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Tulku

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For the 2009 film, see Tulku (film).
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A tulku (Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, Wylie: sprul sku, ZYPY: Zhügu, also tülku, trulku) 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.

The tulku system originated in Tibet, particularly associated with the recognition of the second Karmapa in the 13th century. Since then, numerous tulku lineages have been established, with each tulku having a distinctive role in preserving and propagating specific teachings. Other high-profile examples of tulkus include the Dalai Lamas, the Panchen Lamas, the Samding Dorje Phagmos, Khyentses, the Zhabdrung Rinpoches, and the Kongtruls.

The process of recognizing tulkus involves a combination of traditional and supernatural methods. When a tulku passes away, a committee of senior lamas convenes to identify the reincarnation. They may look for signs left by the departed tulku, consult oracles, rely on dreams or visions, and sometimes even observe natural phenomena like rainbows. This process combines mysticism and tradition to pinpoint the successor who will carry forward the teachings of their predecessor.

A Western tulku is the recognized successor to a lama or dharma master born in the West, commonly of non-Tibetan ethnic heritage. This recognition has sparked debates and discussions regarding the cultural adaptation and authenticity of Westerners within the traditional Tibetan tulku system. Some argue that Westerners should explore their own forms of Buddhism rather than attempting to fit into this system. Western tulkus may struggle to gain recognition among laypeople and even other monastics. Generally, Western tulkus do not follow traditional Tibetan monastic life, and commonly leave their home monasteries for alternative careers, not necessarily chaplaincy.[1]

Etymology and meaning

The word སྤྲུལ or 'sprul' (Modern Lhasa Tibetan [ʈʉl]) was a verb in Old Tibetan literature and was used to describe the བཙན་པོ་ btsanpo ('emperor'/天子)[citation needed] taking a human form on earth. So the sprul idea of taking a corporeal form is a local religious idea alien to Indian Buddhism and other forms of Buddhism (e.g. Theravadin or Zen). The term tülku became associated with the translation of the Sanskrit philosophical term nirmanakaya. According to the philosophical system of trikaya or three bodies of Buddha, nirmanakaya is the Buddha's "body" in the sense of the bodymind (Sanskrit: nāmarūpa). Thus, the person of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, is an example of nirmanakaya.

Over time, indigenous religious ideas became assimilated by the new Buddhism; e.g. sprul became part of a compound noun, སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་'sprul.sku' ("incarnation body" or 'tülku', and 'btsan', the term for the imperial ruler of the Tibetan Empire, became a kind of mountain deity). Valentine summarizes the shift in meaning of the word tülku: "This term that was originally used to describe the Buddha as a 'magical emanation' of enlightenment, is best translated as 'incarnation' or 'steadfast incarnation' when used in the context of the tulku system to describe patriarchs that reliably return to human form."[2]

According to the Light of Fearless Indestructible Wisdom by Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal: the term tülku "designates one who is 'noble' (or 'selfless' according to Buddha's usage) and used in Buddhist texts to denote a highly achieved being who has attained the first bhumi, a level of attainment which is truly egoless, or higher."[This quote needs a citation] Higher Vajrayana practitioners who have attained siddhis and mastered the bardo of dying, bardo of dharmata or bardo of becoming can be reborn as a tülkus.[3] According to Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang:

This form of transference is practiced by beginners on the path of accumulating who have received empowerment and respected the samayas, have a good understanding of the view, and have practiced the generation phase as the path but have not mastered it. Although they lack the necessary confidence to be liberated in the clear light at the moment of death or in the intermediate state of absolute reality, by taking refuge and praying to their teacher in the intermediate state they can close the way to an unfavorable womb and choose a favorable rebirth. Propelled by compassion and bodhichitta, they depart to a pure buddhafield or, failing that, take birth as a tulku born to parents who practice the Dharma. In that next life they will be liberated.[3]

In addition to Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism is a traditional religion in China and Mongolia. The Mongolian word for a tülku is qubilγan, though such persons may also be called by the honorific title qutuγtu (Tib: 'phags-pa and Skt: ārya or superior, not to be confused with the historic figure, 'Phags-pa Lama or the script attributed to him, (Phags-pa script), or hutagt in the standard Khalkha dialect. The Chinese word for tülku is huófó (活佛), which literally means "living Buddha".

