Gelek Rimpoche Explained

Nawang Gelek Rimpoche
Native Name:སྐྱབས་རྗེ་དགེ་ལེགས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།
Native Name Lang:Tibetan
Religion:Tibetan Buddhist
School:Drepung Monastery
Order:Gelug
Churches:-->
Other Name:-->Nyakre Khentrul Rinpoche, Kyabje Ngwang Gehlek Rimpoche, Gehlek Rimpoche, Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche
Dharma Name:-->
Nationality:Tibetan
Birth Date:26 October 1939
Birth Place:Lhasa, Tibet
Death Place:Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Lama
Teacher:Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche, Song Rinpoche
Students:Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, Cyndi Lee, Joe Liozzo, Glenn Mullin, Robert Thurman
Profession:teacher

Kyabje Nawang Gehlek Rimpoche was a Tibetan Buddhist lama born in Lhasa, Tibet on October 26, 1939. His personal name was Gelek; kyabje and rimpoche are titles meaning "teacher" (lit., "lord of refuge") and "precious," respectively; he is known to Tibetans as Nyakre Khentrul Rinpoche.[1] According to Thupten Jinpa, principal English translator to the Dalai Lama, he is considered Known for his memory, intellectual insight, familiarity with modern culture, and effectiveness as a teacher of Western practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, Rimpoche taught in English without a translator, claiming he learned "English watching the soap opera Days of Our Lives."[2]

Early life and education

Gelek Rimpoche was recognized at the age of four as a tulku, an incarnate lama. He was "recognized as the incarnation of one of the Gyuto Tantric College abbots called Tashi Namgyal. I believe I was recognized by the late Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo – the famous Pabongka." His father was the 10th Demo Rinpoche and his uncle was the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He received the highest scholastic degree of Geshe Lharampa, equivalent to a PhD, at the exceptionally young age of twenty, at Drepung Monastic University which he attended from the age of four to twenty.[3]

He was educated alongside the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso who said "he completed his traditional Buddhist training as a monk in Tibet prior to the Chinese Takeover."[4] Rimpoche was tutored by many of Tibet's greatest teachers including the 14th Dalai Lama's senior and junior tutors, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, who sent him to the West to teach, and Denma Locho Rinpoche and Song Rinpoche.[5] [6]

Exile

In 1959, ten days after the Dalai Lama fled to India, Gelek Rimpoche led a large group of Tibetans from Tibet into exile in India.

He then settled at a temporary camp with other lamas and monks in Buxa, India, where his education continued, although "there were no books, and classes had to be taught from memory only."[7] He was one of the first students of the Young Lamas Home School.[8] [9]

Later, he relinquished monastic life. "Many other Rinpoches, including Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, told me, “Even though you didn’t remain as a monk, it doesn’t mean you’ve resigned as a rinpoche.” They told me I still have to carry the banner of Buddhism. So that’s how it is." He was named director of Tibet House in New Delhi, India, in 1965. In the 1970s, he served as head of Tibetan services and as a radio host at All India Radio.[10] He preserved over 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts that would have otherwise been lost and conducted over 1000 interviews, compiling an oral history of the fall of Tibet to Communist China that is in the US Library of Congress' Tibetan Oral History Archive Project.[11] [12] In 1964, he was an exchange student at Cornell University.

Life in the west

Rimpoche moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1987 to teach Buddhism at the request of two local women, Aura Glaser and Sandra Finkel, who met him on a trip to India during the mid-1980s.[13] He first taught in Ann Arbor in 1985. He helped a Case Western Reserve professor write a book on Tibetan history for two years in Cleveland, then moved to Ann Arbor. In 1988, with Glaser and Finkel, he founded and was president of Jewel Heart, a nonprofit "spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian organization that translates the ancient wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism into contemporary life," in Ann Arbor, which has expanded to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Chicago, Cleveland, Nebraska, New York, Malaysia, and The Netherlands. The Dalai Lama visited Jewel Heart in Ann Arbor in 2008.[14] [15]

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg was among the more prominent of Jewel Heart's members. Ginsberg met with Gelek Rinpoche through the modern composer Philip Glass in 1989, and they became great friends.[16] [17] [18] [19] Allen and Philip jointly staged benefits for the Jewel Heart organization. Professor Robert Thurman, Joe Liozzo, and Glenn Mullin, are also Jewel Heart members and frequent lecturers.[20] Cyndi Lee also teaches at Jewel Heart.[21] Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, Venerable Thubten Chodron, and Michael Imperioli were also students of Rimpoche's.[22] [23] He became an American citizen in July 1994.[24]

