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This article examines the significant relationship between His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, a humble Himalayan Buddhist master who became one of the Dalai Lama's most important teachers. After meeting in India in 1956 and again in Varanasi in the early 1960s, the Dalai Lama recognized Khunu Lama's exceptional knowledge and invited him to teach at a teacher training program in 1965, where he earned the respect of prominent Tibetan scholars despite his modest appearance and lack of institutional status.
The centerpiece of their relationship was Khunu Lama's transmission of Śāntideva's The Way of the Bodhisattva, which profoundly influenced the Dalai Lama's spiritual practice and teaching. The Dalai Lama has publicly praised Khunu Lama's most famous composition, The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta, and shifted his own emphasis toward teaching these texts, which he keeps close at hand. Through their mutual respect and dedication to Mahāyāna Buddhism, both masters have helped revive the practice of bodhicitta in the modern era, leaving an enduring legacy of wisdom and compassion.Featured on
Khunu Lama and the Dalai Lama
The relationship between His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen is one of great significance in this modern period. His Holiness has mentioned on many occasions in his teachings that if he has any understanding at all of the mind of bodhicitta, then it has come through the Indian masterpiece on the practices and conduct of the bodhisattva, the great master Śāntideva's The Way of the Bodhisattva. And when the Dalai Lama speaks of a contemporary master who truly practiced in accord with this text, and who particularly practiced this mind of enlightenment, he very often speaks of Khunu Lama Rinpoche.
The Meeting of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Khunu Lama Rinpoche
The details of how His Holiness became acquainted with Khunu Lama are somewhat hazy and must be reconstructed from several anecdotes and personal interviews. According to Annabella Pitkin's biography of Khunu Lama, Renunciation and Longing: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Himalayan Buddhist Saint, Khunu Lama first met the Dalai Lama in India in 1956. The Dalai Lama and the Tenth Panchen Lama were visiting India for the Buddha Jayanti celebrations, a significant event marking the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha's birth. This was the Dalai Lama's first official foreign trip to India, at the invitation of the Indian government led by Prime Minister Nehru. It is recounted how a Ladakhi writer named Tashi Rabgyas, who was accompanying the two great masters from Tibet and acting as their translator, was able to introduce Khunu Lama to His Holiness.
This same story is also confirmed in Thierry Dodin's article "Negi Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen – A Preliminary Account of the Life of a Modern Buddhist Saint," which is based on an interview with a Kinnauri disciple of Khunu Lama named Sangnak Tenzin. Sangngak Tenzin was the father of Roshan Lai Negi, a well-known Kinnauri scholar who was a biographer of Khunu Lama. According to Dodin:
The Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama had come to India for an official visit on the occasion of the festivities for the 2500th Buddhajayanti. The well known Ladakhi writer Tashi Rabgyas was accompanying them as a translator, for he knew Lhasa Tibetan as well as Hindi/Urdu and English. Tashi Rabgyas had got to know Negi Lama during the latter's stay in Srinagar short [sic] before, he had been his disciple and therefore knew what a great master he was in spite of being still unknown outside the western Himalaya. Once, while standing in the middle of a crowd of people who had come to welcome the two high lamas and get their blessing, Tashi Rabgyas recognised Negi Lama in the crowd. He grasped his arm, pulled him in front of the Lamas and introduced him to them. After a short while, however, Negi Lama disappeared again, pushed away by the unruly crowd. It was only many years later in Tekramat that Negi Lama was to have his first true meeting with the Dalai Lama.[1]
The meeting must have been brief, for as Sangnak Tenzin recalls, Khunu Lama was swiftly drawn back into the swirling crowd. Despite the brevity of this first encounter, it perhaps laid the foundation for a much more personal meeting that would follow a few years later.
After their meeting at the Buddha Jayanti celebrations in 1956, a more personal and much less formal meeting took place in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi. Although there are varying accounts of the timeline for this encounter, this second interaction probably took place sometime in the early 1960's. According to Pitkin's doctoral thesis on Khunu Lama titled "Like Pouring Water Into Water," the meeting took place as follows:
In the early 1960s, a brief meeting occurred in the northern Indian city of Varanasi. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, then in the early years of his exile in India, met an obscure religious teacher and scholar from the Indian Himalayan region of Khunu (Kinnaur, Tib. Khu nu) named Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen. The meeting was apparently highly informal, and took place in Khunu Lama's cramped, unfurnished room, on the top floor of the Hindu ashram of Tekra Math.
