The 8th Arjia Rinpoche
His Story
In the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, “Rinpoche” is a title given to a tulku – a reincarnated being of a previous holy person.
When he was two years old, Arjia Rinpoche was recognized as the reincarnation of the father of Lama Tsong Khapa, the great thirteenth-century Buddhist reformer, and, as such, became the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery located in eastern Tibet.
Among Tibetans and Mongolians, it is a very high honor to have your child become a monk and receive a Buddhist education.
In 1958, when he was eight years old, Rinpoche was humiliatingly subjected to as a member of the “exploiting class” by the Chinese Communist Party. When the “Chinese Great Leap Forward” occurred, Rinpoche had to disrobe and attend a Chinese school. As a result, he was indoctrinated in the Chinese Communist ways but secretly maintained his Buddhist identity as influenced by his teacher.
From age twelve to fourteen when the Chinese policies slightly eased, Rinpoche studied at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the monastery of the Panchen Lama. From age fourteen to twenty-seven during the Cultural Revolution, the political situation got much worse again, and he had to work in the fields as hard labor as other lamas and monks.
In 1979, he was reinstated as the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery and advanced in the governmental hierarchy. In 1998, he was about to become the leader of the Buddhist Association of China. In a crisis of conscience, he escaped from Beijing to Guatemala and, with the help of the Dalai Lama, sought asylum in the United States.
Rinpoche settled in Mill Valley, California where he established the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom. In 2005, His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked him to become the director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. He moved to Bloomington in February 2006, renovated the center, and continues to promote Buddhism ever since then.
Source: tmbcc.org
