THE ACTIVITIES of enlightened beings are beyond the scope of ordinary beings, therefore any attempt to summarize their lives is fraught with limitations. What ordinary beings perceive is a mere reflection of their karma and does not truly represent such an enlightened being’s activities. Nevertheless, the life that Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché displayed can be characterized as the closest to the actions of a fully enlightened being that any ordinary being will ever witness. With that in mind, I will present events in the way that the fully enlightened Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara revealed them to the ordinary beings of this world.
THE FINAL SIX YEARS OF RINPOCHÉ’S LIFE
As Kyabjé Rinpoché advanced in years, his activities lessened, and he spent more and more time absorbed in meditation. Nevertheless he continued to give numerous teachings to many fortunate disciples. Here I present a mere portion of his enlightened activities during the six and a half years prior to his passing.
In 1975, when Kyabjé Rinpoché was seventy-five years old, he gave the Cakrasaṃvara five-deity and body-mandala initiations to about 650 disciples in the Thekchen Chöling temple in Dharamsala. Afterward he gave an experiential commentary on the generation and completion stages of the Cakrasaṃvara body mandala to about 180 disciples at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. He gave the Mañjuvajra initiation of Guhyasamāja in the tradition of Jñānapada to our great refuge and protector, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, as well as the great initiation of nine-deity Jinasāgara Avalokiteśvara. At the Ganden assembly hall, he gave a commentary on the stages of the path according to Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand to more than a thousand monastics and about eight hundred laypeople.
In 1976, Kyabjé Rinpoché’s seventy-sixth year, he gave a commentary on the Hundred Deities of Tuṣita to more than one hundred who assembled in the nunnery in Dharamsala. In Delhi, he gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī as well as the commentary on its generation and completion stages to about two hundred disciples who assembled in the temple built by the Gyakar Khampa, Indians of Tibetan origin. At Ganden Shartsé he gave the Mañjuvajra initiation of Guhyasamāja and so forth.
In 1977, Kyabjé Rinpoché’s seventy-seventh year, he gave the initiation of five-deity Cakrasaṃvara in the tradition of Mahāsiddha Ghaṇṭāpāda as well as the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī and so forth in Ganden Thekchok Ling in Manali, in Kullu Valley, to about two hundred disciples. To more than two thousand ordained and lay disciples he gave the permission of Avalokiteśvara and so forth. He gave a commentary on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path to a vast number of disciples in Sangyé Chöling Monastery in Shimla. At Ganden Monastery he gave a commentary on the Wheel of Sharp Weapons Mind Training as well as the initiations of five-deity Cakrasaṃvara and the body mandala in the tradition of Mahāsiddha Ghaṇṭāpāda and a commentary on the generation and completion stages of the body mandala.
In 1978, Kyabjé Rinpoché’s seventy-eighth year, he conferred novice ordination vows on twenty-five disciples at Sera Monastery. At the Kagyü monastery of Drukpa Thugsé Rinpoché in Darjeeling, he gave a reading transmission of Atiśa’s Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment. At Samten Chöling in Darjeeling, he conferred novice vows on about thirty newly ordained young monks. In Kalimpong he gave the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī to about three hundred disciples as well as a commentary on its generation and completion stages. In the assembly hall at Ganden Monastery he gave an experiential commentary on the stages of the path by combining the Easy Path and the Quick Path to more than two thousand disciples. At the residence of Phuntsok Rapten, to his faithful disciples Dzemé Rinpoché and Kachen Söpa of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Kyabjé Vajradhara gave the reading transmission of the sections of his collected works that had been published. In the assembly hall at Ganden Shartsé, he gave thirteen of the seventeen permissions of Four-Faced Mahākāla.
In 1979, Rinpoché’s seventy-ninth year, he gave a commentary on Jé Tsongkhapa’s Middle-Length Stages of the Path to a vast assembly of disciples at Sera Monastery.
In 1980, Rinpoché’s eightieth year, he gave a commentary on the Hundred Deities of Tuṣita to a vast assembly of disciples at the Sera Jé assembly hall, and at the Sera Mé assembly hall, he gave the permissions of the sixteen arhats and White Mañjuśrī.
