Translated by Anton Cooper
In the early days of October, Kalmykia celebrated the tenth opening anniversary of the republic’s first Buddhist monastery: Geden Sheddup Choikorling. Considering the very rapid pace of development of Buddhist teaching in the steppe republic, this celebration has in some way become a new milepost, on the one hand allowing for a backward glance and on the other a look forward to the new day.
Guests of the Ten-Year Anniversary
The guest list for the autumn festivities in Kalmykia was itself rather symbolic. From a territorial viewpoint, the major Buddhist regions of Russia were well represented: Buriatia by chairman Yeshe Lodoe Rinpoche of the Buddhist center “Rinpoche-bagsha”, and ex-Khenpo Lama Choi Dorjee Budaiev; Tuva by the republic’s supreme lama Jampel Lodoe, and the head of the Tuvan society “Enerel” (“Compassion”) Aneta Bodur-Oorzhak. From a spiritual viewpoint, these were the very people earnestly concerned with the future fate of Buddhism in Russia, a fate inconceivable without unobstructed visits to the country by the Buddhist spiritual leader, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Kalmykia made the revitalization of Tibetan Buddhism a high-priority for regional development, and can now offer Buddhist Russia a well substantiated hope for resolving a great diversity of burning issues. First, among all Russian Buddhist Republics only Kalmykia was able to stage (even if only a most brief) visit by the Dalai Lama in November of 2004. Tuva and Buriatia are still forced to speak of a fourteen year lapse since the last close contact with their spiritual leader, who should ideally guide Buddhism’s future spiritual development. Second, the changes coming on the heels of the one-day 2004 visit could be stunning not only a Buddhist from Buriatia or Tuva, but any non-Buddhist from any economically developed location on the planet’s surface.
The Temple of the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni, built in nine months, in the very center of the Kalmyk republican capital Elista, became the material manifestation of the strength of the Dalai Lama’s blessing, and the good intentions of his Kalmyk followers, among whom a special place is held by the republic’s supreme lama Telo Tulku Rinpoche and the head of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Their cooperation and devotion to His Holiness the Dalai Lama are likely the major reason to view the future of Buddhism in Russia with a certain dose of optimism.
Gold Medals from Telo Tulku Rinpoche
Geden Sheddup Choikorling monastery opened to great fanfare on October 5, 1996. “On that day, forty to fifty thousand people gathered together, sincerely hoping for an impending rebirth of the almost lost Buddhist culture and religion.” remembers Tashi, the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. “At that time maybe three of four temples had been built in Kalmykia, today there are over thirty.”
The supreme lama of Kalmykia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, considers this a very significant achievement. “In the twelve to thirteen years since the beginning of the spiritual revival, we reached better results that those of which even the wealthy countries can speak,” he says. “Look at Kalmykia, a small country with a population of 300 thousand people. Truly such rapid development is the source of incredible inspiration not only for the Kalmyk people, but the whole world.” Even America has not managed to build thirty-three Buddhist monasteries in twelve years,” he adds with a smile.
It was in America itself, in a family of Kalmyk émigrés that the future head lama of Kalmykia was born. At the suggestion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, his parents took the six-year-old boy, even then interested in monastic life, to the Tibetan Drepung Gomang monastery, rebuilt in India.
“Among Buriat lamas, legends about a little Kalmyk boy who came to Drepung Gomang with his parents, and expressed a desire to remain at the monastery were circulating back then. Later the Dalai Lama recognized him as the incarnation of Tilopa. In his past incarnation he had been a great Mongol lama,” recalls Choi Dorjee Budaiev.
First finding himself in Kalmykia in 1991, Telo Tulku Rinpoche was soon elected the supreme lama of the steppe Buddhist republic. The difficult years preceding the opening of the first Buddhist Monastery in Kalmykia quickly return to his memory: “Building that temple was considerably more difficult than the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni. In many ways we had to start from zero, we had no experience, no knowledge, no financial backing,” he says.
In the days leading up to the anniversary, Telo Tulku Rinpoche established a special gold medal “For Contributions to the Development of Buddhist Teaching,” which he ceremonially presented to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the head of Kalmykia. President Ilyumzhinov had contributed his own funds to the building of the first monastery. An old video-tape shows them together at the monastery’s opening, cutting the ribbon to open not only the first monastery in Kalmykia, but the first monastery in Russia abiding in the monastic rules and prescriptions of the Buddha Shakyamuni.
Since then Geden Sheddup Choikorling monastery has had many important guests. In the summer of 2005, even the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin paid a visit.
Receiving the gold medal from Telo Tulku Rinpoche’s hands, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov remembered how surprised the Russian president was at the interwoven patterns of the supreme lama’s fate: born in America, educated in a Tibetan monastery in India, and now back in Kalmykia to aid in Buddhism’s revitalization in the land of his ancestors. “We thank you, an American citizen, for helping us so,” Putin said at the time.
So how is my brother Zosima?