History

In a strict sense, tulku is a Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit nirmāṇakāya, which refers to the "transformation" or "emanation body" of a Buddha. Tulku is therefore the physical "form in which a Buddha appears to ordinary beings."[4]

A related term in Tibetan is yangsi (literally "rebirth" or "re-becoming") which refers to an enlightened master who has returned to earthly existence for the sake of benefitting sentient beings. While the notion of a nirmāṇakāya is found throughout Mahayana Buddhism, and is integral to the doctrine of the trikaya or "Three Bodies", the concept of the yangsi is uniquely Tibetan. Tulku, as a title, refers to one who is recognized as the yangsi of a master.[5]

It arose in the context of a political vacuum spurred by the assassination of Ralpachen, which saw monastic centers develop political power in a "second spreading" of Buddhism in Tibet.[6] It had "purely politico-mercantile origins and functions" and later became a significant spiritual institution. However, some commentators argue that the political shift was "grafted onto the tradition of recognizing reincarnations, not the other way around."[7] Turrell V. Wylie wrote that the tulku system "developed in Tibetan Buddhism primarily for political reasons" while Reginald Ray argued that such a view ignores "miss[es] what is perhaps its most distinctive feature" which is its "important ideological and religious dimensions", being "deeply rooted" in the bodhisattva concept:

Buddha Cākyamuni's [sic] role as the first and pre-eminent Bodhisattva is crucial for the Tulku tradition, because it means that every Tulku, in appearing on earth as a Bodhisattva, is following in the Buddha's footsteps [...] the very structure of a Tulku's life is patterened after the life of Cākyamuni.[8]

Tulku have been associated with ruling power since its origination, expressing indigenous Tibetan notions of kingship.[9] This system supplanted the earlier model of monastic governance, in which a celibate "religious head" acted as abbot, while his brother, a married "administrative head", continued the family line, with his eldest son becoming the next religious head, creating an uncle-nephew system of inheritance.[10] The first recognized tulku was perhaps Rangjung Dorje, 3rd Karmapa Lama.[11]

Foreign tulkus have been identified since at least the sixteenth century, when the grandson of the Mongol Altan Khan was recognized as the 4th Dalai Lama. The Mongol conversion to Buddhism served a political function and allowed Tibet to build a closer relationship with the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.[12] Traditionally, however, tulku were only recognized from Tibetan cultural areas, encompassing Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, and Bhutan.[13]

The tulku system of preserving Dharma lineages did not operate in India, as it developed in Tibet after the 12th century, with the first recognized tulku being perhaps Rangjung Dorje, 3rd Karmapa Lama.[11] Foreign tulkus have been identified since at least the sixteenth century, when the grandson of the Mongol Altan Khan was recognized as the 4th Dalai Lama.[12] The Mongol conversion to Buddhism served a political function and allowed Tibet to build a closer relationship with the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.[12]

The Chinese annexation of Tibet in 1959 created massive social upheaval. This intensified during the Cultural Revolution which brought irreparable damage to the institutions and traditions which constitute Tibetan Buddhism as one of the Four Olds. As a result, Tibetan Buddhism has flourished in areas of Tibetan culture not under Chinese rule, such as Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of North India. In India, the traditional monastic system is largely intact and the tulku system remains politically relevant.[14] Compounded with the inherent transnational character of proselytizing religions, Tibetan Buddhism is "pulled between the need to adapt itself and the need to preserve itself".[15]

Westerners began taking an interest in Tibetan Buddhism during the counterculture of the 1960s, and Tibetan Buddhism became popular among western Buddhists and they began to be recognized as incarnations of Buddhist masters around this time.[16][17] Most of these, however, were expatriate Tibetans or Tibetans of mixed heritage, such as the son of Chögyam Trungpa. Initially, Westerners were not recognized as tulkus by the wider Tibetan diaspora.[18][19]

