Gungbar Tulku Rinpoche - Autobiography

LING GUNGBAR LABRANG
Lama Camp 2
Tibetan Colony - 581411
Mundgod Karnataka
India
Tel 91-8301-85152

A Concise Autobiography

In response to some of my friends in the West who have asked me about my life, I have written in these few lines some of the things that I have been told about my past reincarnations as well as a few of my recollections and experiences from this life.

The great Fifth Dalai Lama, who brought all of Tibet under his peaceful rule and built the Potala palace in Lhasa as the seat of religious and temporal law, established one of my incarnations Ngawang Tempei Gyaltsen as the first Gungbar Tulku. I still have the letter of official recognition in my possession. This lama and another lama of that same period (middle-1600's), Rinchen Jugney, both from Bada Samdrup Ling Monastery were from that time to the present day known as Gungbar Chetsang Tulku and Gungbar Chungtsang Tulku. Since I was the elder at that time (Chetsang), I was given that name. My personal seal also gives the meaning of the name Gungbar. It approximately means open sky with clouds of dharma appearing in the form of a wheel of Dharma, spreading rays of the teaching everywhere. When I was reborn, I was recognized officially by both the sixth and seventh Dalai Lamas which, in the Tibetan tradition, is necessary to establish the lineage. These letters from the distant past are also kept intact.

Some of my predecessors had short lives so my immediate predecessor Tulku Losang Tenzin chose to do a long meditation retreat on Yamantaka to rid obstacles, however he passed away only a few days after completing the three year retreat. Before he died, I am told that he regretted not accomplishing as much as he hoped to do but that in his next life, he prayed that he would be of benefit to sentient beings and practice Buddhism well.

Although I personally do not have any evidence, I was recognized as a small child as the thirteenth Gungbar Tulku. In 1943 I was born in a tiny village in Eastern Tibet called Tsipo. It is very beautiful there, many mountain peaks nearby, wild flowers and peaceful animals. My family had many difficulties both before I was born and until I was three years old. We were very poor and even went hungry sometimes.

Meanwhile, Lab Ken Chen Rinpoche, from nearby Bada Monastery, was actively seeking the reincarnation of Gungbar Tulku and went to Lhasa to consult with some of the great lamas there. When he returned to Kham I was declared to be the reincarnation at the age of four. I was very happy to go with the monks to Bada Monastery where I began my studies.

By 1956, the Chinese were occupying our area and imprisoning many Tibetans as well as taking children to China for indoctrination. They were about to take me also to China, when I was sent by my teacher to Lhasa, both for study and to be safe. I and several others traveled by horse 27 days. We arrived in the fall of 1956, and I joined Drepung Loseling Monastic University. The other Gungbar Tulku, already fifty eight years old wanted to remain in retreat in Kham so he was left behind.

In Drepung I studied with the great masters of the time, two years passed in this way. Meanwhile, in Kham, the Chinese forced Gungbar Chetsang Tulku to come out of retreat and were about to throw him into prison. He narrowly escaped them and arrived in Lhasa where I was happy to meet him once again, however, he passed away suddenly only one month before the uprising in Lhasa which occurred on March 10th 1959.

With great sadness, a few days after the uprising and the mass killing of so many Tibetans, on March 13th, I and three others followed the Dalai Lama into exile. We left Lhasa with only a few provisions and walked out of Tibet. We were fortunate that, although we heard gun shots in the distance, we did not encounter any Chinese soldiers on the way. We arrived safely in India and were sent, along with other monks, to Buxa, in Assam state where His Holiness the Dalai Lama encouraged us not to abandon our studies. In Buxa, I continued my formal study with some of the great Lamas there learning The Paths to Enlightenment (Parchin) and the ultimate view of Buddhism (Uma). I debated with so much enthusiasm, my hands bled from slapping them together in the traditional manner of demanding correct answers from debate partners. In 1967, my assistant, Gen Choega passed away that same year I received full Gelong ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.

