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OÊ Posted by Maria Przyjemska on January 4, 2009 at 6:42pm in Tibet Winter Tour (2007/
2008/ 2009)
OÊ The Repa Tsultrim Tharchin Rinpoche was born in 1947 in the village of Khacham,
located in the vicinity of Kyodrak, a few hours outside of the town of Nangchen, Eastern
Tibet. Little is known about his childhood and youth. He was the middle of at least three
children. When he became of age, he married Sonam Yangdzom, who was his peer and
whose family lived in the neighborhood. Together they had seven children: 3 daughters
and 4 sons, one of which died in infancy.

Some time during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) Tsultrim Tharchin was elected
ponpo, or village leader. Although a traditional post, it was obviously altered by the
changing times of collective farming. At Mao¶s time, ponpos did not receive a salary, but
a larger share of the crops at harvest. Their tasks included supervising others' work,
representing his village¶s interests at the township council, announcing new regulations,
as well as solving conflicts. In Tsultrim Tharchin's case it was, moreover, accounting.
Having received some training in that skill at the seat of the township, he was Khacham's
second-in-charge accountant.

He was valued for his kindness. He never hunted or killed household animals and even
tried to protect them from being slaughtered.

When the Cultural Revolution was over, but it was still illegal to practice the dharma, as
in the ³Chinese provinces´ like the Tibetan areas of Kham liberalization processes took
longer, around the year 1980, a businessman from Jomda told the energetic young ponpo
about a peculiar lama who had been living in his stable for several years. He never had to
wear more than one robe and hardly ate anything at all. He had an unusual gift of taming
wild animals of the area. The extraordinary yogi was no-one else than the Mahasiddha
Karma Norbu, also known as the Second Milarepa. He had agreed with the 16th Karmapa
to stay in Tibet and take care of the Kagyu transmission, especially of the recognition of
tulkus in the face of the destruction of the teachings.
OÊ
OÊ The Mahasiddha Karma Norbu

Tsultrim Tharchin was determined to meet the unusual lama, who was around 76 years
old at that point. For precautions¶ sake, their first encounter took place at night. When the
33-year old Tsultrim Tharchin saw his teacher for the first time, it was as if he ³actually
met the Buddha in person". Having returned home, he first began practicing in secrecy
and when after 1982 religious practice in China¶s Tibet became legal again, he performed
100 Nyungnes or fasting meditations in a cave behind the mountain situated opposite his
family home. He must have been prized for his thriftiness, because in the meantime, he
was asked to manage the affairs of the nearby Nendo and Kyodrak monasteries of the
Karma and Barom Kagyu traditions. His duties included organizing wood and provisions.
He would also embark on long journeys to Derge in order to buy books at the Printing
Press and he once even went there on foot.

From the moment he met Karma Norbu, he traveled to Jomda on a regular basis to
receive teachings directly from Karmapa¶s heir in Tibet. He would sometimes take his
mother to accompany him on the month-long journey. On the consecutive trips Tsultrim
Tharchin was granted the transmissions of the Great Seal and the Six Yogas of Naropa.

These visits gradually left him changed for good. An unyielding conviction grew in him
and in 1988 Tsultrim Tharchin made up his mind to leave ordinary life behind, following
the footsteps of his lama, regardless of the hardships. He suggested that his wife
accompanies him in his new life as a meditator. His plan was to take ordination from
Karma Norbu and leave the children to the care of relatives. Today, Sonam Yangdzom
thinks "her karma was not good enough" to accept Tsultrim Tharchin¶s proposal. Back
then she thought that the children were too young (the youngest one a mere toddler) to be
taken care of by strangers. And yet, she still understood his determination to practice.

Tsultrim Tharchin had already been 41 at the time he made up his mind to become a yogi
- approximately the age when Milarepa himself began practicing. He had been learning
with Karma Norbu for 8 years, however, to a Tibetan mind, genuine spiritual growth and
lay life do not belong together. "If you really want to practice, you have to renounce all
comfort" ± as he told us this year. Such view is perhaps influenced by the harsh climate
and living conditions which require hard work and emphasize social bonds, distracting
one from the focus on meditation. Moreover, the average layperson in Tibet has little or
no education, which makes it difficult to comprehend the more complex levels of the
teachings. Thus, in Tibet the practice of the Diamond Way is limited to the caste of the
red-robed professionals.

After his ordination, later that year, Tsultrim Tharchin joined another prominent disciple
of Karma Norbu¶s and at the same time, the highest authority of the Kyodrak monastic
community, Saga Rinpoche*, for a pilgrimage to Central Tibet. Together they visited
Lhasa and meditated at the sites important for the history of the Kagyu lineages and
Buddhism in Tibet. After two years of traveling, Saga had to return home to continue his
duties at the monastery and as for Tsultrim Tharchin, he was now ready to start the three-
year retreat at Dalha Gompa, the main seat of Gampopa.