One account describes it thus: "[His Holiness Dalai Lama] came to meet Negi Lama [Khunu Rinpoche] accompanied by his personal secretary only. At that time Negi Lama was just recovering from a serious illness and was still feeling very weak. As the disease had affected his eyes he couldn't see properly. He was also very poor and his only property was the old torn-up blanket he was wrapped in in his empty cell. Negi Lama noticed two monks entering his room and asked who they were. When he was informed by the private secretary who the visitor was, he objected that he wore no appropriate clothing and had no chair for His Holiness to sit on. He claimed not to be able to receive him under such conditions. As the Dalai Lama insisted on speaking with him they both remained standing and had a talk.[2]
The details of this meeting are remarkable given the Dalai Lama's position as the spiritual leader of Tibet and (at the time of this meeting) as the official head of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. In the Dalai Lama's normal routine, most meetings and audiences with others would have involved elaborate protocols for both his retinue and for the behavior of those who came into his presence. In this case none of those protocols were followed, and here we already see some of the unconventional and informal aspects of the Dalai Lama's character, as well as the humility of Khunu Lama.
Despite the uncharacteristic nature of their interactions, it is this particular encounter which seems to mark the beginning of the real teacher-student relationship between Khunu Lama and the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
His Holiness's Request That Khunu Lama Teach in Mussoorie
Following discussions in 1963, the Dalai Lama's newly founded administration-in-exile wished to set up a teacher training program as part of preparations to initiate an education system based in Tibetan language and Buddhist culture. In 1965 Khunu Lama was invited by the administration to be one of the teachers for this program. Among the students were many high Tibetan lamas and leading scholars of that time from all the Tibetan religious traditions. The program was designed to prepare them to become the next generation of teachers.
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche relates some of the context of this teacher training school in the following story:
At one time a teacher training school started in Mussoorie, India, not far from Dharamsala. All the abbots of the six monasteries were there—from Sera, Ganden and Drepung—these are the great monastic universities of Tibet that were later established in India by His Holiness for the monks who fled from Tibet. All the abbots and many other learned teachers were there. Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche went there and His Holiness organized for him to explain the teachings to them. His Holiness Zong Rinpoche the ex-abbot of Ganden Shartse Monastery, the great monastery university in Tibet, and many learned ones were also there. So Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche gave explanations from the Buddha’s teaching, the Kangyur.[3]
Teaching at such a school, working with the finest students of the Tibetan Buddhist world, would have been a huge honor for Khunu Lama Rinpoche, although he would never have considered himself to be counted amongst the elite of these scholars and practitioners. Khunu Lama had been officially appointed by His Holiness himself. However, it seems that many of the scholars who attended were not happy being taught by someone who looked so ordinary and who had no claim to a grand title. On this, Pitkin writes,
According to Doboom Tulku and other sources, some of the prominent Tibetan religious scholars attending the Mussoorie school were initially less than thrilled to have Khunu Lama as their teacher. They were put off by Khunu Lama's very simple clothes, his lack of an institutional title or location, and his humble demeanor. They looked down on his (to them) strange Kinnauri Himalayan accent and ambiguous monastic status. It was only after they heard him teach that they recognized his exceptional knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, as well as his profound personal Buddhist understanding. Then, finally, they began to accord him respect.[4]
Despite being looked down upon by some, Khunu Lama gradually won over the hearts and minds of these great masters with his erudition and humility. In his interview with Annabella Pitkin, Doboom Tulku goes on to relate how His Holiness reacted when he visited the school and saw Khunu Lama during this time.
When he saw the worn, humble figure of Khunu Lama slowly winning over the pompous Buddhist scholars through his erudition and the depth of his Buddhist practice, the Dalai Lama reportedly laughed and said, "It’s just like Dromtonpa among the Kadampa masters.”[5]
This is a marvellous moment and indeed an example of the tremendous praise His Holiness bestowed upon Khunu Lama. Whether the scholars were pompous or not, it seems there was some reticence from their side to accept this humble and shabbily dressed teacher. But His Holiness immediately recognized his great qualities, and with the highest of praises likened him to the great Kadampa master Dromtönpa. This heartfelt and public honoring of Khunu Lama by His Holiness would be one of the striking features of this unique relationship.
