Tibetan monk shares life story

Arjia Rinpoche escaped from what he called a “political asylum” in Tibet in 1998. Since 2006, he has been in Bloomington promoting Buddhist teachings, educating the community about Tibetan and Mongolian cultural events, and telling his life story to those who will listen.

On Wednesday, Rinpoche shared his story with students in Swain Hall East. He said his life is the inspiration for an upcoming memoir.

Rinpoche was recognized as the incarnation of the father of Lama Tsong Khapa, the great thirteenth-century Buddhist reformer, and as such became the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery in eastern Tibet.

He said his eventual move to Bloomington began in 1958 at age seven when the Chinese Communist government had a political campaign called “The Great Leap Forward.”

“My teachers, my tutors and people who taught me all I know about Buddhism were arrested,” Rinpoche said. “Monks were de-robed and became social workers and coal miners.”

He said the Dalai Lama, whom he met for the first time in 1954, escaped from Tibet in the 1960s when issues with the government weren’t getting better. He said he worked under the Panchen Lama, who was denounced by the Chinese government for being “contra-revolutionary.”

Rinpoche said he worked with the Kumbum Monastery in eastern Tibet and promoted spiritual leadership until 1998.

He then fled to a Chinese airport and flew to New York where he met the Dalai Lama once again. The Dalai Lama encouraged him to spread Buddhist teachings in America. Later, Rinpoche renovated the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington.

Rinpoche concluded his presentation with photos he had taken and said he edited in Photoshop. He created captions for each one that he said gave voice to his ultimate missions.

One reads “Wishing for Democracy in China,” while another reads “Wishing for compassion and compromise. Not confrontation and conflict.”

During a question-and-answer session after his presentation, Rinpoche was asked if he would go back to China if something happened there.

“My hope is after 10 years, I can go back,” he responded. “If something happens, like a war, my monastery, my monks are all still there.”

Students who attended Rinpoche’s presentation said they believed he had a lot to offer Bloomington.

“It is cool to learn of someone who was raised like that on a special path, has evolved as a spiritual leader,” junior Ben Fearnow said.

For sophomore Jamie Hammond, Rinpoche’s visit was more of a cultural experience.

“Seeing something like this gives a chance to become more worldly and to learn about an experience different from what you normally experience,” she said.