.WE ARE DEEPLY SADDENED TO LEARN OF BARDOR TULKU RINPOCHE'S PARINIRVANA ON APRIL 1. IN MEMORIAM AND DEEP GRATITUDE , HERE IS THE INTERVIEW HE GAVE US AT KUNZANG PALCHEN LING; RED HOOK/NY, ON MAY 15, 2017.
Bardor Tulku Rinpoche
“His Holiness was my teacher and like a father to me”
Bardor Rinpoche, born in 1949, is the third incarnation of the 19th century master Barway Dorje. Like Zurmang Gharwang and Trungpa Rinpoche, he is from Zurmang monastery. His second incarnation served the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, among others, as appointments secretary. The third Bardor Tulku lived in Rumtek between the ages of 11 and 17, and was educated there. In 1976, His Holiness sent him to the USA where he was instrumental in establishing KTD Woodstock in New York. He started his own center, Kunzang Palchen Ling, in Red Hook, NY in 2009.[1]
Just after I turned nine years old, my entire family, including my parents, my brothers and sisters, as well as our teachers and servants, died while fleeing the Chinese and struggling to reach India. I was the only survivor. I arrived alone in India and wanted to meet His Holiness to tell him everything that had happened to my family and to my relatives in Tibet, and who had passed away.[2] I was an orphan, and he became like my father as well as my teacher. My connection with him is almost familial. That is why he said we are all one family.
Life in Rumtek was extremely busy. I was not only his servant. From the age of 11 to about 16 he encouraged me to focus on my education, Buddhist philosophy, and all the rituals. I studied most of the day. But at the same time, we lived together like a family. His Holiness slept inside the room and I slept in front of it. [This was because Bardor Rinpoche wanted to be immediately available whenever Karmapa needed his help.] That is how I could serve him as I did. His Holiness always rose at 3:30 or 4 a.m. and went to bed quite late. For those of us who were studying, these hours were difficult. His actual servants had more time than we did, because they could go to bed between 8 and 10 o’clock. Two of us, the ex-president of KTD [Tenzin Chönyi] and I stayed with him.[3] When he worked on the bird cages, for example, we helped until midnight or sometimes even later—how much time was then left for sleeping? Getting up, memorizing, studying and all of that was difficult. But we enjoyed ourselves considerably.
Since we lived like a family, talking to His Holiness was very easy, just like talking to one of us. We could discuss anything. On the other hand, it could be quite uncomfortable if you wanted to speak about something specific, it was more difficult than a simple family affair. My inner understanding was that whether or not you spoke to him directly, the Karmapa would comprehend your question. Sometimes even if you had not actually asked anything you would receive an answer. You could not hide anything, because he always knew. This was certain. Sometimes he provided powerful assistance without saying a word. I witnessed that many times, but it’s difficult to talk about.
In the West
Q: What was it like to see so many modern countries?
At first, we were somehow shocked, but we quickly got used to everything. The main responsibility was not ours, but His Holiness’. He had to meet everybody, including many influential people, and to teach. We were serving him. I did my daily duty. When we went to countries like Bhutan we took a large number of people. But coming to the West was expensive, so there were only eleven of us.
Q: Were you in contact with the Karmapa after his return to Rumtek?
We could always ask him for advice, but it was more difficult than today. Telephone lines were extremely bad, and you had to shout all the time. You had to call five to ten times before finally getting a connection, and after five to ten minutes the line was often cut. We still could send letters, so we were always able to connect in that way. We were Karmapa’s workers, and workers must be connected to their boss! We had no omniscience to know what he wanted, so he had to tell us.
Q.: Did the Karmapa give special advice for Western people?
“In the western countries people are well educated,” he said, “but they are lacking in the Dharma, in loving kindness and compassion.” Apart from this, Holiness’ advice was the same all over the world: “Keep on, continue, build up the Dharma, give people love and compassion. Provide genuine Dharma teachings and help.” This was his advice to all the teachers. How much they succeeded, how much they were carried off by their own defilements, how much they could really focus on His Holiness’ advice depended on every person individually. Even among five children in a family, each one grows up differently; some become doctors, teachers, and well-known while others might become homeless beggars.
The mind of masters like His Holiness Dalai Lama, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, His Holiness Minling Trizin, and His Holiness Karmapa are completely in the dharmakāya, what you call the Buddha level. From there comes all their love and compassion to benefit sentient beings. His Holiness’ goal was to bring about love and compassion. He advised us to teach the Dharma as purely and as much as we could, to give advice to all who tried to connect with us, as much as possible and with as much care as possible. Develop the Dharma in people’s minds, and enrich Buddha’s activity so it blossoms continuously.
