Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche Part 2
Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche, one of the brightest young tulkus under the direct tutelage of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (Khyentse Rinpoche), is now a celebrated scholar and Buddhist teacher. At an early age, he was recognized as the reincarnation of Khyentse Rinpoche’s maternal grandfather, Lama Sonam Zangpo. Born in Nepal and educated at a monastery in Darjeeling, at Dzongsar Institute in Bir and then at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (all in India), Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche is presently in charge of Chökyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang, Bhutan—a monastic college offering a thorough education in Buddhist philosophy to more than 180 monks.
In 2017, Khyentse Rinpoche appointed Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche to Khyentse Foundation’s board of directors. He went on to undertake a traditional 3-year retreat, which he completed last year. At Khyentse Rinpoche’s request, Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche is now teaching and supporting the sangha worldwide, and further serves as an advisor to Middle Way Education. He currently lives with his family in Canada.
Some of us had the privilege of meeting Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche in Canada this summer, when he conducted several retreats at Sea to Sky Retreat Centre (SSRC), gave empowerments and teachings in Vancouver, and won the hearts (and minds) of many. Eager to know more about this amazing teacher and hear his recommendations as an important player in Khyentse Foundation’s future, we sat down with Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche at SSRC and spoke with him about his training as a Buddhist teacher and his new life in the West.
Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche, one of the brightest young tulkus under the direct tutelage of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (Khyentse Rinpoche), is now a celebrated scholar and Buddhist teacher. At an early age, he was recognized as the reincarnation of Khyentse Rinpoche’s maternal grandfather, Lama Sonam Zangpo. Born in Nepal and educated at a monastery in Darjeeling, at Dzongsar Institute in Bir and then at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (all in India), Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche is presently in charge of Chökyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang, Bhutan—a monastic college offering a thorough education in Buddhist philosophy to more than 180 monks.
In 2017, Khyentse Rinpoche appointed Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche to Khyentse Foundation’s board of directors. He went on to undertake a traditional 3-year retreat, which he completed last year. At Khyentse Rinpoche’s request, Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche is now teaching and supporting the sangha worldwide, and further serves as an advisor to Middle Way Education. He currently lives with his family in Canada.
Some of us had the privilege of meeting Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche in Canada this summer, when he conducted several retreats at Sea to Sky Retreat Centre (SSRC), gave empowerments and teachings in Vancouver, and won the hearts (and minds) of many. Eager to know more about this amazing teacher and hear his recommendations as an important player in Khyentse Foundation’s future, we sat down with Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche at SSRC and spoke with him about his training as a Buddhist teacher and his new life in the West.
I’m sending my 6-year-old daughter to a public school in Canada. I don’t know what she is being taught there—I’m sure certain values, a certain culture, not only the academic stuff.
Children spend a lot of time in school, and they come back and do homework and go to bed and the next day go to school again. So having a Buddhist school is very important because that is where they spend most of their childhood. It’s not easy, of course, to establish a school, as you know.
This is just my perception. My feeling is that we need good teachers who also know Buddhism. Right now we just have to select from whoever is applying to the school for the job. I think the teachers are so important.
One idea is to organize after-school activities or Sunday schools (rather than full-fledged schools) based on Buddhist values in places in the West where there are enough families interested in Buddhism.
Where I am now most people don’t know me, of course, although a few of them do. But just as a parent, when we talk, I can feel they are looking for something—they aren’t satisfied. Some are earning quite well but something is missing for them. Buddhism can definitely help them, but how to help them and guide them towards the path is quite complicated.
Some are interested in Buddhism but are very new. I met one lady, who’s teaching my daughter piano. She’s quite interested and I try to teach her a little bit of shamatha meditation.
Modern people have all kinds of problems, such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), depression, procrastination … The question is how to begin to connect people to the dharma. I hesitate to talk about Buddhism directly to the parents that I meet at the school—I don’t feel comfortable just going in and talking about it.
They aren’t familiar with the deeper complication in their mind—they’re more familiar with the surface-level suffering and the problems they’re facing, like ADD and depression. These are familiar and widely talked about, so I think it’s good to begin with them. But you have to keep in mind that these are just surface-level things you are trying to solve, that there’s a deeper level you have to go to.
I need to learn more about these problems that people experience. It’s difficult for me to understand depression, for example, because I haven’t experienced it and I wasn’t taught about it. I don’t know what they’re going through. And ADD—there must be such deep things to know about that as well.
We didn’t know anyone in the city where we live right now when we first arrived. We have no sangha, and everyone seems to be in their own world. After some time, you miss Bhutan and all the pujas. My daughter misses her cousins but she loves her school [in Canada], and I think she’s doing fine. Dorji, my wife, is very happy with her studies in education and she’s also teaching in a public school for some months every semester as part of her program. She is looking forward to contributing to Rinpoche’s school projects.
I don’t have plans as such. To follow Rinpoche’s instructions—that’s my first priority. I’m hoping that while I’m here, I’ll be a little bit of help in North America. Next time I’m planning to go to some other places I couldn’t go to this time, such as Halifax and the US.
Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche’s comments have been edited for publication.
For more information on Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche’s early life and background, read Vera Ho’s earlier interview with Rinpoche for Gentle Voice (published in Chinese in May 2019).