The recognition of Westerners as tulkus began in the 1970s, following the spread of Tibetan Buddhism to modern Western countries such as the United States.[20][21][22][23][24][25][excessive citations] The first recognized Western tulku was Dylan Henderson, an American boy identified as his father's teacher, or alternatively Ossian MacLise. MacLise, however, was born in Kathmandu, Nepal.[26][27]

Lineage of the Karmapas

Further information: Karmapa and Karmapa controversy

Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama (Wylie: Dus gsum Mkhyen pa, 1110–1193), was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa. A talented child who studied Buddhism with his father from an early age and who sought out great teachers in his twenties and thirties, he is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of fifty while practicing dream yoga. He was henceforth regarded by the contemporary highly respected masters Shakya Śri and Lama Shang as the Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, whose coming was predicted in the Samadhiraja Sutra[28] and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.[29]

The second Karmapa was the first tulku.

A Karmapa's identity is confirmed through a combination realized lineage teachers supernatural insight, prediction letters left by the previous Karmapa, and the young child's own self-proclamation and ability to identify objects and people known to its previous incarnation.[30][31]

The Karmapa is a long line of consciously reborn lamas. After the first Karmapa died in 1193, a lama had recurrent visions of a particular child as his rebirth. This child (born ca. 1205) was recognized as the Karma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama (1204–1283), thus beginning the Tibetan tulku tradition. Karma Pakshi was the first recognized tulku in Tibetan Buddhism that predicted the circumstances of his rebirth.[32][33]

The 8th, 10th, and 12th incarnations, as well as the 16th Karmapa, each faced conflicts during their recognition,[34] which were ultimately resolved. There was a controversy over the enthronement of two 17th Karmapas.

Lineage of the Dalai Lamas

Main article: Dalai Lama

Gendun Drup (1391–1474), a disciple of the founder Je Tsongkapa,[35] was the ordination name of the monk who came to be known as the 'First Dalai Lama', but only from 104 years after he died.[36] There had been resistance, since first he was ordained a monk in the Kadampa tradition[37] and for various reasons, for hundreds of years the Kadampa school had eschewed the adoption of the tulku system to which the older schools adhered.[38] Tsongkhapa largely modelled his new, reformed Gelugpa school on the Kadampa tradition and refrained from starting a tulku system.[39] Therefore, although Gendun Drup grew to be a very important Gelugpa lama, after he died in 1474 there was no question of any search being made to identify his incarnation.[38]

Despite this, when the Tashilhunpo monks started hearing what seemed credible accounts that an incarnation of Gendun Drup had appeared nearby and repeatedly announced himself from the age of two, their curiosity was aroused.[40] It was some 55 years after Tsongkhapa's death when eventually, the monastic authorities saw compelling evidence that convinced them the child in question was indeed the incarnation of their founder. They felt obliged to break with their own tradition and in 1487, the boy was renamed Gendun Gyatso and installed at Tashilhunpo as Gendun Drup's tulku, albeit informally.[41]

Gendun Gyatso died in 1542 and the lineage of Dalai Lama tulkus finally became firmly established when the third incarnation, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588), came forth. He made himself known as the tulku of Gendun Gyatso and was formally recognised and enthroned at Drepung in 1546.[42] When Gendun Gyatso was given the titular name "Dalai Lama" by the Tümed Altan Khan in 1578,[43] his two predecessors were accorded the title posthumously and he became known as the third in the lineage.[36]

Lineage of Samding Dorje Phagmo

Main article: Samding Dorje Phagmo
Mural depiction of Chökyi Drönma, the first incarnation of Samding Dorje Phagmo, at Nyêmo Chekar monastery

The Samding Dorje Phagmo (Wylie: བསམ་སྡིང་རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ) is the highest female tulku in Tibet[44] and the third highest-ranking person in the hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama.[45] She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.[46] In her first incarnation, as Chökyi Drönma (1422 CE–1455 CE), she was the student and consort of the famous polymath Thang Tong Gyalpo,[47] who first identified her as an emanation of Vajravārāhī,[48] and the consort of Bodong Panchen.[49] The seat of the Samding Dorje Phagmo is at Samding Monastery, in Tibet.

