Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen

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Tenzin Gyaltsen Negi
Personal
Born1894
Sunam
DiedFebruary 20, 1977
Religion Tibetan Buddhism
NationalityIndian
School Rimé movement
LineageNyingma and Kagyu
TeachersKhenpo Shenga, Khenpo Kunpal, Kathok Situ, Drikung Agon, Dzongsar Khentse
Other namesKhunu Rinpoche
Negi Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen
Senior posting
Students

Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen (Tibetan : ཁུ་ནུ་བླ་མ་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱལ་མཚན, Wylie : khu nu bla ma bstan 'dzin rgyal mtshan), 1894–1977, [1] known also as Negi Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen (Tibetan : ནེ་གི་བླ་མ་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱལ་མཚན, Wylie : ne gi bla ma bstan 'dzin rgyal mtshan), Tenzin Gyaltsen (bstan 'dzin rgyal mtshan), and various other names like Kunu (khu nu) Rinpoche, Kunu Lama and Negi Lama (ne gi bla ma), [2] was born in 1894 in the village of Sunam which lies in the Kinnaur district of India in the western Himalayas. [1] He passed away at the age of 82 at Shashur Monastery in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachel Pradesh on February 23, 1977, while teaching the final page of Gampopa's Jewel Ornament of Liberation. [3] Khunu Rinpoche was not officially recognized as a tulku, nor was he an ordained Buddhist monk, but a layman (Wylie : dge bsnyen, Skt. upāsaka) who had taken lay practitioner's vows [1] before becoming a Tibetan Buddhist master. [1] [4]

Contents

The 14th Dalai Lama’s "respect for him was profound: He would prostrate to Rinpoche in the dust when they met at the Great Stupa in Bodh Gaya." Known as the “Precious One from Kinnaur,” his birthplace in northern India, according to Gene Smith's research on reminiscences, interviews, and writings of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, and Matthieu Ricard, his profound knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism led him to be recognized by lamas of different schools as one of the "greatest Tibetan lamas of his time although not ethnically Tibetan." He lived the life of a wandering yogi with a devoted female companion, the Drikung Khandro. [5] He is renowned as one of the influential teachers in the Rimé (non-sectarian) movement within Tibetan Buddhism,[ citation needed ] and as a Dzogchen master.

A foremost scholar of Sanskrit and Classical Tibetan "as a prerequisite to the study of the religious texts" who "gained a reputation for extraordinary scholarship," Khunu Rinpoche traveled widely in Tibet and India disseminating essential teachings of Buddhist philosophy, and was known for shunning attention. The 14th Dalai Lama found it difficult to locate him and sent emissaries to Buddhist pilgrimage sites and the places where Khunu Lama was known to have taught. He was accidentally discovered living incognito in a Shiva temple in Varanasi. The Dalai Lama visited him, and after initially being turned away, asked Khunu Lama to teach the younger tulkus who had accompanied him into exile, and to teach him personally as well. [6]

His students include Drikung Khandro, Khenpo Konchok Gyaltsen, Lamkhen Gyalpo Rinpoche and the 14th Dalai Lama. [7] While the Dalai Lama has highly qualified teachers and debate partners, he used to clarify philosophical concepts in discussions with Khunu Lama and called him the "Shantideva of our time." [1] Among several teachings that the Dalai Lama received from Khunu Rinpoche was the celebrated Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Shantideva. His Holiness said Khunu Lama Rinpoché was a lay practitioner, but he "had no hesitation in receiving a thorough explanation of Shantideva’s ‘Way of the Bodhisattva’ from him," and often refers to him as "one of my root gurus" when teaching. [8]

His seminal work on bodhicitta was translated and published under the title of Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea: Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta by Wisdom Publications in 1999. [9]

Two reincarnations of Khunu Lama have been identified, both of whom are teachers of Buddhism.[ citation needed ] Jangchhub Nyima was born to a Tibetan father and Danish mother and currently teaches in India and Denmark.[ citation needed ] Tenzin Priyadarshi was born into a family of Brahmin parents in Bihar, India, and is known for his continued interest in Sanskrit Buddhist literature, and was the first Buddhist Chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [10]

Related Research Articles

The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Bodhicaryāvatāra translated into English as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 AD in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India which is also where it was composed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelug</span> Dominant school of Tibetan Buddhism

The Gelug is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan philosopher, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples.

The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu or Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche is a title given to the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. They also hold the title of Bogd Gegeen, making them the top-ranked lama in Mongolia.

A tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibetan Buddhism, embodying the concept of enlightened beings taking corporeal forms to continue the lineage of specific teachings. The term "tulku" has its origins in the Tibetan word "sprul sku", which originally referred to an emperor or ruler taking human form on Earth, signifying a divine incarnation. Over time, this term evolved within Tibetan Buddhism to denote the corporeal existence of highly accomplished Buddhist masters whose purpose is to ensure the preservation and transmission of a particular lineage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyaincain Norbu</span> 11th Panchen Lama according to the Chinese government

Chökyi Gyalpo, also referred to by his secular name Gyaincain Norbu or Gyaltsen Norbu, is considered the 11th Panchen Lama by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He is also the vice president of the Buddhist Association of China. Gyalpo is considered to be a proxy of the Chinese government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodhisattva vow</span> Vow taken by Mahayana Buddhists to liberate all sentient beings

The Bodhisattva vow is a vow taken by some Mahāyāna Buddhists to achieve full buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. One who has taken the vow is nominally known as a bodhisattva. This can be done by venerating all Buddhas and by cultivating supreme moral and spiritual perfection, to be placed in the service of others. In particular, bodhisattvas promise to practice the six perfections of giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom in order to fulfill their bodhicitta aim of attaining buddhahood for the sake of all beings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhabdrung Rinpoche</span>

Zhabdrung was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage. In Bhutan the title almost always refers to Ngawang Namgyal (1594–1651), the founder of the Bhutanese state, or one of his successive reincarnations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sogyal Rinpoche</span> Tibetan lama (1947–2019)

Sogyal Rinpoche was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and former spiritual director of Rigpa — an international network of over 100 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world — and the author of the best-selling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has been printed in 30 languages and 56 countries. Before his retirement, in the wake of abuse allegations in 2017, he had been teaching for 40 years in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reting Rinpoche</span> Tibetan Buddhist title

Reting Rinpoche was a title held by abbots of Reting Monastery, a Buddhist monastery in central Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngamring County</span> County in Tibet, China

Ngamring County is a county of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. "Ngamring County, sometimes referred to as the gateway to Mount Kailash and Far West Tibet, is the barren area which divides the Raga Tsangpo and the Brahmaputra."

The Khamtrul tulku lineage is part of the Dongyud Palden section of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen</span> Tibetan Gelug lama (1619–1656)

Trülku Drakpa Gyeltsen (1619–1656) was an important Gelugpa lama and a contemporary of the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682). His Seat was the upper residence of Drepung Monastery, a famous Gelug gompa located near Lhasa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathok Monastery</span> Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Baiyü County, Sichuan, China

Kathok Monastery, also transliterated as Kathog, Katok, or Katog, was founded in 1159 and is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" in Tibet of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, built after Samye Monastery. It is located in Payul, Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan, China, in the region traditionally known to Tibetans as Kham.

The Changkya Khutukhtu was the title held by the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia during the Qing dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen</span> Tibetan monk (1912–1947)

(Thubten) Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen or Thupten Jampel Yishey Gyantsen, Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་འཇམ་དཔལ་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྒྱལ་མཚན་, Wylie: thub-bstan 'jam-dpal ye-shes rgyal-mtshan was a Tibetan tulku and the fifth Reting Rinpoche.

Gyaltsen may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenzin</span> Name list

Tenzin is a Tibetan given name, meaning "the holder of Buddha Dharma". Tenzin can alternatively be spelled as Tenzing and Stanzin as well. Stanzin is generally used by the Ladakhi people, since Ladakhi language retains many archaic forms which have been lost in other modern Tibetan languages. For example, in Standard Written Tibetan, 'Tenzin' is spelled as "bstan'zin"; however, when it is spoken, both the 'b' and the 's' are silent and 'an' becomes 'en' in Standard Lhasa Tibetan. It may refer to any of the following people:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lingtsang Gyalpo</span>

Wangchen Tenzin, King of Lingtsang, also Lingtsang Gyalgenma, was the King of Lingtsang in Kham, a tertön, a ngagpa and a kīla master of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was said to be an incarnation of King Gésar of Ling and was known for his kindness and his siddhis linked to his kīla practice.

Duldzin Dragpa Gyaltsen (1374-1434), the first Kyorlung Ngari Tulku, was one of the principal disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lungtok Tenpai Nyima</span>

Lungtok Tenpai Nyima was the 33rd Menri Trizin, the abbot of the Menri Monastery and former leader of Bon.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dodin (1993).
  2. Dodin, Thierry. "Negi Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen – A preliminary account of the life of a modern Buddhist saint". info-buddhism.com. Recent Research on Ladakh, 6. Bristol, 1996. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  3. "Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen". rywiki.tsadra.org. Tsadra Foundation. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  4. Halford, Beth (July 1, 2015). "The Life of a Bodhisattva: The Great Kindness of Khunu Lama Rinpoche". Mandala Magazine, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  5. Smith, Gene (June 1, 1999). "Khunu Rinpoche, A Bridge Between Sects and Spiritual Traditions". Tricycle Magazine. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. "Here's How Dalai Lama Traced Khuni Lama In Indial". Deccan Herald. August 24, 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  7. Rinpoche, Kyabje Lama Zopa. "Khunu Lama Rinpoche's Story". lamayeshe.com. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  8. "Avalokiteshvara Empowerment in Leh, 2023". Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. July 23, 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  9. Rinpoche, Khunu (2000). Vast as the heavens, deep as the sea : verses in praise of bodhicitta. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN   978-0861711468.
  10. "The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi". web.mit.edu/. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 7 September 2018.

Sources