As Saga returned home, he informed Tsultrim Tharchin's family of the latter's decision
and asked for their approval. Sonam Yangdzom would have been more enthusiastic if her
former husband had chosen a less distant place than Central Tibet. Somehow, with the
help of relatives and other villagers, she managed the housework. The children were all
well, although the youngest son was giving his mother a headache: he was always into
starting fights and getting himself into trouble. He later grew up to become Tsultrim
Dudul Rinpoche, one of his father's closest disciples**. At 33, he had already spent 12
years in retreat and when we met him last year, he impressed us by his power,
determination and clarity. He certainly takes a lot after his father. Unfortunately, this
year, as we visited Lachi, he was not present. Following the wish of the highest Barompa
authorities, Tsultrim Dudul had gone to the far-away monastery of Yarchin to absorb the
teachings on the Great Perfection from one of today's greatest masters of the Nyingma
lineage, Achuk Rinpoche***.
OÊ
OÊ The father-lama and his heart-son

In 1993, when his 3-year retreat was over, Tsultrim Tharchin was determined to start the
life of a wandering yogi. Saga Rinpoche suggested that he should come to the mountain
of Chamra, where many Barom Kagyu masters had meditated in caves and performed
miracles. The site is also an extension of Kyodrak, which is the power-place associated
with the Treasures of Guru Rinpoche. At Chamra, for six long years the Repa lead a
hidden, ascetic existence. He lived on nettles and spring water, applying a yogic method
of extracting life-essence from minerals. Sometimes there was not even plants to eat and
then ³dakas and dakinis provided him with food´****.

Soon word spread about the yogi living in the mountains above. People started looking
for him in order to receive his blessing, advice, and more and more often - meditation
instructions. He wished to find a new, quiet place, but the Kyodrak Saga asked him to
remain at Chamra for always.

Around 1999, the Repa began his career as meditation teacher in the retreat centers
associated with the Kyodrak monastery and other areas.

In 2002 he went for pilgrimage to Riwo Tsenga (Chin. Wutanshan) in China together
with a promising young student, who already displayed the signs of proficiency in the
Inner Heat practice and thus was entitled to wear a white robe. Both yogis visited the
Yarchin monastery, where they stayed for one month. They moreover stopped at the
Serta Larung complex.*****

His fame as a meditation master grew and increasingly more people came to see him on a
regular basis. On his consecutive visits to the hermitages of the area, Tsultrim Tharchin
had noticed that there were not enough spiritual offers for the local women, so he decided
to start a retreat center especially for nuns. This is how in 2005 at the foot of the
mountain of Chamra the meditation school of Lachi came into existence. Today, the
center houses a constantly fluctuating number of around 150 women and girls, two of
which are the Repa¶s own daughters and one an elder sister. As I write these words, one
of the daughters has just begun her first 3-year retreat. Some of the Lama¶s lay family
members are also living here: his younger brother, one other sister as well as the senile
mother.

The Repa takes care of the remaining relatives as well. In 2002 he personally visited his
village to assist his family after the son-in-law died in a car accident.

2 years ago Lachi was visited by foreigners who turned out to be Akong Tulku¶s students
from America. Tsultrim Tharchin first received them, but he then quickly dismissed them
for ³not being genuinely interested in the teachings´. Last year, when we arrived at
Lachi, he was in closed retreat. After the Repa¶s son Tsultrim Dudul recommendation, we
were granted a short audience as an absolute exception and made promise that we would
complete 1 million repetitions of the short Diamond Mind mantra. Although all cameras
refused to work properly in the Repa¶s presence, we managed to retrieve one photograph
and a few seconds of film. Thanks to this, the person of Tsultrim Tharchin was
introduced to large audiences in the Western Diamond Way centers and elsewhere. This
year, he kindly endured our presence for almost three weeks, granting us teachings,
answering my nagging questions, providing with supplies, as well as giving a longer
interview for Thomas¶ camera.

This year Tsultrim Tharchin was requested by the Kyodrak Saga to enter an activity
phase. He supervises the construction projects at his retreat center: the temples, the new
huts, the roads and the three-year retreat enclaves. Moreover, he travels to towns and
villages, giving public teachings and blessings.

In autumn 2009 he is planning to enter closed, life-long retreat.

* refer to the article: ³At Derge´.

** see: "Cotton-Clad Yogi".
***see: ³The Dharma Settlements´.
**** According to his own words. This was one of the very few special experiences or
abilities he has ever admitted.
****** see: ³The Dharma Settlements´.Ê