In the introduction to Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea, a collection of Khunu Rinpoche's inspirational verses, Gareth Sparham notes that it was after his work in the Mussoorie school that Khunu Lama became particularly well-known to the Tibetan community in India.[6]
This, no doubt, was due to how much His Holiness respected and valued Khunu Lama. His Holiness's frequent praise and honoring of Khunu Lama elevated his status and prominence within the Tibetan Buddhist world, far beyond that which his natural humility and aversion to the limelight would normally have brought him. Although this was the beginning of Khunu Lama's renown in the Tibetan community, it would not be until later that the wider international community would come to hear of his name.
His Holiness Receiving the Transmission of Śantideva's The Way of the Bodhisattva from Khunu Lama
Some background is required to understand the reasons why the Dalai Lama would have actively sought out this obscure, low-key practitioner as one of his most important teachers. The answer lies in Khunu Lama Rinpoche's connection with Śāntideva and particularly in his practice and understanding of The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra).
Khunu Lama Rinpoche held a lineage of explanation and practice of The Way of the Bodhisattva that came down from the great Dza Patrul Rinpoche (1808–1887) through Khunu Lama's root guru Khenpo Shenga. Patrul Rinpoche was renowned for teaching Śāntideva's text widely, and his famous commentary on how to meditate on The Way of the Bodhisattva, The Brightly Shining Sun, is considered a classic.
The Bodhicaryāvatāra is included among the Thirteen Great Texts (gzhung chen bcu gsum) that are regularly included in the shedra's of the Nyingma school. Khenpo Shenga transmitted these complete volumes to Khunu Lama, along with the accompanying pith instructions (man ngag).
A further reason as to why His Holiness was so interested in this lineage was due to his perception that one of the key practices in The Way of the Bodhisattva—namely, the practice of equalizing and exchanging self and others—was in decline. His Holiness expressed his hope that encouraging the study and practice of this text would revive that important method of generating bodhicitta.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche recalls the impact that Khunu Lama's teaching of The Way of the Bodhisattva had on His Holiness:
Prior to this public display of immense respect, His Holiness requested Khunu Lama to give him a transmission of Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara, also known as A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. During this transmission, His Holiness was so overwhelmed by Khunu Lama’s knowledge of the text, level of compassion and purity of mind that His Holiness asked for a commentary to be provided with the text.[7]
His Holiness had received many teachings from numerous great masters in his life, but here we can see the profound effect that receiving the transmission of Śāntideva's text from Khunu Lama had on him.
The Dalai Lama and The Jewel Lamp
There is no question that the Dalai Lama truly admires Khunu Lama Rinpoche's most famous composition The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta (བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་བསྟོད་པ་རིན་ཆེན་སྒྲོན་མ།). He personally wrote the short foreword to the first edition of the Tibetan text that was printed by his sister Tsering Dolma in 1966.
The great being Tenzin Gyaltsen Rinpoche, keeping to the hidden vowed conduct of a bodhisattva, was born replete with the seven articles of wealth of a noble person in the western part of India. In his youth he studied with many Tibetan scholars of the Rimé (nonsectarian) school and learned and reflected deeply on all the shared and unshared branches of knowledge. In particular, he worked on the Bodhicaryāvatāra of Śāntideva, learning it, reflecting on it, and becoming habituated to it without deviating from its core message. Thus he developed more and more within his heart the thought of enlightenment (bodhicitta) that cherishes others more than self-that central thoroughfare of the buddhas and their children-and in order to keep his commitment to just that development of bodhicitta he set down every day a single verse in praise of bodhicitta in this book called The Jewel Lamp.
May the roots of virtue which have been planted by the priming of this book by the faithful one Phuntsog Tashi for the purpose of introducing my sister Tsering Dolma to goodness grow, in general, into the flourishing of the precious teaching of the Buddha-the cooling, ambrosial medicine for such an unfortunate time as this with its atomic weapons, infections, and confusions. And in particular I dedicate those roots of virtue and make this prayer: May those gross acts that lead to the ruin of ourselves and others now and in the future-those terrible actions that embody the rage and fury of this degenerate time: lying, deceiving, quarreling, harming, and violence-may the thought to do them and the carrying out of them cease and may precious love, compassion, and bodhicitta grow in my own mindstream and in the mindstreams of others. And again, with folded hands I pray that all monks, nuns, and lay folk studying, reflecting on, and meditating on this text, will take to heart the precious Buddhadharma without motives perverted by a wish for personal happiness, gain, or fame, and will look after it in just this difficult way that I have mentioned in my prayer; and that they will always, to the extent that they are capable, make sure that they give importance to a philosophy and life, both within and outside, that is pure and stands up to scrutiny.