The current (12th) Samding Dorje Pakmo Trülku is Dechen Chökyi Drönma, who was born in 1938 or 1942 (?).

The twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo was very young at the time of the Chinese occupation, and her exact date of birth is contested. Some sources claim she was born a year before the death of the previous incarnation (and therefore cannot be the true reincarnation).[50]

However, Dechen Chökyi Drönma was recognised by the present 14th Dalai Lama as a true incarnation and served as a vice president of the Buddhist Association of China in 1956 while he was president, and Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama also as vice president. She went to Lhasa in 1958 and received the empowerment of Yamantaka from the Dalai Lama and the empowerment of Vajrayogini from the Dalai Lama's tutor, Trijang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso.[51]

Dechen Chökyi Drönma has been trained in the Bodongpa tradition and remains the head of the Samding Monastery. She simultaneously holds the post of a high government cadre in the Tibet Autonomous Region. She has as a result been accused of collaborating with the Chinese.[52][53]

Lineage of Trungpa tülkus

Main article: Trungpa tülkus

The Trungpa tülkus are a line of incarnate Tibetan lamas who traditionally head Surmang monastery complex in Kham, now Surmang. There have been twelve such Trungpa tulkus. They are members of the Karma Kagyu tradition as well as the Nyingma tradition. These tulkus are recognized as reincarnations of Künga Gyaltsen (15th century), a student of Trungmase. Choseng Trungpa Rinpoche is the 12th and current Trungpa tülku.[54]

Lineage of Chungdrag Dorje

Chungdrag Dorje was a 17th-century tertön who founded a small Gegön monastery near his native village of Phene in the Kutse region of the Kingdom of Derge in Kham, eastern Tibet. Although there are no monks there currently, the small monastery still exists, and is known in the region for its beautiful religious wall paintings.[55]

Seagal in 2016

In the Nyingma tradition it is said that there are one hundred primary treasure revealers and a larger number of secondary treasure revealers. As a tertön, Chungdrag Dorje rediscovered teachings and sacred objects hidden by Padmasambhava in the 8th century. Such treasures (terma) were concealed with the intention that they would be discovered and revealed at a later date when circumstances were such that they would bring special benefits to sentient beings.

The texts of the teachings discovered by Chungdrag Dorje apparently did not survive the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The sacred objects discovered by Chungdrag Dorje include an abnormally shaped bell, a phurba (ritual dagger), the syllable "A" carved into stone, and the pigments to be used to create the sacred wall paintings in his monastery mentioned above. Many of these objects were preserved and are still kept at Palyul Monastery today.[55]

In February 1997, Lama Penor Rinpoche from Palyul monastery announced that Steven Seagal was a tulku, and specifically the reincarnation of Chungdrag Dorje, a 17th-century tertön ("treasure revealer") of the Nyingma, the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism.[55]

Lineage of Genyenma Ahkon Lhamo

The first Genyenma Ahkon Lhamo, a meditator recognized as a wisdom dakini[56] was one of the main disciples of Namchö Mingyur Dorje (1645–67)[56] and sister of Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab, Migyur Dorje's Dharma heir[57] and the First Throneholder of Palyul Monastery (founded 1665).[58] She was credited as being instrumental to the founding of Palyul (now one of the Nyingma's six main or "mother" monasteries[59]) and for leaving a relic that is important to Palyul. During the cremation of her body, her kapala (top half of the skull) is said to have flown three kilometers and come to rest at the foot of the teaching throne of her brother. Found to be miraculously embossed with the sacred syllable AH, the kapala became an important relic housed at Palyul monastery in Tibet.[56]

Western tulku Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo during her enthronement

The Third Drubwang Padma Norbu ("Penor") Rinpoche, 11th Throneholder of Palyul Monastery, former Supreme Head of the Nyingma tradition[60] was recognized as a tulku and brought to Palyul Monastery in 1936 at the age of four. He recounted that as a young tulku in Tibet, inspired by seeing the skull relic, he made prayers to find Ahkon Lhamo's incarnation.[56][61] Though most of the kapala relic was pulverized into dust during the Cultural Revolution, one Tibetan man managed to save a silver dollar-size piece on which the syllable "AH" appears. Penor Rinpoche acquired it from him on a return trip to Tibet in 1987. He had it preserved in a crystal lotus bowl.

