Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00492)

samblo@c. , thank you for menioning Osel and I therefore like to tell 
the history of how it came to the "Western" tulkus. 
In fact nowadays any filmstar with a lot of money can become tulku 
it seems. (And I don't maen Greer).
But in fact it hasn't been so long like that, and it is a modern 
sociological development that has to do with the invasion of Tibet by 
China in the 1950-60's.

Before the tibetans tended to use the tulku idea to explain certain 
Westerners to themselves. For example, L.A. Waddell (a Christian 
missionary at the end of the last century), Sir Charles Bell (a 
British diplomat who spent some time in Lhasa in the 1930s) and Marco 
Pallis (a practicing Tibetan Buddhist since the 1930s) were all told 
that they had been Tibetans in previous lives. Of course, being the 
reincarnation of a Tibetan is not the same as being a tulku. 

Even so, Waddell was identified as a "reflex" of the Buddha Amitabha 
(which must have annoyed him since he had a low opinion of Tibetan 
Buddhism). Important Westerners, such as Queen Victoria and Nicholas 
TI of Russia, were treated more royally, one might say. Victoria was 
said to be a"manifestation" of Palden Lhamo (one of the few female 
tulkus) and Nicholas, a reincarnation of Tsongkapa ,the reformer and 
virtual founder of the Geluk school. (This information comes from 
P.Bishop, Dreams of Power: Tibetan Buddhisk and the Western 
Imagination , London, 1993.)

The case of Alexandra David-Neel is somewhat similar. When she met 
the thirteenth Dalai Lama in Kalimpong, North India, in 1912, he was 
amazed that she knew anything at all about Buddhism, let alone that 
she was genuinely interested in it. He therefore concluded that she 
might be an emanation of Dorje Phagmo (another of the few female 
tulkus).

What these examples show is that the Tibetans used the tulku idea 
to place Westerners in a context that they (the Tibetans) could 
understand-a sort of Tibetanization of the West. And it was an 
obvious first step towards full Western tulku hood, to coin a phrase. 
In fact, the sequence seems to have gone something like this: 
Westerners who impressed the Tibetans in some way (Victoria, Nicholas 
II) or showed an interest that needed to be explained (Waddell, 
Bell) Westerners who were either extremely sympathetic to Tibetan 
Buddhism or actually practiced it (David-Neel, Pallis) 

Next the very first non-Tibetan tulkus were actually the sons of 
Tibetans who had married Western women. Probably the best known are 
the sons of Chogyam Trungpa (who are half-British): Tendzin Lhawang 
Mukpo and Gesar Arthur Mukpo, born in America in 1971 and 1973 
respectively. The sixteenth Karmapa recognized them as tulkus of two 
important teachers in the Kagyu school: the elder was Surmang Tendzin 
Rinpoche, one of the Karmapa's own teachers; the younger was 
Trungpa's main teacher, Jamgon Kongtrul, Sechen (not to be confused 
with Jamgon Kongtrul of Pepung, who is also a Kagyu tulku but was not 
Trungpa's teacher) (Chogyam Trungpa, Born in Tibet ,Shambhala,1977), 
258, 260). 
These were the first tulkus to be born in the West and also the 
first who could be called Western (and they were fairly Western they 
were educated at British public schools not Tibetan monasteries). All 
previous tulkus had been Tibetan or Mongolian.

These half-Western tulkus were all recognized as young boys in the 
normal way. And of course they had the advantage of being the 
children of prominent Tibetan teachers who were themselves lit/kits 
and liereh us.

Now there are also lit/kits will) are Western. The very first was 
Macuse Sangve Nyenpa Rinpoehe. He was horn in Massachusetts in 1967 
His father, Angus Maelise, was the original drummer in the Velvet 
Undergroond before Mo Tucker. Both his parents were attracted to 
Tibetan Buddhism and went to Nepal when their son was three. His 
mother, who was painting statues in a Kagyopa monastery , talked to 
the monks there and they agreed that OK could become a novice. He 
was about six at the time. Two years later, in 1975. she wrote to the 
Kartnapa ,about her son's experiences. In reply, the Karmapa sent
her map wich had allegedly been given to him by an important tulku in 
the Kagyu lineage. Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, over ten years before. It 
was a map of the place of his rebirth and he had said it would he in 
the West. OK's mother recognised the place as Great Barrington, 
Massachusetts, where her son had been born. In 1976, after a few 
traditional tests (the candidate has to select his predecessors' 
belongings from a collection of similar items), the Karmapa 
proclaimed OK a tulku, the reincarnation of Sangve Ny enpa 
Rinpocltti. an emanation or talku of Manjushri and an important 
personage in the Kagyu school.


OK entered the Kagyn school's main m nastery in Sikkiii and
followed the traditional life of Tibetan monk-cum lit/kit. Most of 
this information I found in an issue from the Sunday Telegraph 
Magazine dated 15th May 1983 his parents stayed on in Nepal but his 
father died in Katmandu in 1979. Later the "Nyenpa Rinpoche" returned 
to America, and ceased to be a monk.