Thus do I, the Buddhist monk Tenzin Gyatso, on the ninth day of the eleventh month of the wood-monkey year January 1, 1966) pray, in the Tibetan monastery Shedrup Dokyil, Sarnath, where the Buddha turned the wheel of the doctrine of the four noble truths.
Composed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the 1966 special Tibetan edition of The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta printed in Varanasi and sponsored by Tsering Dolma, the Dalai Lama's sister
The Dalai Lama has personally taught The Jewel Lamp on a number of occasions, often mentioning his admiration for the text. In addition to teaching the verses, His Holiness often praises The Jewel Lamp during public teachings to large Tibetan and international audiences. Indeed, in January 1998, His Holiness was invited by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) to give an explanation of The Jewel Lamp. In his foreword to his translation of the text, Gareth Sparham mentions that at the end of this particular teaching, when His Holiness had finished reading the last verses, he gave a strong sign of encouragement to people to continually engage with the text, remarking,
These are excellent verses. Sometimes choose a few. Read them and contemplate what they say."[8]
This is indeed high praise, and these words should be understood in the context that His Holiness normally only references ancient Indian texts by the Indian paṇḍitas or commentaries on them by great Tibetan masters. It is quite rare for him to teach from a contemporary master's work. It is His Holiness's public mention of The Jewel Lamp that has brought these poems on compassion and bodhicitta to a much wider audience.
Khunu Rinpoche's Diary in Relation to His Holiness
When Khunu Lama was composing The Jewel Lamp, writing a verse a day for 365 days of the year, he also kept a diary with events associated with each of these days.
This daily diary, which is focused on the year 1959, gives us a fascinating look into the life and mind of this humble master. In particular, we can see evidence of the great importance His Holiness held for Khunu Lama Rinpoche, and how His Holiness and the very fate of Tibet itself weighed heavily on Khunu Lama's mind.
In entries from March 1959, he recorded what he was hearing about the fate of Tibet:
The newspapers are saying that there has been fighting between the Khampas and the Chinese. There are articles saying that His Holiness the Omniscient One is well ... is in prison.~. (March 23rd).
I read a newspaper article that said Sera and Drepung have been demolished and the Norbulingka damaged. (March 24th).
The newspapers are saying that fighting has died down in Lhasa. The Chinese are saying that His Holiness has fled. Some reports say he is probably making for Sikkim or Assam. Others say Lhokha. It seems the fighting is going on all around him. (March 27th).
The Aj newspaper is saying that His Holiness is being secretly brought out on horseback by the Khampas and has fallen sick on the journey (March 30th).
The newspapers say His Holiness has set foot on Indian soil (April3rd).
The Omniscient One, the King, the Guide of Gods and Humans [the Dalai Lama] set foot in Sarnath, Varanasi today. He revealed his face. He prayed at the stupa. He addressed those gathered there and then departed. (April 20th).
Here, we can see Khunu Lama's tremendous devotion to His Holiness, referring to him as the "Omniscient One" and the "King of the Gods and Humans." We can also feel his tremendous concern for the welfare and safety of His Holiness and the fate of Tibet.
One of the verses toward the end of The Jewel Lamp may indeed reveal this concern that Khunu Lama had for His Holiness and the whole situation in Tibet:
In the face of harm done to the Buddha's precious body, Dharma, or children, or to one's guru, friends, or family, cleave to moderating bodhicitta and buckle on the armor of patience. 223
It is possible that Khunu Lama had heard leaked reports and information about what had been happening in Tibet and (by the time of the writing of this verse) the escape of His Holiness to India. But as a practitioner of the Mahāyāna path, Khunu Rinpoche guides his readers away from feelings of anger and dismay and encourages them to develop compassion and patience, even in the face of dreadful harm.
Impact on His Holiness
The impact of Khunu Lama's transmission of Śāntideva's The Way of the Bodhisattva on His Holiness can be seen from statements that His Holiness has made in his public teachings. For example, during a teaching given on Nāgārjuna's Commentary on the Awakening Mind (Bodhicittavivaraṇa), he expressed his fondness for teaching Khunu Lama's text in particular.
When I lived in Lhasa, the "Stages of the Path" texts were popular, but once I came into exile, I received an explanation of the Guide from Khunu Lama Rinpoché and it has become the work I prefer to teach.[9]
Khunu Lama's transmission of the text to His Holiness thus marked a shift in emphasis: His Holiness moved away from focusing primarily on stages of the path (lam rim) texts toward giving greater weight to Śāntideva's classic work.