Gelek Rinpoche died on February 15, 2017, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after undergoing surgery the previous month.[25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

Demo Rinpoche, Rimpoche's nephew, has served as Jewel Heart’s Resident Spiritual Director, since 2018.[30] [31]

In 2021 Tibet House US in New York City, partnered with the Allen Ginsberg estate, and Jewel Heart International, on Transforming Minds: Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche and Friends, a gallery show, video, and eventually online exhibition, of photos and drawings by Allen Ginsberg with whom Rimpoche had an “indissoluble bond," exemplifying the "transformational nature of this time in US history."[32] "Fifty negatives guided by Allen’s extensive notes on the contact sheets and images he’d circled with the intention to print," featured images of Rimpoche with friends, including "other great Tibetan masters, including Ribur Rimpoche and Khyongla Rato Rimpoche, images we had not known about," and "monks, Tibetologists, friends, and students, including Philip Glass, artist Francesco Clemente, founder of Tibet House US, Robert Thurman, poet Anne Waldman, and songwriter, singer, and poet, Patti Smith."[33] [34] [35]

Publications

Gehlek Rimpoche assisted Melvyn C. Goldstein in his writing of A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 1: The Demise of the Lamaist State, 1913-1951.[36]

In 2001, Rimpoche's teaching with many biographical details, Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, and an introduction by Robert Thurman, was published. "Buddhist readers will cheer about this fresh voice, and even those who don't believe in reincarnation will find something valuable in this short meditation on death.[37]

Many of Rimpoche's teachings since the mid 1980s, including intermediate and vajrayana lightly edited transcripts and books, are available.[38]

Archive

The Gelek Rimpoche Archive, "arguably are the largest, or one of the largest collections of authentic Tibetan Buddhist teachings in English of a Tibetan master," was established online by the Gelek Rimpoche Foundation.[39] Free of charge, the archive contains more than five hundred teachings and more informal talks comprising over 1800 video and 2900 audio files, often accompanied by searchable verbatim and compiled transcripts.[40]