Penor Rinpoche officially recognized Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo in 1987 as the tulku of Genyenma Ahkon Lhamo during her visit to his Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India.[62] He gave crystal lotus bowl containing the relic to Ahkon Lhamo just prior to the occasion of her enthronement ceremony at Kunzang Palyul Choling (KPC) in 1988.[63] The relic remains at KPC and is displayed on auspicious days.

Lineage of Jamgon Kongtrul

Kongtrul tulkus are the main custodians of Jamgon Kongtrul (1813–1899).

Lineage of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Main article: Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Khyentse tulkus are the main custodians of the lineage of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892), a teacher, scholar and tertön of 19th-century Tibet. He was a leading figure in the Rimé movement.

Several tulkus of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, including those of body (sku), speech (gsung), mind (thugs), qualities (yon tan) and activity (Wylie: 'phrin las), were recognized in Tibet.[64] Of these, the body incarnation was Dzongsar Khyentse Jamyang Chökyi Wangpo, who was enthroned at Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's main seat at Dzongsar Monastery but died in an accident c. 1909.[65] The activity incarnation Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, who was originally enthroned at Katok Monastery succeeded him. The speech incarnation was the Second Beru Khyentse and the mind incarnation Dilgo Khyentse. Since the early 1960s, Dilgo Khyentse, single-handedly upholding the unique tradition of Khyentse incarnations, propagated Buddhism tirelessly in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and the West.[66]

Lineage of Thubten Yeshe

Thubten Yeshe (1935–1984) was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery (1969) and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the Gelug tradition, and was considered unconventional in his teaching style. Lama Yeshe died in 1984, 20 minutes before dawn on the first day of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. His body was cremated at the Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek, California,[67] where there is a stupa honoring him.

Tenzin Ösel Hita in 2018

In 1986, after certain traditional tests, the Dalai Lama formally recognized Tenzin Ösel Hita as the tulku or reincarnation of Thubten Yeshe—making him one of only a handful of Western tulkus—and renamed him "Tenzin Ösel Rinpoche".(Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་འོད་གསལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།) This makes Thubten Yeshe the first in a new lineage of tulkus. As a child Lama Ösel was heavily promoted by the FPMT, and made the subject of a book by Vicki Mackenzie, Reincarnation: The Boy Lama.[68] He is the fifth of nine siblings.[68]

Other major lineages

  • Dodrupchen tulkus are the main custodians of Longchen Nyingthig.
  • Dudjom tulkus are the main custodians of Dudjom Tersar.
  • Chokling tulkus are the main custodians of Chokling Tersar.

Process

Finding a successor

Pamela Logan outlines a general approach for finding a successor:

When an old tulku dies, a committee of senior lamas convenes to find the young reincarnation. The group may employ a number of methods in their search. First, they will probably look for a letter left behind by the departed tulku indicating where he intends to be born again. They will ask the close friends of the departed to recall everything he said during his last days, in case he may have given hints. Often, an oracle is consulted. Sometimes a prominent lama has a dream that reveals details of the child's house, parents, or of geographical features near his home. Sometimes heaven presents a sign, perhaps a rainbow, leading the search party to the child.[69]

Training

Logan describes the training a tulku undergoes from a young age:

He is brought up inside a monastery, under the direction of a head tutor and a number of other teachers or servants. He must study hard and adhere to a strict regimen. He has few if any toys or playmates, and is rarely allowed outside. Early on, he learns to receive important visitors, take part in complicated rituals, and give blessings to followers and pilgrims. Sometimes one or both parents are allowed to live near the young tulku. Older brothers are sometimes inducted into the monastery as monk-companions for the holy child. Yet his elderly tutors are the most influential people in his life, and they become his de facto parents.[69]