The three great monasteries were being reestablished in South India at that time and I was soon sent there to work in the library. While assisting the great scholar, ex abbot of Loseling, Pema Gyaltsen in writing commentaries on Parchin, Uma, as well as logic, I continued studying Dulwa (discipline), and Dzo (cosmology and metaphysics). I began to teach on the texts I had studied and in 1975 I sat for the Lharampa Geshe examination and then entered Gyuto Tantric University to study tantra at the request of my kind teacher Kyabje Ling Rinpoche. After completion, I returned to Drepung to teach.

In 1983 I returned to Kham for the first time. The monastery was in a state of decay, with only twelve monks. It was nearly destroyed after 1959 and the local people were prevented from supporting and helping to rebuild their monastery. Many young men were waiting and wanting to become monks so I had the great joy of giving novice and full ordination to about sixty young monks. The Chinese were watching all of the time so I could only teach small groups at a time. I had the opportunity also to see my family once again.

Returning once again to South India, I taught Dharma at Drepung as well as continued my duties at the library. In 1986, after a suitable time had passed after the death of Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, the senior tutor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I spent a full year searching for his reincarnation. I traveled to many parts of India, gathering the names of all the children born in a certain time period.

I saw the soon to be recognized Ling Rinpoche near Dharamsala. His mother passed away shortly after his birth and his father, who traveled selling sweaters in remote Ladak state was unable to care for him. At the age of one year, he was placed in Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) orphanage and soon afterward His Holiness chose him from that list as the definite incarnation of his own precious teacher.

In 1987 I was appointed vice abbot of Gyuto Tantric University by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the next year I was asked to lead a group of monks from Drepung Monastery to the West. We were invited to many places in the United States, Canada and some places in Europe. Returning to India, I was installed as abbot of Gyuto in 1990 and held that position for the traditional tenure of three years. During the six years I spent at Gyuto, I did my best to uphold the high standards of discipline and education of the monks. I instituted new programs of study for the younger monks and required examinations in memorization for tantric texts and chanting in the unique harmonic style passed down from the founder more that 300 years ago. We also tested the skills of mandala drawing and making of tormas, the ritual offerings at rituals. During this busy period I went twice more to the West with groups of Gyuto monks to familiarize others with the tantric tradition of Tibet.

The Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bodhgaya, the place of the Buddha's enlightenment, requested me to be the abbot in 1993. I was also honored to be appointed as tutor to young Ling Rinpoche. Each day we met to practice reading and writing Tibetan texts and beginning Buddhist philosophy. As he is extremely bright, motivated and curious, I am pleased to be challenged by this position.

My monastery in Tibet again requested me to come and give teachings. Their conditions continue to be very difficult, sanitation and medical care are still a worry for me, since they rely on me to represent them where they are not free to go. At that time I was able to get permission from the Chinese authorities so that I could teach the Lam Rim Chenmo, the great stages of the path to enlightenment and the Yamantaka practice. I also gave ordination to many more monks. The population of practicing monks at Bada Monastery is now more than 100. If I had a single wish that I could fulfill in the remainder of my life it would be to see Bada Monastery restored to a condition that could make the lives of these worthy monks less difficult so that they could concentrate on their religious studies.

I continue to instruct young Ling Rinpoche who is now in South India at Drepung, just as his predecessors did in Tibet. Out of the thirty young monks at Ling Khangtsen more than two thirds are escapees from Tibet, many of those are from my own Bada Monastery wanting to learn the logic and debate systems for which Drepung Loseling is famous.

They are all studying hard, but we are struggling to find the resources for their daily maintenance because their families inside Tibet are not able to help them.

As Drepung Monastery itself has more than two thousand monks now, each hostel or house (Khangtsen) is greatly responsible for its own food, shelter and expenses.

Gungbar Chungtsang Rinpoche was reborn quickly, left Tibet and recently completed his Geshe or doctoral studies in South India.

I am happy that his studies have been successful and as a young man still, only in his early thirties, he will bring benefit to many.

Now at last I am able to spend time in retreat, doing my daily recitation and prayers. I have had twenty one precious teachers in my life and firmly believe that the faith I have in the Buddhist path to realization and any qualities that I may possess are fully due to their blessing and great kindness. In whatever way possible I try to be of benefit to others, to set a good example as a monk and pray that I may continue these positive habits for the rest of my life.

(Gungbar Tulku Rinpoche made this "Concise Autobiography" available to the Tibetan Lama Fund on October 1st 1997.)