Practicing until the last moment
Although the Gyalwang Karmapa was someone who achieved Buddhahood countless eons ago and who appears among us as a human being, he nonetheless practiced every day. During the years that I attended him, he began his daily practice recitations as soon as he awoke in the morning and recited it whenever he had a break from the sometimes endless stream of visitors who came to see him throughout the day. No matter how busy he was, even if couldn’t finish until the middle of the night, I never saw him fail to complete his recitation book.
If even an undisputed nirmāṇakāya of all Buddhas of the three times acts like that, what must this mean for the rest of us?
Even in the hospital in Zion near Chicago His Holiness practiced until the last day. I attended the Karmapa during his final two or three days. At that time, as he was dying, he became so physically weak that he could no longer even hold up his chant book. I would hold up the book with one hand and turn the pages with the other. Initially, he still could speak, but after a while he could not. He would put his fingers on my elbow and when he wanted me to turn a page, he pressed my arm with one finger. If I turned the page too quickly and he wanted to return to the previous page, he pressed my arm with another finger. This continued for a little while.
Finally, on the last day of his life, he had me open his prayer book and he chanted the first page. Then he bade me close it and wrap it in the cloth cover before he put it to his forehead and blessed himself with the text. He prayed for a long time and had me put it away. It was like the ceremony honoring the Kangyur*, in which you unwrap the sacred text and read a little at the beginning, a little at the end, and then go on to the next volume. I remembered this on his final day. While Holiness had me serve him so closely and accompany him in reading his prayers was quite auspicious, it was also very painful. He indicated that he would live no longer; he gave a sign of his leaving. Such is samsara. Lord Buddha himself demonstrated impermanence.
[1] The interview was conducted by Franziska Leclerc and I on May 15, 2017 at Red Hook/NY.
[2] Paragraph from: Bardor Tulku Rinpoche The Essence of Buddhism. Thar Lam, August 2006, pages 38-47.
[3] Often Tsültrim Namgyal or even Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche slept there, to be available when their help was needed.
copyright: Gerd Bausch 2017. From: Radiant Compassion, Vol 2. All rights reserved. You are very welcome to share the link, but publication of the text requires written permission of the author.
Bardor Tulku Rinpoche
“His Holiness was my teacher and like a father to me”
Bardor Rinpoche, born in 1949, is the third incarnation of the 19th century master Barway Dorje. Like Zurmang Gharwang and Trungpa Rinpoche, he is from Zurmang monastery. His second incarnation served the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, among others, as appointments secretary. The third Bardor Tulku lived in Rumtek between the ages of 11 and 17, and was educated there. In 1976, His Holiness sent him to the USA where he was instrumental in establishing KTD Woodstock in New York. He started his own center, Kunzang Palchen Ling, in Red Hook, NY in 2009.[1]
Just after I turned nine years old, my entire family, including my parents, my brothers and sisters, as well as our teachers and servants, died while fleeing the Chinese and struggling to reach India. I was the only survivor. I arrived alone in India and wanted to meet His Holiness to tell him everything that had happened to my family and to my relatives in Tibet, and who had passed away.[2] I was an orphan, and he became like my father as well as my teacher. My connection with him is almost familial. That is why he said we are all one family.
Life in Rumtek was extremely busy. I was not only his servant. From the age of 11 to about 16 he encouraged me to focus on my education, Buddhist philosophy, and all the rituals. I studied most of the day. But at the same time, we lived together like a family. His Holiness slept inside the room and I slept in front of it. [This was because Bardor Rinpoche wanted to be immediately available whenever Karmapa needed his help.] That is how I could serve him as I did. His Holiness always rose at 3:30 or 4 a.m. and went to bed quite late. For those of us who were studying, these hours were difficult. His actual servants had more time than we did, because they could go to bed between 8 and 10 o’clock. Two of us, the ex-president of KTD [Tenzin Chönyi] and I stayed with him.[3] When he worked on the bird cages, for example, we helped until midnight or sometimes even later—how much time was then left for sleeping? Getting up, memorizing, studying and all of that was difficult. But we enjoyed ourselves considerably.
