We would like to invite you to participate in this tribute to H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
If you would like to include your own written tribute, special story, or photo of Rinpoche,
please email us at webmaster@odsalling.org



Lama Tsering Tribute

The Buddhist teachings explain that being born means that certainly we will die. We can be sure of this. There are no exceptions; whether young or old, rich or poor, powerful or powerless, death is the great equalizer. Until the death of my precious teacher, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, I had never experienced losing a loved one. Last November, however, the teachings of impermanence were demonstrated in the most profound way by Rinpoche's passing.

Rinpoche always said, “The most important moment of your life is the moment of death”. For those of us on this side of death, we might tend to disagree. Life is so important that we prefer to think of death as far away. Sadly, life's everyday concerns consume us and we fail to adequately prepare for death. Rinpoche also said, “You can tell the level of a person's realization by how they die.” The moment of death is the ultimate opportunity for enlightenment, but when we become overwhelmed by fear and confusion, the opportunity is lost. Throughout history, people have turned to the great masters to learn how to manage death's transition with the necessary wisdom and skill. Rinpoche's passage was a perfect display of this skillful mastery at the time of death.

Sometimes, Rinpoche was asked, “What is the purpose of life?” Rinpoche would always answer the same way, “The purpose of life is to prepare to die.” True to this understanding, Rinpoche taught very carefully about impermanence and the illusory nature of life. Once, while doing retreat high in the mountains overlooking the California coast, I was following Rinpoche's instructions on illusion recognition. “This is all impermanent. This is all an illusion. And so is this. And this.” My eyes moved over everything, extracting ordinary truth and my attachment to it. Then my eyes fell on Rinpoche…and I cried. I couldn't bear the thought of his impermanence. He saw the tears and asked, “Silly girl, you what doing?” I told him, “I'm meditating on the impermanent illusory nature of life and was doing just fine until I looked at you.” I then asked, “You're not impermanent, are you?” He laughed, a laugh as vast and open as the universe, and said, “Oh, yes, I am impermanent.”

Rinpoche could laugh, but I could only cry.
Rinpoche held mastery.
That's why he was the teacher and I the student.

Obviously, I had great attachment for Rinpoche. After his death, I was able to sit with his body for many days. There, seated in posture, his mind was not confined to his body, nor separate from it. Rinpoche was still teaching me. Awareness doesn't die. Awareness isn't born. Awareness isn't blown by the winds of karma. All the rest dies. In his state of samadhi he proved his realization of the teachings. Just as Rinpoche said, “The proof is at death…… at death you will know.”

In every minute, in every moment, whenever my mind turns to Rinpoche, he's not gone. The presence of awareness that is his mind is all mind. It is not gone. Within the recognition of that presence of essence, I don't miss Rinpoche. But when I am distracted from essence, I miss him. I miss calling him and joking with him. I miss being able to ask him a silly question or tell him a funny story. Those kinds of things, where my attachment to the impermanent and illusory fooled me before, sometimes fools me now.

Occasionally, when I teach, I hear Rinpoche's words in what I say. His tireless generosity made an imprint on me. He wanted beings to benefit. He wanted me to benefit. He wanted me to bring benefit to others. All the people touched by Rinpoche received the inoculation of his heart's compassion, bringing profound benefit to all of them.

Great masters like Rinpoche come into our world in a different way than we do. We come pushed rather helplessly by our karma. They come due to their compassionate purpose. When they leave, they leave that way too. Many years ago, Rinpoche said to me, “Tsering La, please don't pray for my long life, instead pray for what's best.” So, little by little, over all the years, Rinpoche prepared me for his death with constant teachings and limitless love and tireless compassion. The length of his life was not his most important concern. A week or so before Rinpoche died, he said, “Now it's time for a baby body.”

I believe that we will all have the marvelous moment of understanding the great teachings of limitless compassion that show in the form of what we call ‘tulkus'. When we meet the intentional rebirth of our beloved Rinpoche we will more deeply understand that death too is impermanent and that the love and compassion of enlightenment will always manifest in whatever way benefits beings.

Lama Norbu Tribute

"From the very heart of compassion
You came to the border lands,
To tear asunder hope and fear.
From the vault of your vast sky mind
The blessings of pure dharma
Came, like a sweet rain,
Long awaited.
Due to your great kindness,
The lost sangha was assembled
And the holy places arose.
The pinnacle teachings rested firmly
On the foundation of pure motivation,
And you never let us forget impermanence.

Now, without your physical body to comfort us,
We grieve without tears.
Immersed in the blessing
Of mind beyond all extremes.

Later we reunited among snow peaks,
In homage to the mahaguru,
Amidst a great fire puja,
Led by lineage lamas in the four directions.

Clouds of white blessing smoke
Liberating by sight and smell,
Filled the lungs.
There was no separation.

After the ceremony
Few remained,
To witness the sudden appearance
Of the clear flame, a great butterlamp offering.

One second a flaming heruka
One second a fiery snow lion
One second a fire horse
The flames leapt into space.

The eyes of Rinpoche's vast vision,
The tongue of Rinpoche's continuous dharma teachings,
And the heart of Rinpoche's boundless compassion,
Remain with us."