The academic atmosphere is balanced by unconditional love:

Countering the bleak academic regimen is an atmosphere of overwhelming, unconditional love. During the tulku's every waking moment, monks, family members, and awed, adoring visitors, shower the youth with love. If you visit a child tulku, you will probably notice that his quarters are pervaded by a wonderful glow. Everyone beams at the tulku. The tulku beams back. If he asks for something, he is given it immediately, and if he errs, he is corrected just as immediately. Western visitors to the young 14th Dalai Lama commented on "the extraordinary steadiness of his gaze." Even when quite young, the boys have remarkable poise; they sit calmly without fidgeting, even through ceremonies that may last all day.[69]

Criticism and analysis

The tulku system has been criticized since its inception. Criticism has also been directed against individual tulkus, including both Tibetan and Western tulkus.[70]

The validity of the recognition of Tsangyang Gyatso (born 1683) as the 6th Dalai Lama in 1697 was questioned[71] due to the fact he that preferred a libertine lifestyle to that of an ordained monk. Living as a lay practitioner and a yogi, he grew his hair long, dressed as a regular Tibetan, and was said to drink alcohol and accept the company of women.[72]

Chögyam Trungpa, the 11th Trungpa tulku, was criticized for his unconventional teaching style,[73] for his sexual involvement with a number of his female students,[74] and for smoking tobacco and liberally using alcohol; many who knew him characterized him as an alcoholic.[75][76] The case of Trungpa has been used as an example in calls to reform the tulku system.[70]

The enthonement of Steven Seagal in 1997 prompted a debate as to whether traditional religious titles "have been put up for sale."[77] Penor Rinpoche, who has recognized several Western tulku, defended his recognition of Seagal, arguing that it was not uncommon to recognize tulku late in life or for there to exist large gaps between incarnations of a tulku. He denied seeking monetary donations from Seagal.[55] Seagal is involved in the international arms trade and the government of Russia, prompting further criticism of his title.[78]

Tibetan tulku Sogyal Rinpoche, recognized as the incarnation of 19th-century Tibetan master and visionary Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa, was accused of sexual and physical assault and abuse,[70] as well as misusing charitable funds, with allegations stretching back to the 1970s.[79][80] In 2017 his organisation, Rigpa, announced these allegations would be investigated by an outside party and on 5 September 2018, Rigpa released the report produced by the UK law firm Lewis Silkin LLP, which upheld most of the allegations.[81] The case of Sogyal Rinpoche has been used as an example in calls to reform the tulku system.[70]

Tulku Bino Naksang has described the phenomena of Western tulkus as a "failed experiment" which did not account for the contradictions between traditional Tibetan culture and modern Western culture, and that the tulku system is uniquely Tibetan. He argues that "Westerners must find their own kind of Buddhism"[82] rather than adapt to the Tibetan system.

Academic analysis of Western tulkus

The academic Abraham Zablocki uses the term "tulku envy" to describe a Western desire to "be[come] Tibetan" or inhabit a Tibetan body through the tulku system, while recognizing the legitimacy of Western tulku recognition.[83] Zablocki analyzes The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes, by the Tibetan activist and author Jamyang Norbu, as a satire of this tulku envy, in an act of "counter-appropriation" in which a Western culture heroes becomes a Tibetan rather than vice-versa.[84]

The identification of non-Tibetan tulku has been called a manifestation of "the creative potential of Tibetan people [...] to adjust and survive in a changing world" and seen as an indications that Tibetan Buddhism is acquiring a more globalized character, as the tulku system is important to the maintenance and transmission of Tibetan Buddhism.[85]

Raymond Lee and Susan Ackerman argue that the recognition of Western tulkus "enhances the image of the Tibetan hierocracy as being open to change", occurring in a critical moment and "market-like situation that thrives on syncretic ideas and practices."[86] Donald Lopez suggests that the recognition of Western tulkus is "a form of spiritual adaptation that Tibetans use to gain alleigance from Western countries in order to strenghthen their protest against China's occupation."[87]