Many who’ve had occasion to visit Kalmykia would certainly note the positive atmosphere permeating the interrelationships of all faiths coexisting here. All the calls of innumerable pathos-filled declarations made at world religious forums are realized in this place calmly and naturally, with no superfluous noise and fuss. No one is surprised that a delegation of Russian Orthodox monks headed by Archbishop Zosima of Elista and Kalmykia are among the honored guests at a the anniversary celebrations of a Buddhist monastery, and that Vladyka Zosima also received a gold medal “For Contributions to the Development of Buddhist Teaching,” from the supreme lama of Kalmykia. Vladyka Zosima and Telo Tulku Rinpoche share the ties of a longstanding friendship, a friendship which according to the Vladyka occasionally elicits misunderstanding and jealousy, but nevertheless remains steadfast.
In the past, Vladyka Zosima has visited the His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his residence in Dharamsala. They have also met more than once in Kalmykia itself. Their last meeting in Elista in November of 2004 was filled with such a penetrating joy and warmth, no one present had any doubts that harmony between faiths is no ephemeral dream, but a most tangible reality if the founding postulates of one’s own faith are just followed in earnest.
Presenting the medal to Vladyka Zosima, Telo Tulku Rinpoche was reminded of his own recent meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the latter’s September visit to the United States: “We were speaking of a completely different topic, when His Holiness suddenly stopped and asked: “So how is my brother Zosima?”
In his response, the Vladyka relayed congratulations to the head lama of Kalmykia from Alexii II, Patriarch of Moscow and of all Russia. In his congratulatory telegram the Patriarch noted that the Russian Orthodox Church traditionally maintains good relations with the followers of Buddhism. “In our years of coexistence on Kalmyk soil, cooperation in the social sphere between the followers of two traditional religions,” wrote Alexii II, “occurred, and continues to occur not only at the level of religious leaders, but also at the level of ordinary believers.”
As for believers, they tend to follow examples set by their spiritual leaders, especially when it comes to potentially thorny issues such as interfaith relations.
Now all we need is a master chef
One of the most important events of these festive days was a conference entitled “Buddhism in Kalmykia: History and Perspectives for the 21st Century.” It was held in a conference hall, at the new temple “The Golden Abode of the Buddha Shakyamuni,” a most modern facility outfitted with the latest equipment.
Although Telo Tulku Rinpoche’s speech was prepared in advance, replete with all requisite figures and metrics, Rinpoche preferred to speak of other matters, citing his proclivity for spontaneous speechmaking.
“Today we have all the necessary ingredients for “preparing” our bright future,” he said enumerating the components which he sees as ensuring Buddhism’s progressive development: “We have wonderful historians, great scholars specializing in Buddhism, and now a wonderful monastic community. Now all we need is a master chef,” he joked.
It is no secret that the Buddhist monastic tradition in Russia fell into decline after seventy years of Soviet rule. And yet if in other Buddhist regions one can often find a rather free interpretation of the monastic path, in Kalmykia, a return to the roots is preferred. “Monasticism is a tradition carefully kept and transmitted from generation to generation since the Buddha’s times,” says Telo Tulku Rinpoche, “and if we have managed to keep it for two and a half thousand years, what prevents us from continuing to do so now?”
“There is no need to reexamine ancient traditions and introduce new rules in the religious sphere. If we let this happen, then Buddhism would have long ago ceased to exist, because each would try to go his own way,” he adds.
The opening in Elista of a full-fledged Buddhist institute, instructing both monks and the laity is thought of as one of the most important and promising projects in Kalmykia. Initially the institute was imagined as a higher educational institution of republic-wide importance, affecting the content of its planned educational curriculum. However, as soon as information about the new Buddhist institute leaked out to the press, inquiries from all over Russia began arriving at the Temple of the Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha. And this is quite natural considering the growth of interest in Tibetan Buddhism universally observed in recent years.
“That caused us to revise our initial plans,” commented Telo Tulku Rinpoche on this chain of evens.
In the question of the institute’s creation as, admittedly, in other spheres of his far-reaching activity, the supreme lama of Kalmykia maintains an approach somewhat unusual for representatives of the traditional Buddhist clergy in Russia, oftentimes accused of excessive reticence and a lack of desire to enter into conversation with the outside world. For Telo Tulku Rinpoche, honesty and openness are raised to the level of policy.
“As the head of Buddhists in Kalmykia, I try to communicate with as many people as possible, with representatives of various departments and agencies. I want to help them, and at the same time to ask them to offer us a helping hand,” he noted in his speech at the conference. Aside from the clergy, the republic’s minister of education, minister of culture, and scholars who dedicated their life to a study of Buddhism and the Kalmyk language were also in attendance. It is precisely in a solid partnership with them, that the head lama of Kalmykia sees the foundation for success of his new projects, whether in the creation of a Buddhist institute or the implementation of major cultural and religious programs.
“I know that under current law the church and state are separate,” he says. “But if we take an honest look, we cannot exist without each other.”