Since we lived like a family, talking to His Holiness was very easy, just like talking to one of us. We could discuss anything. On the other hand, it could be quite uncomfortable if you wanted to speak about something specific, it was more difficult than a simple family affair. My inner understanding was that whether or not you spoke to him directly, the Karmapa would comprehend your question. Sometimes even if you had not actually asked anything you would receive an answer. You could not hide anything, because he always knew. This was certain. Sometimes he provided powerful assistance without saying a word. I witnessed that many times, but it’s difficult to talk about.
In the West
Q: What was it like to see so many modern countries?
At first, we were somehow shocked, but we quickly got used to everything. The main responsibility was not ours, but His Holiness’. He had to meet everybody, including many influential people, and to teach. We were serving him. I did my daily duty. When we went to countries like Bhutan we took a large number of people. But coming to the West was expensive, so there were only eleven of us.
Q: Were you in contact with the Karmapa after his return to Rumtek?
We could always ask him for advice, but it was more difficult than today. Telephone lines were extremely bad, and you had to shout all the time. You had to call five to ten times before finally getting a connection, and after five to ten minutes the line was often cut. We still could send letters, so we were always able to connect in that way. We were Karmapa’s workers, and workers must be connected to their boss! We had no omniscience to know what he wanted, so he had to tell us.
Q.: Did the Karmapa give special advice for Western people?
“In the western countries people are well educated,” he said, “but they are lacking in the Dharma, in loving kindness and compassion.” Apart from this, Holiness’ advice was the same all over the world: “Keep on, continue, build up the Dharma, give people love and compassion. Provide genuine Dharma teachings and help.” This was his advice to all the teachers. How much they succeeded, how much they were carried off by their own defilements, how much they could really focus on His Holiness’ advice depended on every person individually. Even among five children in a family, each one grows up differently; some become doctors, teachers, and well-known while others might become homeless beggars.
The mind of masters like His Holiness Dalai Lama, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, His Holiness Minling Trizin, and His Holiness Karmapa are completely in the dharmakāya, what you call the Buddha level. From there comes all their love and compassion to benefit sentient beings. His Holiness’ goal was to bring about love and compassion. He advised us to teach the Dharma as purely and as much as we could, to give advice to all who tried to connect with us, as much as possible and with as much care as possible. Develop the Dharma in people’s minds, and enrich Buddha’s activity so it blossoms continuously.
Practicing until the last moment
Although the Gyalwang Karmapa was someone who achieved Buddhahood countless eons ago and who appears among us as a human being, he nonetheless practiced every day. During the years that I attended him, he began his daily practice recitations as soon as he awoke in the morning and recited it whenever he had a break from the sometimes endless stream of visitors who came to see him throughout the day. No matter how busy he was, even if couldn’t finish until the middle of the night, I never saw him fail to complete his recitation book.
If even an undisputed nirmāṇakāya of all Buddhas of the three times acts like that, what must this mean for the rest of us?
Even in the hospital in Zion near Chicago His Holiness practiced until the last day. I attended the Karmapa during his final two or three days. At that time, as he was dying, he became so physically weak that he could no longer even hold up his chant book. I would hold up the book with one hand and turn the pages with the other. Initially, he still could speak, but after a while he could not. He would put his fingers on my elbow and when he wanted me to turn a page, he pressed my arm with one finger. If I turned the page too quickly and he wanted to return to the previous page, he pressed my arm with another finger. This continued for a little while.
Finally, on the last day of his life, he had me open his prayer book and he chanted the first page. Then he bade me close it and wrap it in the cloth cover before he put it to his forehead and blessed himself with the text. He prayed for a long time and had me put it away. It was like the ceremony honoring the Kangyur*, in which you unwrap the sacred text and read a little at the beginning, a little at the end, and then go on to the next volume. I remembered this on his final day. While Holiness had me serve him so closely and accompany him in reading his prayers was quite auspicious, it was also very painful. He indicated that he would live no longer; he gave a sign of his leaving. Such is samsara. Lord Buddha himself demonstrated impermanence.
[1] The interview was conducted by Franziska Leclerc and I on May 15, 2017 at Red Hook/NY.
[2] Paragraph from: Bardor Tulku Rinpoche The Essence of Buddhism. Thar Lam, August 2006, pages 38-47.
[3] Often Tsültrim Namgyal or even Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche slept there, to be available when their help was needed.
copyright: Gerd Bausch 2017. From: Radiant Compassion, Vol 2. All rights reserved. You are very welcome to share the link, but publication of the text requires written permission of the author.