About Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, Dza Rongbuk and Thubten Choling Monastery.

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New Roofs for the Nuns (Anis)
Trulshik Rinpoche during the empowerment of the Tendrel Nyesel drupchen at Thubten Choling, 19 Sept 2002.

Kyabje Trulshik Ngawang Chökyi Lödro Rinpoche is one of the most learned and respected masters of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, and without doubt one of the most important lamas of our time. He is one the teachers of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to whom he regularly gives rare teachings and transmission, in particular those of the Great Perfection or Dzogpa Chenpo. 

Kyabje Trulshik was born in 1923, in Yardrok Takloung, in central Tibet. He was quite young when Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, known as Rongbuk Sangye - the Buddha of Rongbuk, recognized him as the reincarnation of Trulshik Dongak Lingpa. When Trulshik Rinpoche was very young he used to scratch his head in exactly the same way as Dongak Lingpa used to do, who was a Yogi and had long matted hair piled on his head. Trulshik Rinpoche was brought to Dza Rongbuk monastery in Tibet, on the inhospitable northern slopes of Mount Everest. Rinpoche remembers foreign climbers coming to Dza Rongbuk to climb Everest. He remembers their brightly coloured billowing tents.

Rongbuk Sangye was very influential in the in the Everest region, both in Tibet and in the remote frontier region of Solu Khumbu Nepal. He was considered to be a reincarnation of Lama Sangye Dorje who had established the first monastery in the Khumbu area at Pangboche in 1667. Rongbuk Sangye recommended that Lama Gulu establish the monastery at Tengboche and introduced the Mani Rimdu ceremonies at Tengboche, Thame and Chiwang monasteries in Nepal. It is interesting that these ceremonies were preserved there and the restoration of Dza Rongbuk and reestablishment of the traditions is now coming from the monasteries in Nepal. Rongbuk Sangye also recognised the present Tengboche Rinpoche as the Tulku, or manifestation, of Lama Gulu. The stupa in front of Rongbuk monastery has many sacred items and blessings from Rongbuk Sangye who passed away around 1942. Trulshik Rinpoche then became the spiritual head of the Dza Rongbuk monastery and hermitages for monks and nuns that were built nearby. Rongbuk was well known for the number of life long retreatants that stayed there. 

When the Chinese communists occupied Tibet, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled over the passes safety. Trulshik Rinpoche went into exile in the remote valleys of Solo Khumbu, Nepal and spent many years in retreat. Rinpoche first stayed in Thame (we have film of him there in 1960 when he was 37) then moved to Senge Puk a cave high in the mountains where he stayed in retreat. Later he founded the monastery of Thubten Choling, which is now the home of a flourishing community of monks, nuns and lay practitioners. 

When the monks and nuns of Rongbuk monastery came to Nepal as refugees they faced great hardship. Today there are still refugees crossing the passes. Some are escaping political persecution but many are coming in order to meet the Dalai Lama and to practice their traditional Buddhist religion freely. Despite the suppression of Buddhism in Tibet, the number of people coming to be of monks and nuns at Thubten Choling is steadily increasing. At present there are around 350 nuns and 150 monks resident at Thubten Choling Monastery. There are more than a hundred others who want to join, but can not because of a lack of housing and facilities and so go to other monasteries and Buddhist colleges in India. 

The monastery lies at an altitude of about 3000 meters or 10,000 feet, close to the Sherpa village of Jumbesi on the Jiri Everest Base camp trekking route surrounded by beautiful wooded hills and valleys. Around 20% are Sherpa but most are Tibetan. The Tibetan and Sherpa communities around Everest have always been closely linked through religion, cultural, history and trade. The monks and nuns survive from donations, as they have no agricultural land or livestock. Many of the donations are potatoes, barley, milk butter and apples.

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