Furthermore, during a teaching on The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas by Gyalse Tokme Sangpo, the Dalai Lama described the impact of receiving the Bodhicaryāvatāra from Khunu Lama Rinpoche on his life and practice:
On meeting him, I asked Khunu Lama Rinpoché if he had studied Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara, the Way of the Bodhisattva and he told me it was his principal practice. In due course, he taught it to me and it has been very beneficial to my mind. Since I received his explanation of it, I've always kept a copy close at hand next to my bed.[10]
This may seem like very understated praise, but for His Holiness to say he keeps a copy of the text close to his bed at all times reveals how much he treasures the transmission he received from Khunu Lama. Ever since he received the transmission of Śantideva's masterwork, His Holiness has continued to personally read the text regularly and teach it widely in public. It is probably the text that His Holiness has taught the most since going into exile.
Needless to say, His Holiness has shown great reverence to Khunu Lama and has praised him on many occasions. At one of the huge gatherings for the Kālachakra initiation in Bodh Gaya, His Holiness called him "A Śāntideva of our time,” a huge praise indeed.[11]
His Holiness also valued Khunu Lama as someone to consult for philosophical matters, and particularly appreciated Khunu Lama's deep knowledge of all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the way he taught in a nonsectarian (Rime) fashion. It is said that while the Dalai Lama had other highly qualified teachers and counselors, it was to Khunu Lama he would turn for clarification of the most difficult philosophical concepts.
His Holiness genuinely valued the qualities of Khunu Lama and saw him as a truly authentic practitioner of the Buddhist teachings. This is captured in an observation related in Jan Willis's unpublished work on Khunu Lama, in which the Dalai Lama observes Khunu Lama in devoted practice and looks on in admiration and respect.
One day in Bodhgaya, Rinpoche was sitting, doing zhi gnas. The Dalai Lama came to visit him, but (even) he did not disturb Rinpoche's practice. His Holiness said, 'Oh, he is really a guru!' Other lamas are 'learned' but they are not as genuinely Buddhist-minded as Khunu Lama.[12]
Through all this we can see the tremendous impact that both masters had on each other and their incredible respect and devotion to the purity of the Buddhist teachings and the Mahāyāna tradition. It is through their relationship that The Way of the Bodhisattva has particularly inspired so many in the modern era and continues to leave a lasting legacy of wisdom and compassion.
Notes
- ↑ Thierry Dodin, "Negi Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen – A Preliminary Account of the Life of a Modern Buddhist Saint." Online Publication. Tibetan Buddhism in the West: Problems of Adoption & Cross-Cultural Confusion, https://info-buddhism.com/Khunu-Rinpoche-Negi-Lama-Tenzin-Gyaltsen-Dodin.html. Originally published in Recent Research on Ladakh 6. Bristol, 1996.
- ↑ Annabella Pitkin, "Like Pouring Water into Water: Buddhist Lineages, Modernity, and the Continuity of Memory in the Twentieth-Century History of Tibetan Buddhism" (PhD diss., Columbia University, 2009), 1–2.
- ↑ Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "Khunu Lama Rinpoche's Story," from lecture four of the Kopan Course no. 43, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal in Nov-Dec, 2010 (Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, n.d.), https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/khunu-lama-rinpoches-story.
- ↑ Annabella Pitkin, Renunciation and Longing: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Himalayan Buddhist Saint (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2022), 66–67.
- ↑ Pitkin, Renunciation and Longing, 66–67.
- ↑ Khunu Rinpoche, Vast as the Heavens Deep as the Sea: Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta, trans. Gareth Sparham (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999), 4.
- ↑ https://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2015/july/the_great_kindness_of_khunu_lama_rinpoche.pdf
- ↑ Khunu Rinpoche, Vast as the Heavens Deep as the Sea, 18.
- ↑ https://www.dalailama.com/news/2020/commentary-on-the-awakening-mind-second-day.
- ↑ https://www.dalailama.com/news/2023/first-day-of-teachings-in-leh-2023.
- ↑ https://info-buddhism.com/Khunu-Rinpoche-Negi-Lama-Tenzin-Gyaltsen-Dodin.html.
- ↑ Jan Willis 33 Willis-1995-The Life of Khunu Lama-Optimized.pdf
