Total population | |
---|---|
26,700 (Central Tibetan Administration estimate, 2020) [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
California (mainly Northern California), Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Boston, Austin, Wisconsin, Chicago, Indiana, Oregon, Southern California, Los Angeles [2] [3] | |
Languages | |
Tibetan, English | |
Religion | |
Tibetan Buddhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Tibetans, Chinese Americans, Bhutanese Americans, Nepalese Americans and other Asian Americans particularly Americans of East Asian and South Asian descent |
Tibetan Americans are Americans of Tibetan ancestry. As of 2020, more than 26,700 Americans are estimated to have Tibetan ancestry. [1] The majority of Tibetan Americans reside in Queens, New York. [4]
Ethnic Tibetans began to immigrate to the United States in the late 1950s. [5] Section 134 of the Immigration Act of 1990 gave a boost to the Tibetan immigration to the US, by providing 1,000 immigrant visas to Tibetans living in India and Nepal. [6] [5] Chain migration followed, and by 1998 the Tibetan-American population had grown to around 5,500, according to a census conducted by Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). The 2000 United States Census counted 5,147 US residents who reported Tibetan ancestry. [6]
This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2007) |
An estimate of c. 7,000 was made in 2001, [5] and in 2008 the CTA's Office of Tibet in New York informally estimated the Tibetan population in the US at around 9,000. [6] In 2020, The Central Tibetan Administration estimated the number of Tibetans living in the United States to be over 26,700. [1] The migration of the Tibetans to the United States took on the pattern of 22 "cluster groups", located primarily in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and the Intermountain West. Other communities include Austin, Texas and Charlottesville, Virginia. Tibetan Americans who are born in Tibet or elsewhere in Tibet are officially recognized as Chinese nationals not by choice due to China's occupation of Tibet. [9]
Communities of Tibetan Americans in the Northeast exist in Boston and Amherst, Massachusetts, Ithaca, New York, and New York City, and in the states of Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey. In New York and New Jersey, they live primarily in Queens and New Brunswick.
The town of Northfield, Vermont has been home for many years to the seat of the current Trijang Rinpoche, who has been estranged from the Dalai Lama due to the Dorje Shugden controversy, which has become a cultural heritage center for thousands of followers.
In the Mid-Atlantic region, the largest communities can be found in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, Maryland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Communities of Tibetan Americans in the Great Lakes region exist in Chicago and in the states of Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. There is a Tibetan Mongol Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana near the campus of Indiana University. [10] The late brother of the Dalai Lama was a professor at the university.
Minnesota has the second largest concentration of Tibetan Americans in the United States. [11]
Communities of Tibetan Americans in the western U.S. exist in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, Berkeley, California, several locations in Southern California, and in the cities and states of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Boise, Idaho, Montana, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Washington, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Every year, Seattle holds an annual Tibet Festival in August.
Although quite small in number overall, Colorado has one of the highest concentrations of Tibetans in North America, focused on Boulder, Colorado Springs, Douglas County and Crestone. The state has Naropa University whose values statement states, "We are Buddhist-inspired, ecumenical, and nonsectarian welcoming faculty, staff, and students of all faiths as well as those who don’t ascribe to any religion." [12] There is a Buddhist commune[ citation needed ] west of Castle Rock and several cities have Tibetan outreach organizations. Colorado Springs alone has three Tibetan stores and a restaurant.
Much of the reason[ citation needed ] behind this rather peculiar demographic is that Tibetan guerillas were secretly trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at Camp Hale outside of Leadville. Camp Hale was used as a training camp for expatriate Tibetans to be inserted to aid the existing resistance in Tibet after the region was retaken by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, between 1959 and 1965.
From 1958 to 1960, Anthony Poshepny trained various special missions teams, including Tibetan Khambas and Hui Muslims, for operations in China against the Communist government. Poshepny sometimes claimed[ citation needed ] that he personally escorted the 14th Dalai Lama out of Tibet, but sources in the Tibetan exile deny this.
The site was chosen because of the similarities of the Rocky Mountains in the area with the Himalayan Plateau. The CIA parachuted four groups [13] of Camp Hale trainees inside Tibet between 1959 and 1960 to contact the remaining resistance groups, but the missions resulted in the death or capture of many team members.
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.
Kyabje Nawang Gehlek Rimpoche was a Tibetan Buddhist lama born in Lhasa, Tibet on October 26, 1939. His personal name was Gelek; kyabje and rimpoche are titles meaning "teacher" and "precious," respectively; he is known to Tibetans as Nyakre Khentrul Rinpoche. According to Thupten Jinpa, principal English translator to the Dalai Lama, he is considered
"an important link to the great lineages of Tibet’s great masters, especially of the Geluk school. Known more famously for the Tibetans as Nyakre Khentrul Rinpoche, Rinpoche had been instrumental in reprinting many of the Geluk texts in the 1970s, and also remained an important object of affection for both Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. Of course, his emergence as one of the great Tibetan teachers in the West has also been a source of inspiration for many.”
