| Lama Doboom Tulku Rinpoche | |
| Native Name: | Doboom Lozang Tenzin Tulku |
| Birth Date: | 17 February 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Qinghai, Republic of China |
Lama Doboom Tulku Rinpoche (17 February 1942 – 19 January 2024[1]) was a scholar and creative writer. He served as Director of Tibet House (1981–2011), managing trustee of World Buddhist Culture Trust (1996–2023) and as an organizer of the World Festival of Sacred Music (1999–2000).
Tulku was born in 1941 in a nomadic settlement in Ga, now Yushu County in Qinghai Province. As a child he was taken to the Tashi Dhargye Monastery in Tehor, Kham province (now in Sichuan under Garze Ganze Prefecture) where he was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Doboom Tulku at the age of two by Phurchog Jampa Rinpoche.[2] In his memoirs he describes growing up with ordinary children, but from the age of 10 he was entrusted with presiding over the Monlam and Tscogchod festivals at Tashi Dhargye. At the age of 12, he joined Drepung Monastery in Central Tibet and studied Buddhist philosophy.[3]
In March 1959, as the Chinese regiments approached Lhasa, he and his entourage made their way to India, where he stayed at the lama camp at Buxa Duar, West Bengal and continued his studies. In 1963, he received his bhikkhu ordination from the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama later described him as his "best friend" to the Tibetologist Linnart Mäll.
In 1969,[4] he entered the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, then under the auspices of Sanskrit University, Varanasi, where he studied Buddhist philosophy, developing a special interest in Madhyamika philosophy. He received Geshe Archarya degree in 1972.[5]
In 1999, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Buddhist Studies by Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Buddhist University of Bangkok.[6]
He joined Tibet House, New Delhi, as librarian in 1972, and the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, in 1973. From 1976 to 1980, he worked at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Private Office, accompanying him on visits to the USA, USSR, Japan and Mongolia.[7]
In 1981, he was asked to serve as Director of Tibet House, New Delhi, and develop programmes to promote the cultural heritage of Tibet. Here he oversaw the installation of a Buddha statue at the Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi. This park got its name in 1956, when His Holiness Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama visited India on the occasion of the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha’s parinirvana.[8]
In 1986, he initiated the monastic dialogue seminars, to acquaint traditional Tibetan scholars with the Indian academic system, and to expose Indian scholars to the Tibetan tradition. Eight seminars were conducted till 2008, on subjects like Buddhist logic, Abhidhamma and pramana.[9]
In 1989, he initiated the annual Padmapani Lecture, to be delivered by experts on Tibetan and Buddhist studies.[10]
In 1996, he conceived the World Festival of Sacred Music, and persuaded former president of India, R. Venkataraman to be chairperson, and Pandit Ravi Shankar, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Vaclav Havel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Swami Chidananda Saraswati and Madame Danielle Mitterand to be patrons[11] . The festival was celebrated in 15 cities across the world. At the main event in Bangalore on April 9–16, 2000, 650 artists from 15 countries participated, Benedictines from the Netherlands, Gamelan players from Indonesia, Baul minstrels, qawwali singers, the Zulu band ‘Spear of Shaka’, the Israeli shofar and Mongolian shamanic drums.[12]
His memoirs reflect on monastic organisation, the teachings of different sects at his monastery Drepung, and the building of institutions in India. They also include his observations on figures like E. Gene Smith, Krishnanath, Ramachandra Gandhi, Marina Abramovic, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.