Khengen Tulku
Khengen Tulku aka Khengen Tulku Jambal Norbu Wangyal (Wyl. mkhan rgan sprul sku 'jam dpal nor bu dwang rgyal) was a renowed incarnate lama in upper Pemakö, Powo[1], and the father of Dudjom Rinpoche. He was recognized as the incarnation of Japhur Lama, son of Katok Gyalse Sönam Deutsen, and grandson of Longsal Nyingpo from Katok Monastery[2]. On the family side, as a son of King Kanam Depa, Khengen Tulku descended from the royal clan of the Tibetan dharma monarchy, and became the ruler of the Powo kingdom. His monastery Khang Kheng was located in the upper valley of Pemakö, near Lhotod Kha.
According to Dudjom Rinpoche[3]:
- Khengen Tulku, although not a monk, wasn’t married. He was living at his monastery of Khang Kheng and performing beneficial activities. Once again, a dakini, and also Lama Chabdo Phagpa Lha, told him to go to the Terkong Nang area, where he would meet a karmically connected dakini, establish a monastery, ad have a very special son who would benefit the dharma and sentient beings greatly.
- Following their instructions, Khengen Tulku eventually arrived there and found the area populated by about thirteen large families and fifteen or sixteen retinue families. Among the large families was one that had emigrated from eastern Bhutan and was descended from the great Nyingma tertön Ratna Lingpa. Khengen Tulku asked that family to host him, and with great joy and respect they agreed. This family had a young sixteen-year-old daughter named Namgyal Drolma. He slept with her that night and many beautiful signs and indications came. In the early morning he told the daughter’s parents, “I want to stay in this area ad build a monastery near the mountain, but I will need our help. I would also like your daughter to be my wife.” The parents joyously agreed.
- They sought out a perfect location for the monastery and found a beautiful site about three miles from the village. In that area, however, there were no stones, and everyone said, “If the temple is not built of stone, it won’t last long.” The lama prayed to the Three Roots and especially to Guru Padmasambhava, performed many ganachakras and made many offerings to the local land deities. He had auspicious dreams that night. Early in the morning, he told his students and dharma patrons, “Today I am going to reveal a treasury of stones, but I will need the assistance of a man named “Stone””.
- Everyone was trying to think of some one with that name. Someone remembered a very good craftsman from Puwo named Dorje Dragpa, and there was general agreement that he must be the man. They located this man, and then all of them accompanied the teacher to the selected location where they did fire puja Jinsek and dharmapala offerings. Khengen Tulku said to Dorje Dragpa, “Dig in the dirt.” Dorje Dragpa struck with his pick, and when he did, many stones of different sizes emerged looking like they had been prepared by a mason. With them, they were able to complete the construction of the monastery”.
In the mid 1920’s, a war broke out between Central Tibet and Powo kingdom, and afer much resistance, Khengen Tulku had to leave Powo and settled on the border of India.
Notes
- ↑ According to 'The Tibetan and Himalayan Library':
- Powo (spo bo), Kongpo (kong po), and Dakpo (dwags po) are the three regions comprising Southeastern Tibet. Powo is the easternmost of these three, located in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and close to India’s Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar, and Yunnan Province. In many older sources Powo is called Puwo (spu bo), which is a reference to its ancient connections to the Purgyel (spu rgyal) dynasty that ruled Imperial Tibet. Until the early twentieth century Powo was a virtually independent kingdom.
- When the Mongol-backed king of Tibet Chögyal Pakpa traveled through the region he empowered the local head lama to become the ruler of the region, furnishing him with a royal proclamation and seal. This lama’s cousin, Pöngen Anyak (dpon rgan a nyag), was the driving force behind the actual unification and expansion of Powo. He brought outlying areas more directly under the control of his family and instituted a system of tax collection. In the early fourteenth century Pöngen built a castle for his lineage called Kanam Sinpo Fortress (kaH gnam srin po rdzong) and founded the kingdom of Powo, making himself the first king. The kings of Powo used the title Kanam Gyelpo (kaH gnam rgyal po) or Kanam Depa (kaH gnam sde pa).
- The rise of the Gelugpa (dge lugs pa) state in Lhasa under the Fifth Dalai Lama drew Powo into transregional politics and sectarian conflicts. For example, when the Fifth Dalai Lama deployed Mongolian troops to southeastern Tibet to root out the Karma Kagyü , Powo was invaded because the Kanam Gyelpo was a benefactor of local Karma Kagyü monasteries. The twenty-first Kanam Gyelpo was quick to learn how to work with the new authorities in Tibet, integrating Powo into the economic and cultural life of the important Geluk monasteries around Lhasa by building the Powo Regional House (spo bo khang tshan) at Sera Monastery. The twenty-first Kanam Gyelpo was also an astute politician, skillfully partaking in the emerging wealth and power of the large Gelukpa monasteries around Lhasa while not sacrificing the independence of Powo to the Ganden Palace (dga’ ldan pho brang). He was also somehow able to avoid having to pay taxes to the Tibetan central government. In the early twentieth century the twenty-fifth king abdicated the throne and became a monk. Succession problems ensued and violent conflicts broke out between certain monasteries. This led to an intervention by joint Lhasa and Qing military forces and a restructuring of the governance of Powo. From this point on Powo was obliged to pay yearly taxes to the central government in Lhasa. In 1911, Chinese soldiers who had been left behind in Tibet began to plunder their way back to China. The people of Powo and their monasteries were ravaged in the process. Lhasa seized this opportunity to take control of Powo and it lost its independence. http://places.thlib.org/features/23676/descriptions/1284
- ↑ Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, Light of Fearless Indestructible Wisdom: The Life and Legacy of H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Snow Lion 2008, page 32.
- ↑ Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, Light of Fearless Indestructible Wisdom: The Life and Legacy of H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Snow Lion 2008, page 59-61.