A somewhat similar path has been taken by Elijah Ary/Tenzin Sherab, 
horn in 1972 to Canadian parents who were students of Kalu Rimpoche. 
a master of the Kagyu school. (Kalu Rimpoche died 1989, and 
was "rediscovered" by Tai Situ Pa in 1992)

He had "dreams" as a child of what he called another planet but 
which he now says was Tibet. He was spontaneously recognized as the 
incarnation of Geshe jatse, vice-abbot of Sent monastery in Tibet, by 
the Dalai Lama in 198O.(Lama Yeshe in turn was recognised to be Osel)

He went to the new Sera monastery in south India in 1986, when he was 
14, and spent six years there as a monk. But he left before he had 
finished the demanding studies that a Gelugpa tulku traditionally 
follows.(And trough wich those that recognised him got to right.)

He went back to Canada and it is still uncertain how things will 
unfold for him. (I obtained this information from Vicki 
Mackenzie "Reborn in the West")

Other Western tulkus have stayed in the tradition, however. For 
example, Trinlay Tulku, who was born in 1975 and has a French father 
and an American mother, was recognized as the incarnation of Khashap 
Rinpoche by Kalu Rinpoche. He spent some time at Sonada monastery, 
near Darjeeling, but is presently living at a Kagyu center in France, 
where he teaches. The center is under the direction of Lama Teunsang 
and is frequently visited by other Tibetan teachers and tulkus.

All these tulkus came into contact with the Tibetans who eventually 
recognized them via their parents, who were practicing Buddhists. And 
the same thing happened in the case of perhaps the most well-known 
Western tulku of all, Lama Osel. He is Spanish, was horn Osel Hita 
Torres (that was the name his parents gave him) in 1985 and was 
formally enthroned as the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe by the Dalai 
Lama in India in 1987.

Lama Yeshe left Tibet in 1959, made his first visit to the West in 
1974, established a number of centers both in Europe and America, and 
died in Los Angeles in 1986. 
But he was not born a tulku. There are many stories about his yogic 
abilities and "tantric realizations" however. And it is said
that by his death in 1984, during the cremation (in California), a 
cloud was seen in the shape of an arrow, pointing south, together 
with the Tibetan letters za, za, sa, ra. These signs were interpreted 
by a Tibetan tulku as possibly indicating the name of Lama Yeshe's
mother in his future incarnation. (However, his mother's name was 
Maria Torres, which doesn't seem very much like za za sa ra in any 
combination.

Lama Zopa, Lama Yeshe's spiritual' successor was asked about
his rebirth and replied that he thought that Lama Yeshe "had karma
with California". (In fact, the rebirth took place in Spain.) 
This information is taken from an anonymous In Memoriam of Lama Yeshe 
in Wisdom, Magazine of the Foundation for the Preservation of the 
Mahayana Tradition/FPMT, no.2,1984, 6-37)

Seventy two days after Lama Yeshe's death, the story goes, two of
his students, Maria and Paco Torres, conceived a child at their home 
in Spain. He was named Osel and according to his parents, his birth 
and early months were accompanied by auspicious signs. He was born in 
five minutes without pain, with "eyes wide open as though he was 
looking, looking, checking everything". He was a quiet serene
baby and once watched an hour-long video of the Dalai Lama without 
becoming restless. When he met one of Lama Yeshe's teachers, he
did two prostrations to him "completely unprompted"; and when he
was introduced to the Dalai Lama at the age of 14 months, he went 
over to a table, picked up a flower and presented it to him.

Moreover, his parents and other students of Lama Yeshe began to 
recognize gestures and behaviour that were exactly like their guru's.
Meanwhile, Lama Zopa had had a dream of a baby's face which he 
immediately recognized as that of Osel Torres when the two eventually 
met. Subsequently, Lama Zopa submitted a list of ten children to the 
Dalai Lama as possible candidates for the reappearance of Lama Yeshe-
this included several Western children in addition to Oscl. Two 
months later, the Dalai Lama chose Oscl, who was submitted to the 
usual tests, which he passed. He was formally enthroned by the Dalai 
Lama in Nepal in March 1987. He is presently in India receiving the 
sort of training the tradition reserves for its tulkus. However, the 
fact that he is a Westerner has brought about one small change. His 
mother says that she will stay near him for as long as he needs her 
(whereas "traditionally", the family had very little contact at all). 
In fact, her understanding of her son's role is an interesting one. 
She says he will be taught Christianity as well as Buddhism and that 
funds are being made available for him to have a Harvard education.
What will happen remains to be seen. (You Magazine, The Mail on 
Sunday, 1st February 1987, 16-20; the article is written by Vicki 
Mackenzie) 

Two Western would-be tulkus in fact include a refference to 
Blavatsky these are Perceval, the son of a Belgian lama (who is not 
a tulku) and Edouard, a French boy who has been recognized as the 
tulku of Western woman (though she herself was also not a tulku), and 
if true would be the current incarnation of HPB!