In 1981, Rinpoché’s eighty-first year, he gave a commentary on the Praise of Avalokiteśvara411 as well as a profound commentary on the essential definitive meaning concerning the composition on the Gangloma prayer to Mañjuśrī to about eighteen hundred students. For this teaching he merely gave a general outline of the main sections. Because his mind was completely filled with love, compassion, and bodhicitta, he was able to establish countless fortunate disciples on the path to enlightenment.
THE SPECIAL QUALITIES OF KYABJÉ TRIJANG RINPOCHÉ
Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché had forsaken all inferior motivations. He had overcome any sense of self-cherishing, and his great compassion was free from the defects of lassitude and agitation. He also accomplished the realization of bliss and emptiness through the completion stage and mastered the meditations for causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve within the central channel. Furthermore, when Trijang Rinpoché was twenty-five, he traveled to an amazing place in Chatreng, the abode of Avalokiteśvara called Protectors of the Three Lineages at Gangkar (Gangkar Riksum Gönpo). Each year, on the fifteenth day of the fourth month (Vaiśākha), a spring of water spontaneously emerged. During his visit, again and again, the sounds of various musical instruments could be heard. Also, on the tenth day of the twelfth month during the special month of Cakrasaṃvara and Vajrayoginī called Puṣya — a time when the ḍākinīs congregate — Trijang Rinpoché performed self-initiation in the sindūra mandala of Vajrayoginī and performed an extensive tsok offering, and while in a state of meditation, he completely stopped breathing, during which time his attendants and disciples made as many prostrations and supplications as possible. When he commenced breathing again, he immediately began singing songs of spiritual realizations, one of which began:
The powerful conqueror Jé Losang
dwells in the pure Dharma land of Ganden,
inseparable from the kind Śrī Cakrasaṃvara — Dechen Nyingpo —
who remains on anthers of the eight-petalled lotus of my heart.
This was a clear indication that he had mastered the realization of the exalted wisdom of bliss and emptiness by causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve within the central channel. Later, when he was twenty-seven, he sang more songs of spiritual realization while presenting a tsok offering in conjunction with Cakrasaṃvara at Kampo Mountain — a sacred site of Heruka Cakrasaṃvara in Domé Kampo — at which time the sound of ḍākas and ḍākinīs singing spontaneous vajra songs arose together with the sound of instruments.
Concerning his good qualities of training in wisdom, he had the wisdom that realizes the ultimate mode of existence of all phenomena, conventional wisdom such as the knowledge of the five sciences, and wisdom understanding the various ways of benefiting living beings according to their various dispositions. He had also fully mastered the wisdoms of explaining, debating, and composing as well as the profound, clear, great, and quick wisdoms. He had both innate and acquired wisdom due to his vast experience in listening, contemplating, and meditating. In short, he was the embodiment of wisdom that is matched only by fully enlightened beings revealing the aspect of great scholars. He had absolutely perfect reliance upon his own spiritual masters through his realization of the proper way to rely upon one’s guru as presented in such texts as the Marvelous Array Sutra and the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path. Trijang Rinpoché himself had said that he had one hundred root gurus but that, among his root gurus, Kyabjé Phabongkha was his primary guru. This is similar to the way in which Atiśa held Serlingpa as his primary guru out of his 157 gurus.
With regard to his studies of sutra and tantra, he had grasped all the teachings of the Conqueror embodied in scripture and realization. Seeing the great importance of hearing many teachings, he studied the great texts, debated their meaning, and eliminated uncertainties whereby he came to grasp the true intent of the scriptures of sutra and tantra. Through combining view, meditation, and action — or in other words, the three higher trainings — he studied at Ganden Shartsé Monastery, where he received the highest degree available, that of a lharam geshé. Afterward he went to Gyütö Tantric College and studied the four classes of tantra in general and highest yoga tantra in particular. Among the highest yoga tantric practices, he mastered the root and explanatory tantras of Guhyasamāja and the commentaries composed by Tibetan and Indian masters.