The Dorje Shugden controversy is a controversy over Dorje Shugden, also known as Dolgyal, whom some consider to be one of several protectors of the Gelug school, the school of Tibetan Buddhism to which the Dalai Lamas belong. Dorje Shugden has become the symbolic focal point of a conflict over the "purity" of the Gelug school and the inclusion of non-Gelug teachings, especially Nyingma ones.
Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo was a Gelug lama of the modern era of Tibetan Buddhism. He attained his Geshe degree at Sera Mey Monastic University, Lhasa, and became a teacher in Tibet. He teaches lay people. Pabongkha was offered the regency of the present Dalai Lama but declined the request because "he strongly disliked political affairs."
Ngawang Wangyal, aka Sogpo (Mongolian) Wangyal, popularly known as Geshe Wangyal and "America's first lama," was a Buddhist lama and scholar of Kalmyk origin. He was born in the Astrakhan province in southeast Russia sometime in 1901 and died in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1983. He came to the United States from Tibet in 1955 and was the spiritual leader of the Kalmuk Buddhist community in Freewood Acres, New Jersey at the Rashi Gempil-Ling Buddhist Temple. He is considered a "founding figure" of Buddhism in the West.
Shabdrung Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche is a Tibetan teacher of the Sakya school of Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Kunga Rinpoche is licensed in California to perform marriages with a Tibetan Buddhist ceremony.
Glenn H. Mullin is a Tibetologist, Buddhist writer, translator of classical Tibetan literature and teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation.
Reting Rinpoche was a title held by abbots of Reting Monastery, a Buddhist monastery in central Tibet.
Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche is the current tulku of the third Trijang Rinpoche, and succeeded Trijang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso. Rinpoche is the current principal throne holder of Shar Gaden Monastic University in South India, Karnataka, and the spiritual director of the Trijang Buddhist Institute in Northfield, Vermont.
Zong Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and disciple of the third Trijang Rinpoche, junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama. He was famous as a sharp analyst and master of philosophical debate, as well as a Tantric practitioner. He was the Abbot of Ganden Shartse monastery.
Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche also known as Lobsang Oser Choying Gyatso, was a Tibetan incarnate lama, or tulku, of the Loseling College of Drepung Monastery. An expert on Yamantaka and Vajrayogini, he is considered an incomparable luminary of Je Tsongkhapa's lineage, is renowned as a holder of the Tantric lineages, a master of the Tantric yogas, and the lineage holder of Ling Rinpoche.
The Tibet Institute Rikon is a Tibetan monastery located in Zell-Rikon im Tösstal in the Töss Valley in Switzerland. It was established as a non-profit foundation in 1968, because Swiss laws resulting from the 19th century secularization movement did not allow for the establishment of new monasteries until 1973.
Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari Rinpoche, Kasur Lodi Gyari or "as he is universally known to the Tibetan-speaking world, Gyari Rinpoche" was a Tibetan politician, and journalist who served as the 14th Dalai Lama's special envoy to the United States. Exiled to India in 1959, he was also the executive chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet.
Ngawang Sungrab Thutob (1874–1952) was the third Taktra Rinpoche, and regent of Tibet. As regent, he was responsible for raising and educating the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. In 1941, he succeeded the fifth Reting Rinpoche, Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen. The Reting Rinpoche later rebelled, was captured, and died imprisoned in the Potala Palace under mysterious circumstances.
Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche is a Tibetan tulku. The best-known incarnation is the sixth incarnation, Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Thinley, a Tibetan buddhist scholar and teacher.
The Third Trijang Rinpoche, Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981) was a Gelugpa Lama and a direct disciple of Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo. He succeeded Ling Rinpoche as the junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama was nineteen years old. He was also a lama of many Gelug lamas who taught in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Kelsang Gyatso, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Trijang Rinpoche's oral teachings were recorded by Zimey Rinpoche in a book called the Yellow Book.
The Tibet Center, also known as Kunkhyab Thardo Ling, is a dharma center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism. Founded by Venerable Khyongla Rato Rinpoche in 1975, it is one of the oldest Tibetan Buddhist centers in New York City. The current director is Khen Rinpoche Nicholas Vreeland, the abbot of Rato Dratsang monastery. Philip Glass assisted with the founding of The Tibet Center. Since 1991 TTC has invited and hosted the 14th Dalai Lama for teaching events in New York in partnership with the Gere Foundation.
Domo Geshe Rinpoche is said to have been Shariputra, the Mahadsiddha Gayadhara, Dharmashri, Munijnana, Tönmi Sambhota, King Trisong Detsen, Dromtönpa, Milarepa, Khedrup Rinpoche, and Dragpa Gyaltsen in previous lives.
Tibetan Review is a Tibetan monthly journal and news website published in English, based in Delhi, India. It was first published in Darjeeling, West Bengal in April 1967 by Lodi Gyari. It is well known for its open and vibrant democratic forum for the discussion of the Tibetan problem and other related governmental and social issues on Tibet.
Ngawang may refer to:
Tenzing Rigdol, a Tibetan artist whose family immigrated from Nepal to the United States in 2002