List of tulku lineages

This is a list of tulku lineages. Tibetologist Françoise Pommaret estimates there are presently approximately 500 tulku lineages found across Tibet, Bhutan, Northern India, Nepal, Mongolia, and the southwest provinces of China.[88]

See also

  • Avatar – Material appearance or incarnation of a god on Earth in Hinduism
  • Bodhi – Goal of Buddhist practice
  • Karmapa controversy – Tibetan Buddhism tulku lineage dispute
  • Kumari – Manifestations of the divine female energy or power in Newari traditions
  • My Reincarnation – 2011 film by Jennifer Fox
  • Proselytism – Attempting to convert others to a religion
  • Reincarnation Application – Chinese regulation
  • Tulku – 2009 film by Gesar Mukpo
  • Unmistaken Child – 2008 Israeli film directed by Nati Baratz

References

  1. ^ Ary 2012, p. 426.
  2. ^ Valentine 2013.
  3. ^ a b Pelzang 2004, p. [page needed].
  4. ^ Ary 2012, pp. 399–400.
  5. ^ Ary 2012, pp. 400–401.
  6. ^ Ray 1986, p. 44.
  7. ^ Ary 2012, p. 409.
  8. ^ Ray 1986, p. 37.
  9. ^ Ray 1986, p. 43.
  10. ^ Ray 1986, p. 45.
  11. ^ a b Oldmeadow 2001, p. 269.
  12. ^ a b c Bhushan, Garfield & Zablocki 2009, p. 45.
  13. ^ Ary 2012, p. 398.
  14. ^ Oldmeadow 2001, p. 266-267.
  15. ^ Bhushan, Garfield & Zablocki 2009, p. 44.
  16. ^ Nattier 1995.
  17. ^ Oldmeadow 2001, p. 267.
  18. ^ deJong 1974, pp. 55–106.
  19. ^ Ary 2012, p. 410.
  20. ^ Flintoff 2012.
  21. ^ Ary 2012, pp. 398–427.
  22. ^ Atay & D'Silva 2019, p. 222.
  23. ^ Moran 2004.
  24. ^ Bhushan, Garfield & Zablocki 2009.
  25. ^ Oldenburg 1988.
  26. ^ Juhasz & Lebow 2015, p. 351.
  27. ^ Liechty 2017, pp. 364.
  28. ^ Thrangu Rinpoche 1993.
  29. ^ The Lankavatara Sutra Archived 2006-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
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  31. ^ Levin, Norma (2013). Miraculous 16th Karmapa: Incredible Encounters with the Black Crown Buddha. Shang Shung Publications. p. XX. His great bequest to spiritual history was his ability to recognize his own future reincarnation, thus establishing for the first time an infallible, continuous reincarnation lineage in which he could draw upon his clairvoyance to guide beings in the present. Since then the Karmapa was frequently called upon to identify other reincarnate Lamas. To foretell his own reincarnation he would write a prediction letter before passing away and give it secretly to a trusted disciple to be opened at the right time. This letter would tell the time and place of his birth and the names of his parents, as well as the special natural signs that would occur. The letter is infallible proof that it is the spiritual lineage that reincarnates and not a dynastic blood line.
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  33. ^ Wong, Sylvia (2010). "The Karmapa Prophecies". Motilal Banarsidass. p. 2. ISBN 978-81-208-3480-4. The first master to reincarnate continuously, life after life, while keeping the same identity, was the 1st Karmpa Dusum Khyenpa (1110-1193). Before he died, the 1st Karmapa left brief oral instructions with three separate disciples concerning his next reincarnation. After his death, this first ever tulku declared himself to be the reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa. The circumstances of his arrival corresponded to the oral instructions previously given. In addition, the 1st Karmapa's teacher Pomdrakpa saw him in a vision, and subsequently confirmed that Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa had indeed returned as Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa (1204-1283).
  34. ^ Thrangu Rinpoche n.d.
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Works cited

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