A drawing of the Buddha that Trijang Rinpoché sketched on the spot at the request of a visitor from South Africa
COURTESY OF PALDEN TSERING
Concerning the way he attained the state of an unparalleled scholar of explanation, debate, and composition, his qualities of explanation are without compare and are free from all faults; he was an outstanding debater, and his teachings perfectly reveal the true intent of the great scriptures, such as those composed by Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, Candrakīrti, Asaṅga, and others. Above all, he was the foremost exponent of the profound teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa and his disciples. Whatever he taught was supremely effective for the mind, and were you to ask his disciples, they would all leave his discourses having received exactly what was needed to transform their minds. He always acted in the most humble manner, free of any pretense or arrogance. Although he never revealed any of his realizations or good qualities, one only needed to listen to his profound expositions to immediately understand the depth of his knowledge and realization.
Some of his more well-known disciples include His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché, Drepung Gomang Kangyurwa Chenpo Losang Dönden, Kumbum Minyak Rinpoché, Kyabjé Simok Rinpoché, Drupwang Geshé Losang Samdrup Rinpoché, Ratö Chubar Rinpoché, Gashar Song Rinpoché, Gashar Dzemé Rinpoché, the Second Phabongkha Rinpoché, Sera Mé Gyalrong Khentrul, Sera Mé Dagyab Rinpoché, Assistant Tutor Serkong Rinpoché, and countless other lamas and geshés too many to mention, “like the host of stars in the sky,” as we say in Tibetan.
As for Trijang Rinpoché’s writings, his collected works fill eight volumes and cover a wide variety of topics, such as the stages of the path, commentaries and sādhanas on both the action tantra practice of White Tārā Wish-Fulfilling Wheel and the highest yoga tantra practice of Cittamaṇi Tārā, various Dharma protectors, the practices of Cakrasaṃvara, and many other minor domains of knowledge. He is known for his spontaneous composition of brilliant poetic verses on any topic.
With regard to his moral discipline, he saw that maintaining pure moral discipline is extremely important and is the foundation of all paths to enlightenment. He perfectly maintained the prātimokṣa vows as set forth in the Vinaya, the bodhisattva vows and conduct as set forth in such texts as the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, and the tantric vows as set forth in such texts as Jé Tsongkhapa’s Cluster of Attainments. Thus, without any sense of self-concern, he maintained the three sets of vows, thereby setting a perfect example for his faithful disciples to emulate. Dedicating his entire life to others, Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché lived and breathed the peerless path to enlightenment as revealed by all the previous enlightened beings, not wavering even for an instant.
To give a few examples of his magical powers,412 in 1958, when my parents were returning to Lhasa after my father had completed his tour of duty as the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Bureau of the Dalai Lama in Beijing, my sister made requests to Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché for divinations and prayers. Trijang Rinpoché responded by indicating that there would be some obstacles on the day the party reached Lhasa. In order to avert hindrances, Trijang Rinpoché suggested having a number of sixty-four-part torma rituals performed in conjunction with the protector Dharmarāja. My sister invited a group of monks from Gyümé Tantric College to perform the ritual offering. Of course, on the day they approached Lhasa, as they were crossing the narrow Kuru Bridge on the outskirts of Lhasa, passing motor vehicles startled the horses, causing them to become frantic. Apart from a few minor injuries, the party made it safely to the Rampa House. My family members were extraordinarily grateful to Trijang Rinpoché for his compassionate advice and display of his foreknowledge that guided them home safely that day.
Another fascinating story is told by the father of Lama Kunga, the nobleman Tsipön Shuguba, in his book In the Presence of My Enemies. When Lama Kunga was first born, he was on the brink of death, so his father invited Trijang Rinpoché to come to their home and say prayers on behalf of his ailing son. It seemed certain that the tiny infant that was to become Lama Kunga would pass from this world at any moment. Before beginning the ritual, Trijang Rinpoché said, “If you give me your son, I will save his life.” It seemed as though Rinpoché may have just been joking, but after a few moments of intense meditation, the child began to exhibit signs of a complete recovery. Afterward Rinpoché strongly suggested that the father send the boy to be a monk at any monastery, it didn’t matter which tradition. Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché gave this boy his name Losang Kunga Gyurmé. Lama Kunga to this day lives as the spiritual director of Ngor Ewam Chöden Sakya Center in Kensington, California.
