do not begin with zero at epoch — instead an offset of a certain number of whole and fractional days, which can amount to more than one year, must be added to all calculations, explaining the apparent Buddhasakarat inconsistency. Here 544 has an offset of 4 days at epoch whereas 543 has an offset of 369 days.

Chronology of the Buddhist Era[link]

It should be borne in mind that there is controversy about the base date of the Buddhist Era, with 544 BC and 483 BC being advanced as the date of the parinibbana of the Buddha. As Wilhelm Geiger pointed out, the Dipavamsa and Mahawamsa are the primary sources for ancient South Asian chronology; they date the consecration (abhisheka) of Asoka to 218 years after the parinibbana. Chandragupta Maurya ascended the throne 56 years prior to this, or 162 years after the parinibbana. The approximate date of Chandragupta's ascension is known to be within two years of 321 BC (from Megasthenes). Hence the approximate date of the parinibbana is between 485 and 481 BC — which accords well with the Mahayana dating of 483 BC.^[3]

According to Geiger, the difference between the two reckonings seems to have occurred at sometime between the reigns of Udaya III (946–954 or 1007–1015) and Pârakkama Pandya (c. 1046–1048), when there was considerable unrest in the country.^[3]

However, mention is made of an embassy sent to China by Cha-cha Mo-ho-nan in 428. The name may correspond to 'Raja (King) Mahanama', who (by the traditional chronology) reigned about this time.^[4]

Furthermore, the traveller-monk Xuanzang, who attempted to visit Sri Lanka about 642, was told by Sri Lankan monks (possibly at Kanchipuram) that there was trouble in the kingdom, so he desisted;^[5] this accords with the period of struggle for the throne between Aggabodhi III Sirisanghabo, Jettha Tissa III and Dathopa Tissa I Hatthadpath in 632-643.

Recent indological studies have indicated that the Parinibbana of the Buddha may be even later than previously supposed. A majority of the scholars at a symposium held in 1988 in Göttingen regarding the problem were inclined towards a date of 440–360 BCE. However, their calculations were based on the chronology of Tibetan Buddhism, preferred over that of the Dipavamsa/Mahavamasa; the modified chronology, in order to work, needs to identify the Indian ruler Kalasoka, son of Susunaga, with the Emperor Asoka, son of Bindusara.^[6][7] It should also be noted that the Sri Lankan chronicles are based on even earlier works and that the Buddhist canon was first put into writing in Sri Lanka.

Chronology of the Buddhist Era in Thailand[link]

In the Thai solar calendar, a modified version of the Gregorian calendar, the Buddhist Era is reckoned to have an epochal year 0 from 11 March 545 BC, based on the belief that was the date of the death of Gautama Buddha. King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) changed year counting to this Buddhist Era (Thai: พุทธศักราช [pútʰa sàk.kà.râːt] Thai: พ.ศ. [pʰɔː sɔː] BE), setting the start of the year as 1 April in 2455 BE, AD 1912. On 6 September 1940, Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram decreed 1 January 1941 as the start of the year 2484 BE, with the result that 2483 was only 9 months long and since then the Thai Buddhist Era BE equals that of the Christian Era plus 543 years.

See also[link]

• Chinese calendar
• Tamil Calendar
• Thai lunar calendar
• Thai solar calendar
• Traditional Burmese calendar

References[link]

External links[link]

• Thai Time by Anthony Diller
• Southeast Asian and Hindu calendar converters by Lars Gislén (and J.C. Eade)
• How Chula Sakarat Dates Work
• Nelum Wila - Me Purasanda Lamayintayi(Sinhala)

in Thailand: article for stamp collectors recovered 2007 Dec 20

• Thai Lunar Calendar (BE.2300-2584) (Thai Language)

This article is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (August 2010)

This article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (August 2010)

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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[link]

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,^{[2][unreliable source?]} a Khampa who served as Ganden Shartse's 72nd abbot; and Kentrul Thubten Lamsang,^[3] 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.^[4] ("Rinpoche" is an honorific meaning "precious," which is customarily affixed to the names of lamas.)

Biography[link]

This section relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (August 2010)

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,

Rinpoche’s father and mother became romantically involved, however, his mother was unaware that his father already had a wife and children in Tibet. Rinpoche’s parents separated even before he was born and the shame of having an illegitimate child was too great for his mother, who gave Rinpoche away immediately after his birth.^[5]

The future Tsem Tulku spent his first seven years in Taipei, living under the care of a foster family.^[6] 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.^[7] Tsem Tulku remembers the couple as controlling and abusive,^[8][9] 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.^[10]

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:

With just US$50 in his pocket, Rinpoche left New Jersey for good, walking out to the highway and hitchhiking all the way across America to L.A., California. The journey was long and difficult; he lived on the streets and had to deal with being beaten, guns, physical abuse and offers of porn and prostitution.^[11]

In Los Angeles, he worked several jobs (including McDonalds and Fotomat);^[12] earned a GED while attending Mark Keppel High School in 1983;^[11] 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.^[13] At this time he received the Yamantaka initiation, which he describes as "critical" for other teachings he would later receive.^[14] 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, The Golden Child.^[15]

Zong Rinpoche urged him to become a monk, come to India, and stay with him at Zong Ladrang (in Ganden Monastery).^[13] The future Tsem Tulku promised to do so. Although Zong Rinpoche died soon after, in 1984,^[16] 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.^[17][18]

In 1992, on the instructions of his gurus, Tsem Tulku embarked upon a fund-raising tour to Malaysia.^[19] 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.) ^[20][21]

Kechara House Buddhist Association[link]

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.^[22] New Liaisons are voted in by existing Liaisons. The structure was apparently modeled after that of Ganden Monastery.^[23][24] The Liaisons Council supervises thirteen departments,^[25][26] whose heads may or may not simultaneously serve as Liaisons.^[27]

As of 2010, some 95 people work for the organization in some capacity (often on a volunteer basis).^[28] 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[link]

Tsem Tulku particularly emphasizes the practices of guru devotion to Tsongkhapa (traditionally credited with having founded the Gelugpa order);^[29] propitiation of Setrap Chen (the dharma protector associated with Ganden Shartse);^[30] 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, ^[31] and Tsongkhapa's "Twenty-Seven Verses on Mind Training." ^[32]

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[link]

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."^[33] He is an active blogger and user of Facebook and Twitter. His numerous YouTube postings include, for example, his imitation of "a Baptist evangelist" (in which the expressions "Halle-Buddha-Jah" and "matchy-matchy-poo" come up)^[34] and a running commentary on the 1962 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?.^[35] He reports a deep interest in UFO's ^[36] 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.^[37]

Writings[link]

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 DVDs, 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[link]

• List of Rinpoches

References[link]

External links[link]

• 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