There are indeed a great many overlapping fields where the vast experience of civil organizations would be most useful for Buddhist clergy, currently in search of effective paths to revitalize Buddhist religion and culture. Simultaneously, the knowledge of Buddhist monks, educated in the largest monastic universities of the Tibetan community in exile, could greatly enrich modern Buddhist studies, where research is now based on a very limited list of literary sources available in Russian.
“Scholars have had no opportunity to increase the depth and breadth of their knowledge,” says the Telo Tulku Rinpoche. “And it precisely here that conflict begins. When a scholar displays excessive stubbornness, when he says, here is what they taught me at university, here is my diploma—the discussion is over.”
Telo Tulku Rinpoche himself studied Buddhist philosophy in Drepung Gomang monastery for thirteen years under the guidance of remarkable teachers, possessed of a centuries’ long lineage of succession of spiritual knowledge. Studying with such teachers a student receives not only the set of requisite knowledge but also the blessing of all those lamas who had put their efforts to attain a deep comprehension of a given subject.
“Please understand me correctly, I am not criticizing anyone,” says the supreme lama of Kalmykia. “It is just that the time has come to delve deeper.”
In revitalizing Buddhism in Kalmykia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche relies on the spiritual guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as well as on Buddhist teachers who come here from various Tibetan monasteries operating in India under the auspices of the Buddhist spiritual leader. This firmly established policy is in reality a continuation of those ancient traditions which existed prior to Soviet rule, the ensuing exile of the Kalmyks to Siberia, and an almost complete obliteration of the Buddhist religion.
“As opposed to Buriatia, for example, where the institution of Buddhism was kept even during Soviet times, we had to begin from scratch” says Telo Tulku Rinpoche. “Nonetheless, this situation has its own positive side, as we’ve selected the right direction, a pure form of Buddhism, personified by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
“We must become a single Buddhist community”
The anniversary festivities in Kalmykia became a great chance for a fruitful exchange of views between the representatives of Buddhist republics, who due to great distances and occasional financial difficulties are rather limited in their contacts. Yet such contacts, as the conference in Elista showed, are of great benefit for all involved.
In his speech the Tuvan Khenpo Lama Jampel Lodot recalled the first and only visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tuva. The visit occurred fourteen years ago, and to this day remains a main milepost in the history of Buddhist rebirth in the republic: “During this visit an agreement between the Tibetan government in exile and the government of the Republic of Tuva was signed. According to this agreement Tibetan monks started coming to Tuva, and young Tuvans were able to go to the Tibetan Drepung Gomang monastery for their education.”
“At that time His Holiness the Dalai Lama passed on the mantra of the Buddha of Compassion “Om Mani Padme Hum,” remembered the head lama of Tuva. “People began reciting it, cultivating compassion and kindness in their hearts and eventually, bit by bit, began understanding the heart of things. But this does not mean that we have come a long way. We lack effective methods to spread Buddhist teaching.”
In any case, the positive changes taking place in Tuva in the last year have been especially noted in Kalmykia. “I have the feeling that you have shifted your automobile into second gear, and are now picking up considerable speed,” joked Telu Tulku Rinpoche, mentioning the “Om Mani Padme Hum” mantra written in enormous boulders on the side of Doge’e Mountain near Kyzyl. According to the Tuvan Khamby Lama, the holy mantra measures 120 meters in length. The mantra passed on to his Tuvan followers by His Holiness the Dalai Lama will now be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records.
The chairman of the Buddhist Central Spiritual Directorate, Choi Dorjee Budaiev, reminded those present that during the recent July visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Mongolia, the Buddhist spiritual leader made a truly revolutionary statement. “His Holiness said that in the future, it is precisely Mongolia and the Buddhist regions of Russia that will have to take responsibility for the fate of Buddhist teaching, considering that the Tibetan question is yet far from being resolved.”
However, to take on a responsibility of this kind, it is necessary to devise a common strategy, to introduce clarity into debated issues, and to devise solutions to problems which have a braking effect on Russian Buddhism. “If we learn to openly discuss our own problems, then in future we can decide questions of a more global nature,” noted Lama Budaiev in his speech.
The last interview of Choi-Dorjee Budaiev, offered to the informational portal www.savetibet.ru became a perfect example of the openness to which he called the participants of the conference in Elista. In introducing the chairman of the Buddhist Central Spiritual Directorate the supreme lama of Kalmykia noted that he greatly admires the “fortitude and courage” with which Choi Dorjee Budaiev spoke about the problems facing Russian Buddhism.
“I hope that in the future you shall also honestly and openly speak about the fact that Russia is in need of a visit from the Dalai Lama. His blessing and spiritual guidance are enormously meaningful to us, without them we can hardly revitalize Buddhism,” noted the supreme lama of Kalmykia.
“We have but a single objective before us, and we must support each other as true brothers would. We must become a single Buddhist community. Uniting our efforts today—this in the best interests of Russia’s Buddhists,” summed up Telo Tulku Rinpoche.