Some of Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché’s previous lives include Buddha Śākyamuni’s charioteer Candaka, Arhat Madhughoṣa, Candrakīrti, Atiśa, the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorjé, and many others.413 There were many prophecies made about Trijang Rinpoché stating that he was in fact an emanation of Padmasambhava, Jé Tsongkhapa, Atiśa, and others.
KYABJÉ TRIJANG RINPOCHÉ’S PASSING
Just as the Buddha’s final teaching to his disciples was to reveal the importance of realizing death and impermanence, during the last several years of his life, Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché revealed the aspect of approaching his parinirvāṇa. He was spending more and more time in a state of meditation while his disciples from various monasteries offered prayers and requests for his long life.
The labrang had purchased train tickets on October 10, 1981, for him and his entourage to travel from Dharamsala to Ganden Shartsé in South India. Rinpoché had been going to South India for the winter for several years, and this year was no exception. They were to depart November 15. Despite contracting an illness on October 23, Trijang Rinpoché decided to make the trip as planned. He told his attendants that if there were any special rituals that needed to be done that they should be done at Ganden Monastery after their arrival.
On November 3, 1981, Ling Rinpoché came to Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché’s residence and made prayers and requests for Kyabjé Rinpoché not to pass into the sphere of nirvana. At this time, the two tutors made plans to travel to Ganden together. On November 5, Trijang Rinpoché stated, “I must leave for Ganden on November 15.” This carried a special significance because Jangchup Chöphel, the first incarnation in the line of those bearing the name Trijang Rinpoché, also went to Tuṣita (Tibetan: Ganden) at the time of his passing; therefore this statement indicated that our root guru, the Third Trijang Rinpoché, was also definitely going to the pure land of Tuṣita.
On the morning of November 5, His Holiness the Dalai Lama had just returned from Sikkim. He came immediately to Kyabjé Rinpoché’s residence and requested him to remain in this world for the welfare of living beings. Soon after this, Trijang Rinpoché reported, “My leg is swelling up a bit,” at which time his attendants examined his leg and the physician Yeshé Dönden gave him some medicine. Rinpoché’s disciples inquired as to which ritual would be best to perform for his health, at which point Trijang Rinpoché replied, “Until now I haven’t experienced any serious illness; yet at this time there are no special rituals to be done, since there isn’t much hope that I will remain in the world much longer.” He also advised Kungo Palden Tsering, his lifelong attendant, to not consult other lamas about performing more rituals for his long life.
However, Kungo Palden was quite concerned and had prayers and extensive offerings made at Sera, Drepung, Ganden, and so forth for Trijang Rinpoché’s long life, including a recitation of the Kangyur. Kungo Palden also made extensive prayers of his own, performing all the requests perfectly, after which he made the obligatory request for Rinpoché’s quick return by asking, “However, in case you have completed your work here, will you please return to us quickly in the most auspicious aspect?”
Trijang Rinpoché told his disciples, “Whether I get well or not, we must travel to Ganden during the ninth month. Rinpoché later said, “I had a vision of Tuṣita that is the result of the virtuous actions performed in my previous lives. You must stop making offerings for my long life and make offerings instead for my rebirth in Tuṣita.” On November 9, the Ganden Throneholder Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché once again returned and requested Trijang Rinpoché to remain in this world. Despite his disciples’ best efforts, the merit of living beings in this world was not sufficient to maintain the presence of Cakrasaṃvara’s supreme emanation body. That same morning, Rinpoché asked when the study session was to begin at Ganden, and his attendant replied that he wasn’t certain. After some consideration, Trijang Rinpoché said, “I think it is starting today.” These were his last words.
The previous Trijang Rinpoché, Ganden Throneholder Losang Tsultrim, as Rinpoché narrates at the outset of his memoir, would circumambulate Ganden Monastery during his final days. On his final day, as he approached the throne room of Jé Tsongkhapa, he paused to sit on a chair. After conversing with his attendant, he faced the western sky and, laughing all the while, said, “Ganden, Ganden, Ganden . . . ,” and passed away. Like this, all three incarnations bearing the name Trijang Rinpoché passed into the sphere of peace with their minds focused on Ganden.