Perceval's father, Kunzang Dorje (I don't know his original
name) went to India in 1967 and practiced under a number of Nyingmapa 
teachers. The first was Kangyur Rinpoche, then, after he died, Tulku 
Pema Rinpoche (Kangyur Rinpoche's son), and Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche. 
It was Khyentse Rinpoche who appointed Kunzang Dorje as a lama in 
1973 or 1974. Back in Europe, Kunzang Dorje set up an urban center in 
Brussels and a monastic retreat in the French Alps (both of which 
have their equivalents in Portugal, by the way). These centres are 
themselves allied with that of Pema Rinpoche in France, and a number 
of prominent Nyingma teachers (including Dudjom Rinpoche, who was the 
head of the school until his death in 1989) have taught at them.
Kunzang Dorje is married-the Nyingma school is not celibate-and his 
wife is half-African. Their son, Perceval, was born in 1982 and was 
recognized as a tulku-I do not know his Tibetan name-by Khyentse 
Rinpoche. It is intended that he will be his father's successor.
As for Edouard, his story is really that of Zina Rachevsky If you 
read it in a novel, you would probably think it was farfetched. She 
was l5trn in America in 1931 of a Russian father (reputed to be a 
relative of the Romanoffs-but that is a common claim and I do not 
know if it is true or not) and a fabulously wealthy American mother.

She was brought up in Paris and New York-her first language was 
French-and went on to become an international socialite, model, and 
stripper. She was married several times, once to a claimant to the 
French throne, once to a multi-millionaire. 
But at this point, the Jackie Collins plot changes. She went to 
Greece in the mid-1960s, became interested in Theosophy and claimed 
she was the reincarnation of H.P. Blavatsky. 

She went to India, taking her daughter with her and accompanied by 
Michael Riggs (later Bhagavan Dass, who introduced Ram Dass to his 
guru, Neem Karoli Baba. She met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa (whom we 
have already come across in the case of Lama Osel). This was in 1965 
or 1966 (I have seen both dates). She was one of their very first 
Western students and used her money so that they could start a centre 
for teaching'. 

Then, around 1970, she switched from the Gelugpa practices she had 
been doing with them and entered a retreat with a Tibetan teacher of 
Dzogchen (a path to enlightenment that is somewhat independent of all 
the four main schools hut not in essential opposition to any of 
them). After about a year's intensive practice, she suddenly fell
ill and realized she was going to die. She was found sitting in the 
meditation position in her little hut in the Himalayas in 1972.
According to Lama Zopa, another Tibetan teacher, Kari Rinpoche, 
predicted that Zina (and a girl from New Zealand-I don't know who
she is) would both realize emptiness directly in this lifetime. After 
she died, yet another lama, Takta Rinpoche, checked where Zina had 
incarnated and said that she was in "a pure realm" (Lama 
Zopa, "Introduction to Edouard, Zina's Incarnation").

I do not know how it was decided that she had the necessary dharmic 
qualities to become a tulku-or who decided it. (It is interesting 
that she reached this state by her own efforts, so to speak, just 
like Lama Yeshe, her main teacher, who has also reincarnated as a 
Westerner.)

In any event, some time afterwards (I have no exact date),
Edouard's mother started to have dreams of Zina while she was 
pregnant. (Edouard's father is a somewhat distant cousin of Zina's,
which is where the connection comes from.) After the boy was born, 
Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, head of the Sakya school, told his parents 
that he was Zina's incarnation. A Western boy as the tulku of a 
Western woman definitely a first.

The recognitions of Perceval and Edouard do have some instructive 
features. Both of them were discovered by the personal initiative, so 
to speak, of Tibetan teachers and their connection with the tradition 
as a whole has been built up afterwards. That is, they were not 
actively sought by the tradition (or by a particular school). This 
certainly does happen in `traditional' Tibetan Buddhism-by
which, I mean the tradition as it was in Tibet before it came to the 
West-but not quite like this. In Tibet, where more or less everyone 
was Buddhist, the choices were very great-but over a much smaller 
area. Tibet is a large country hut it is tiny compared with the 
entire Western world. On the other hand, the number of children who 
could even be approached as possible tulkus in the West is very small 
indeed. So the situations are practically the opposite of each other: 
in Tibet, a relatively small population but nearly every male child a 
potential candidate; in the West, a huge population but hardly any 
real candidates.

>From the above, part I and II, one should clearly be able to conclude 
that Barborkas's theory of Blavatsky was simple a try of Barborka. 
And by theosophist somethimes used as an excuse to appologyse for her 
most temperred character, and so on. 

Brigitte

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/4410

I am indepted with this topic to the research of A.Rawlinson, 
Professor at the University of Lancaster.
http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a7502210/index.html