Selected bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Oral history interview of Gelek Rimpoche-Nyare Khentrü . loc.gov . US Library of Congress . 15 February 2024.
  2. Web site: Magill. Mark. Remembering Gelek Rimpoche. tricycle.org. The Tricycle Foundation. 8 March 2018.
  3. Web site: Gelek Rinpoche. fpmt.org/mandala/archives. Mandala Magazine, FPMT. 9 March 2018.
  4. Book: Gehlek, Nawang. Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation. registration. Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation.. Riverhead Books. 2001. 9781573221962. New York. Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
  5. News: Larson . Kay . When Buddha Chooses to Be a Woman . 14 December 2020 . The New York Times . August 7, 2005.
  6. Web site: Tworkov. Helen. A Lama for All Seasons: An Interview with Gelek Rinpoche. tricycle.org. Tricycle Magazine. 31 December 2017.
  7. News: Brentano . Robyn . BUXA CHOGAR: Saving Tibetan Buddhism in Exile . 2 January 2021 . Tibet House US . Mandala, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition . January 1, 2019.
  8. Book: Mackenzie. Vicki. The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun. March 28, 2017. Shambhala. 978-1611804256. 102. 9 March 2018.
  9. News: Namgyal . Tsewang . Foundations for a Modern Tibet . 1 October 2018 . Phayul . July 27, 2009.
  10. Web site: Remembering a Great Teacher: the learned and inspiring Gelek Rimpoche of Jewel Heart International left behind a sparkling jewel of Dharma teachings. buddhaweekly.com. 15 February 2017 . Buddha Weekly. 9 March 2018.
  11. News: Lama Choepa Tsok Offering Puja Gelek Rinpoche . 31 October 2020 . Drepung Loseling Monastery Center . drepung.org . February 16, 2017.
  12. Web site: Tibetan Oral History Archive Project . loc.gov . US Library Of Congress . 31 October 2020.
  13. Book: Gehlek . Rimpoche Nawang . Good Life, Good Death . October 1, 2002 . Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House . New York, New York . 9781573229524 . 175 . 13 February 2024.
  14. News: Larcom . Geoff S. . Thompson . Leisa . The Dalai Lama's long road to Ann Arbor: Invitation was issued almost 14 years ago . 14 February 2024 . The Ann Arbor News . April 12, 2008.
  15. News: Gruner . John . Leisa Thompson . Leisa Thompson . Dalai Lama accepts 14-year standing invitation, returns to Midwest this weekend . 14 February 2024 . The Plain Dealer . April 18, 2008.
  16. News: Silliman . Daniel . A woman who married God, a chess-playing priest and 10 more fascinating religious figures who died in 2017 . 1 October 2018 . The Washington Post . December 28, 2017.
  17. Web site: Gelek Rinpoche's Birthday! . allenginsberg.org . 26 October 2011 . The Allen Ginsberg Project . 31 October 2020.
  18. Web site: Lifeline . Allen Ginsberg dot org . 2013-08-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927063343/http://www.allenginsberg.org/lifeline.php/2.cfm . September 27, 2007 .
  19. News: Di Prima . Diane . Lust for Life . 14 February 2024 . Los Angeles Times . May 18, 1997.
  20. Web site: Liozzo. Joe. Celebrating Gelek Rimpoche. huffingtonpost.com. 18 February 2017 . Huffington Post. 9 March 2018.
  21. News: Lee . Cyndi . The Complete Package: Meditation and Yoga . 13 February 2024 . Lion's Roar . July 22, 2021.
  22. Web site: Remembering Gelek Rimpoche . jewelheart.org . Jewel Heart . 14 February 2024.
  23. News: Miller . Andrea . Wise Guy . 13 February 2024 . Lion's Roar . 3 February 2021.
  24. News: Norbu . Konchog . Trailer: New documentary celebrates "The American Rimpoche"; June premieres in NY, DC . 1 October 2018 . Lion's Roar Foundation . March 20, 2014.
  25. Web site: The Office of Tibet Mourns the Passing of Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche. tibetoffice.org. The Office of Tibet, Washington, DC. 31 December 2017.
  26. News: Biddlecombe. Wendy Joan. Tibetan Buddhist Lama Gelek Rimpoche Has Died. December 31, 2017. Tricycle. February 15, 2017.
  27. Web site: Meade Sperry. Rod. Remembering Gelek Rimpoche, Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author (1939-2017). lionsroar.com. Lion’s Roar Foundation. 31 December 2017.
  28. Web site: Lewis. Craig. Respected Tibetan Teacher Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche Dies. buddhistdoor.net. Buddhistdoor Global. 22 February 2018.
  29. Web site: Jewel Heart: Remembering the Life of Gelek Rimpoche. beherenownetwork.com. 16 February 2017 . Be Here Now Network. 9 March 2018.
  30. Web site: About Demo Rinpoche . .jewelheart.org . Jewel Heart . 15 February 2024.
  31. News: Gauding . Madonna . Bringing Youthful New Leadership to Jewel Heart: The Crazy Wisdom Interview with Spiritual Director Demo Rinpoche . 9 June 2022 . 78 . Crazy Wisdom Journal . September 1, 2021.
  32. Web site: Transforming Minds . jewelheart.org/ . Jewel Heart International . 8 February 2024.
  33. News: Spiegel . Alison . Inside the New Allen Ginsberg Photography Exhibit at Tibet House US . 3 November 2022 . Tricycle Magazine . September 29, 2021.
  34. Paljor Chatag . Ben . Curatorial Reflections on 'Transforming Minds: Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche and Friends, Photographs by Allen Ginsberg 1989-1997' . Yeshe, A Journal of Tibetan Literature, Arts and Humanities . 2022 . 2 . 1 . 3 November 2022.
  35. Web site: Transforming Minds: Kyabje Gelek Rimnpohce and Friends . jewelheart.org . Jewel Heart . 3 November 2022.
  36. Beckwith . CI . Journal Article: Melvyn C. Goldstein. A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. Assisted by Gelek Rimpoche. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1989. . The American Historical Review . 96 . 2, April 1991 . 582–583 . 10.1086/ahr/96.2.582 . 14 February 2024.
  37. News: Starred: GOOD LIFE, GOOD DEATH: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation . 14 February 2024 . Publisher's Weekly.
  38. Web site: Transcripts . jewelheart.org . 14 February 2024.
  39. Web site: About Gelek Rimpoche . gelekrimpoche.org . Gelek Rimpoche Foundation . 7 February 2024.
  40. Web site: About the Archive . gelekrimpoche.org . Gelek Rimpoche Foundation . 7 February 2024.
  41. Web site: Good life, good death : Tibetan wisdom on reincarnation . catalog.loc.gov . Library of Congress . 15 February 2024.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gelek Rimpoche".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.