Therefore, at nine-thirty in the morning on November 9, the omniscient mind of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara was withdrawn into the sphere of the dharmakāya. However, Kyabjé Rinpoché had yet to reveal his final teaching. To display to the world and his faithful disciples the way in which a fully enlightened being passes from this world, for the next two days his consciousness remained in single-pointed meditation on clear light of death absorbed inseparably with the omniscient mind of all the buddhas. His Holiness the Dalai Lama came immediately upon his passing and performed a Guru Puja and prayers to Cakrasaṃvara.
News of Kyabjé Rinpoché’s parinirvāṇa spread quickly throughout the Tibetan community, sending his disciples into a state of shock. Gen Losang Chöphel told me that when he heard of Kyabjé Rinpoché’s passing, he felt as though his heart had been ripped out and he could not eat or sleep for several days. He told me the passing of his mother and father could not compare to the loss he felt upon the passing of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara. By ten o’clock, disciples started gathering around Kyabjé Rinpoché’s residence to offer their prayers and express their faith and devotion while focusing their minds single-pointedly on Rinpoché’s private quarters. The Tibetan people described it has having their most precious jewel stolen by a thief or the moon turning black. To mark this great tragedy, all the government offices remained closed. During this time, His Holiness instructed his private secretary to offer his services in any way possible, such as assisting with the cremation ceremony and so forth. All the monasteries throughout India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Ladakh held special services in honor of his passing.
Kyabjé Rinpoché’s mind remained absorbed in the clear light, while his body sustained without any signs of deterioration, until ten in morning on November 11. While Kyabjé Rinpoché was absorbed in the clear light of death, the weather had been calm and serene. However, as soon as he passed from the clear light of death, a heavy rain and a powerful wind arose. A magical presence seemed to fill the air, some of the children from the Tibetan Children’s Village reported seeing visions, and the surrounding area had the aura of being bathed in rainbow light.
At four-thirty on the morning of thirteenth, the Ganden Throneholder Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché came to oversee the preparations for the cremation rituals. On the fourteenth, various lamas and officials as well as all the monks and laypeople transported his holy body to the cremation site. The entire path from the Tibetan’s Children Village to the cremation site was lined with schoolchildren. Upon reaching the site, the Ganden Shartsé abbot Lati Rinpoché presided as the ritual master of the cremation ceremony. On this particular morning, the moon appeared larger than usual, as was witnessed by all present, who interpreted it as the moon coming closer to the earth to pay its final respects to Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché. Numerous auspicious signs occurred, such as when the fire was lit, the smoke appeared in the aspect of the eight auspicious symbols. Also, when the ritual was begun, two large vultures circumambulated the cremation site counterclockwise, specially signifying Trijang Rinpoché’s practice of Cakrasaṃvara.
During the ritual, five-colored rainbow light appeared around the residences of both Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché and Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché. When the holy body of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara was cremated, the smoke went toward the northeast, and the banner covering the cremation site flew off to the east. When the hearth was opened, two small footprints heading east were revealed in the ashes.
Lati Rinpoché describes this miraculous occurrence that took place during the cremation site.414 Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché’s cremation stupa was lit by a young boy at the Tibetan Children’s Village. This boy had recently arrived from Tibet and had not received any teachings from Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché. As the pyre was lit, white smoke arose in the northeasterly direction. Right then, the wind lifted up in the same direction the skirt of a yellow parasol that was placed above the stupa. As the ritual offerings proceeded, Lati Rinpoché witnessed some self-emerging relics being produced on a silver platter on which a small statue of the Buddha was placed in anticipation of such rare occurrences. Lati Rinpoché, as the presiding vajra master, placed this statue on the main altar in front of the stupa on the advice of Ratö Chubar Rinpoché, who had instructed him to be on the lookout for such relics. The relics slowly started to emerge as Lati Rinpoché watched in amazement. The relics consisted of one large and many tiny crystal-like balls. As this phenomenon was unfolding, Lati Rinpoché recalls telling Ratö Rinpoché’s attendant Ngawang Gendun about it. Ngawang Gendun told this to a few who were there. Soon, many devotees who attended the cremation ceremony witnessed this miracle unfolding and converged at the altar to view them. Suddenly, the relics began to disappear before Lati Rinpoché’s eyes, and he quickly tried to rescue them from the silver platter. Lati Rinpoché regretted telling Gendun, as this process should have been left to complete its course without so many people watching.
