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A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF TARAB TULKU
Written by Lene Handberg
Late Tarab Tulku Rinpoche was born at Gangkyi Shar near Lhasa on December 22, 1934. At his birth an old apple tree in the garden of his parents was blooming even though it was in December and in Central Tibet where it is bitterly cold at this time of the year. Also the water turned into milk in his parents' house and Rinpoche was born with the victory shirt around his body, all of which are considered to be special signs of the birth of an extraordinary child. Rinpoche's mother, however, was trying to conceal how special her son was, as she did not want to lose him, so she was trying to cover up some of the signs. Rinpoche said that his mother for instance had told him that: "When I was a baby and she took me to the temple I said mantras. I said mantras so clearly that she got afraid that others would hear it and she put her hand over my mouth each time I began to say them".
One day, before Rinpoche was one year old, Rinpoche's grandmother's brother, who was the teacher of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and who later should become Regent of Tibet, Ven. Taktrag (Tib. sTag-brag) Rinpoche, took him along to his monastery, which was nearby, and seated him on his own throne. Rinpoche recalled this incident because Taktrag Rinpoche kept asking in a more and more demanding way "who are you?", and Rinpoche got so angry in the end that he kicked Taktrag Rinpoche's bell so it fell on the floor. Later monks from the Tashi Rabten Monastry in Kongpo came along and put Rinpoche through all the tests and claimed that he was the reincarnation of the Tarab Tulku X. Rinpoche was then at the age of two enthroned as the eleventh incarnation of the Tarab Tulkus in his monastery Tashi Rabten in Kongpo, in south-eastern Tibet near the border to Assam. His mother and sister had to follow and stay for the next two years.
This area of Tibet was lovely and Rinpoche appreciated his stay there. It is an almost subtropical corner of Tibet, at an altitude of 2000m, very fertile and with many trees among them apricot and peach trees. So different from the stony and dusty landscape of Central Tibet.
In Kongpo, at the Tashi Rabten Monastry, Rinpoche's training started with reading when he was three years old and at the age of four, he was learning to lead the rituals - a necessary part of his Lama (Shaman) function of helping the people of his area when they had problems. When for instance there was no rain, Rinpoche was supposed to make rain rituals, and if there was sickness there were many other rituals to perform etc. However, the stay at Tashi Rabten, although they were lovely years for Rinpoche, should not be long. Rinpoche tells: "The Regent, Taktrag Rinpoche, seemed to be very concerned about me and he wrote a letter to my monastery saying: "The Lama Tarab Tulku should not remain any longer in Kongpo. It is best for him to go to Lhasa to enter the Drepung University Monastery where he can be exposed to other teachings than in his monastery in order for him to resume his academic and more profound studies". He wrote several letters. My home teacher and my "manager" would reply: "He is too small. He can't study yet. This is not the time to take him to a large monastery." But the Regent insisted and finally they could not continue to refuse because the Regent was the head of the country. They decided then that I should go to Lhasa. I was around six years old."
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Tarab Tulku in Lhasa
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