Every morning for several days, many of the highest lamas of the Geluk tradition made offerings in front of the cremation site and made prayers. When the cremation site was opened, his body had shrunk to one cubit in height, while his torso and heart remained undamaged by the fire. There was also one Buddha statue placed on a platter, and within it was one large self-emerging relic. His ashes were put in a special urn, wrapped in ritual attire, and a crown of the five buddha families was placed upon it.
After the cremation, as the party proceeded to Rinpoché’s residence at Gangchen Kyishong, two big vultures were once again circumambulating his residence. The main entrance to his residence overflowed with a vast crowd of devotees, including the highest lamas and government officials together with a vast assembly of monks who had gathered there to welcome his holy relics. When his holy relics arrived at his residence, Kungo Palden offered the three supports of enlightened body, speech, and mind, after which all the devotees made a request to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to compose a prayer for the quick return of Kyabjé Rinpoché. The labrang prepared a vast tsok offering where all the tulkus, geshés, monks, and so forth gathered to make offerings and pay their respects to the holy relics of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara.
On the twenty-second day of the ninth Tibetan month, during the special occasion of Buddha’s Descent from the Pure Land, a vast assembly of many thousands of disciples consisting of high lamas from numerous monasteries gathered to perform vast offerings presided over by Ganden Throneholder Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché.
THE SEARCH FOR HIS REINCARNATION
In 1980, Trijang Rinpoché had advised Kungo Palden on what do to with his relics to help them to locate his reincarnation, and he also gave him some letters and a diary. Concerning his reincarnation, Rinpoché said that they should look in northeastern India to see if there were any special boys as possible candidates. He also informed him of which oracles to consult for the search.
In the Tibetan year of the water-dog on New Year’s Day, at Ganden Shartsé Monastery, the Setrap oracle put a white scarf on a pillar in the eastern direction and another in the northeastern direction. Then, on July 8, 1983, Kungo Palden asked His Holiness, who said, “I believe he will be reborn in northwestern India, therefore you should search for his reincarnation there.”
Then, both Losang Thupten and Sera Mé Sharpa Rinpoché sent a letter to Kungo Palden and said that they feel that Kyabjé Rinpoché may have been reborn as the son of Phenpo Sönam Topgyal and Losang Drölma, who worked in a carpet factory in Dalhousie. The letter stated, “On October 15, they gave birth to a special child. You should examine this boy.” Five or six years prior to his passing, when Sönam Topgyal had an audience with Trijang Rinpoché, Rinpoché mentioned that Drakri Rinpoché is being cared for by Sera Mé Geshé Yeshé Wangchuk and is a very good tulku, and Drakri Rinpoché, Khamlung Rinpoché, and Gashar Phukang Khenrap Paljor are all related.415 Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché said casually to Sönam Topgyal, “In my future life, if I am born in your family lineage, we will all have the same name under Gungthang Labrang, and we will all be related.” Kungo Palden was present, and he thought that the fact that Rinpoché was speaking in this way must have some significant meaning.
As His Holiness felt certain that Trijang Rinpoché’s reincarnation had been reborn in northwestern India, Kungo Palden, full of hope, went with Jamyang Tashi to Dalhousie on May 8, 1983, and stayed with Losang Thupten. They mentioned nothing about looking for Kyabjé Rinpoché’s reincarnation. Instead, they went to visit Sönam Topgyal and engaged him in discussion about business, pretending that they were interested in buying carpets, all the while secretly examining the child. The child was very fond of religious articles and had a very special disposition. He also was quite fond of Kungo Palden and of Jamyang Tashi, who had been one of Trijang Rinpoché’s attendants from a young age. The child wasn’t very articulate, however, and therefore it was difficult to understand him. Nevertheless he seemed intent on speaking and hugged both Kungo Palden and Jamyang Tashi several times. His particular fondness for Jamyang Tashi made Kungo Palden very hopeful that it might be the true reincarnation.
Beginning from January 31, 1984, Shartsé Abbot Lati Rinpoché, Jangchup Tsultrim, Phukhang Geshé Tashi Norbu, and Ngakré Phuntsok Tsultrim, together with Kungo Palden, traveled all throughout India and Nepal searching for the correct reincarnation. When there was an area they could not get to, they sent correspondence by various means. They next assembled the names of the best of the 544 candidates, selecting from them ninety-nine special children. Among them there were eight particularly special children whose names were presented to His Holiness. His Holiness said, “Now it is very important that we not only do a divination but that it should be done in the presence of Kyabjé Rinpoché’s holy relics housed in the sacred stupa at Ganden Monastery.” Therefore, when His Holiness went to Mundgod in South India in December, he did the divination in the presence of Trijang Rinpoché’s holy relics. On the twenty-third, he made all the necessary preparations. On the twenty-fourth, he performed the actual divination, and it came out that the child from Dalhousie was the best candidate. Based on this outcome, they did another divination as to when they should make contact with the tulku, and the decision was to wait. Therefore, they suspended their inquiry temporarily. On April 4, 1985, Kungo Palden again asked His Holiness about the reincarnation, and His Holiness said he should do another divination in the presence of the Avalokiteśvara called the Ārya Wati Sangpo of Kyirong. His Holiness performed the divination on April 22, alongside Shartsé Abbot Lati Rinpoché and Kungo Palden, and the result was that it was now time to confirm the reincarnation and that the son of Sönam Topgyal and Losang Drölma is the unmistaken reincarnation of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara.
On April 23, 1985, Gyatso Tsering, director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and a devoted disciple of Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché, sent a letter from Dharamsala to Sharpa Tulku, who was translating for Tārā Rinpoché in Hawaii, describing the situation in Dharamsala:416
Early on the morning of April 22, His Holiness the Dalai Lama retreated into meditation concentrating on the name mantra of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara. When he was finished, Kungo Palden and Lati Rinpoché were called to His Holiness’s private residence, and in their presence the necessary rituals were performed under the benign presence of the Ārya Avalokiteśvara [statue]. There, His Holiness gave the verdict that Sönam Topgyal’s child was the true reincarnation of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara. With a beaming expression on his face, His Holiness then charged Lati Rinpoché and Kungo Palden with responsibility of caring for the child.
Next, His Holiness gave instructions concerning which ritual should be performed to remove obstacles and create favorable conditions. After this, it was announced on the Tibetan-language channel of All-India Radio that the unmistaken reincarnation of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara had been discovered. Everyone was ecstatic. As Gyatso Tsering wrote:
The news spread like wildfire, bringing joy everywhere — you should have seen the joy bursting in Kungo Palden’s face. That evening he treated the residence of Trijang Labrang to an extravagant meal amid much talk of Kyabjé Rinpoché’s amazing deeds and exemplary life. The chanting was most boisterous. They went up the mountain that evening, performing prayers and rituals all night, and ended with an early-morning incense ritual.
Now everyone’s attention is focused on Dalhousie. Sönam Topgyal’s family has become famous overnight, and right now this is the most talked-about subject in Dharamsala. Topgyal’s other child in Sursok school has also become the object of attention.
In a week’s time, on an auspicious day, Kungo Palden and Lati Rinpoché will be leaving for Dalhousie to seek formal permission from his parents and to present offerings to the supreme incarnation of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara. They will then return to Dharamsala, make the necessary preparations — which Kungo Palden says will take about a month — and then escort the supreme incarnation to Dharamsala from Dalhousie amid ceremonial procession.
On May 17, 1985, in Dalhousie, the incarnation of Kyabjé Rinpoché was dressed in the attire of a follower of the Buddha, and everything went without incident. The party accompanying the incarnation left Dalhousie, and preparations were made at Tilokpur, not far from Dharamsala, to welcome the supreme incarnation. For two days the party stayed at the Indian government guesthouse in Kangra while they prepared for two groups to proceed to Dharamsala. Rinpoché’s incarnation was first brought to the branch of Ganden Shartsé Monastery in Dharamsala for a welcome reception. Then on June 10, an auspicious day, Rinpoché was received by the Tibetan government, by the monks of Sera, Ganden, and Drepung, as well as by the monks of Gyütö and Gyümé tantric colleges. They then proceeded to the Tashi Rapten residence at Gangchen Kyishong, where they performed a vast ceremony amid various offerings and perfectly enthroned him as the supreme incarnation of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara.
Among the many indications that this child was the correct reincarnation was his reaction on first encountering his former attendants Kungo Palden and Jamyang Tashi — his great happiness at meeting them, as though reunited after a long separation. He was also very fond of vajras, bells, and other ritual items, just as the previous Trijang Rinpoché was.
Many people said that Tsering Gyurmé (the birth name of Trijang Rinpoché’s incarnation) was obviously someone very special and must be the incarnation of a high lama. Therefore, the former abbot of Ratö Monastery invited him to his residence for an examination, at which time Tsering Gyurmé identified many photos of various lamas that the abbot showed him. While Rinpoché’s incarnation was looking at these photos, he pointed to the photo of the previous Trijang Rinpoché and said, “This is a photo of me!”
Rinpoché’s incarnation would often drink a lot of milk, so much so that his parents said, “It will be hard to cover our expenses if you keep drinking so much milk.”
Rinpoché reassured them, “Don’t worry I have lots of cows.”
His father Topgyal had a new pair of shoes that he didn’t usually wear, saving them for special occasions. Rinpoché told him, “Now it is time to wear your special shoes.”
His father replied, “I need to save them. I don’t have another pair this nice.”
To this, Rinpoché said, “Don’t worry! Palden will buy you another pair.”
Also, Rinpoché was always talking about going to Dharamsala. Kyabjé Rinpoché had a unique way of calling for Palden, and the incarnation did so in exactly the same way. Also, when they arrived in Dharamsala, he took charge of all of the previous Trijang Rinpoché’s belongings just as if they were his own.
On July 1, 1986, Rinpoché’s incarnation had his first audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. At this hair-cutting ceremony, His Holiness recited the Hundred Deities of Tuṣita, named Rinpoché Tenzin Losang Yeshé Gyatso, and gave him a sacred statue of Buddha.
On July 14, Rinpoché was invited to Ganden Monastery. On his way, he traveled through Delhi, Poona, and Hubli, and on July 21, a very auspicious day, he arrived in Mundgod, South India, and was welcomed at the Phuntsok Rapten residence at Ganden Shartsé, where they had a vast celebration and enthroned him as the supreme incarnation of Kyabjé Trijang Vajradhara.
Later, in 1987, His Holiness gave the empowerment of Life-Sustaining Jé Rinpoché, which Rinpoché attended.
On February 22, 1988, he was received as an official member of Ganden Shartsé amid the entire assembly of monks, and the next day there was a vast celebration in honor of his official enrollment at Ganden Shartsé. As a component of that celebration, Shartsé’s Dokhang House as well as the monks of Drepung Monastery partook in the Great Prayer Festival, which Rinpoché attended. This event was sponsored by Trijang Labrang, and a token monetary offering was made to all the monks.
Rinpoché visited the monasteries of Ganden Jangtsé and Sera, Gyütö and Gyümé tantric colleges, Tashi Lhunpo, Gyümé Tantric College in Hunsur, Dzongkar Chödé, Drepung Monastery in Mundgod, the Sakya monastery, and the Nyingma monastery Taklung Chödé, where he made vast offerings to these respective monasteries and their resident monks while visiting all of their respective temples. When he arrived in Dharamsala after having completed all religious obligations, he had an audience with His Holiness.
Today Trijang Choktrul Rinpoché resides in Vermont as the spiritual director of the Trijang Buddhist Institute, where he continues his studies while providing teachings and guidance to his disciples.