Personal Attendant of Ven. Dhakpa Tulku Rinpoche
 Some of us call him Lopsang, some of us call him Lobsang, but the actual name of Rinpoche’s devoted attendant is Losang. Losang was born in Northeast India on July 8th 1969 amid the foothills of the Himalayas in the town of Kalimpong. Losang says that he is fond of his hometown because of its pleasant climate: never too hot and never too cold.
As is sometimes found in Tibetan culture, Losang’s mother married two brothers. She had six children with Losang being the oldest boy. His parents were born in Kham, the southeastern region of Tibet, and were traders travelling between Kham and India. Seeing the troubles growing in Tibet, they relocated their family to Kalimpong and started a firewood and charcoal business.
As you will see, the story of Losang’s life is so closely tied to Rinpoche’s that the two threads cannot be undone. As a child, Losang had many illnesses. Medicines and pujas did not help him. Finally a monk told him that he had been a monk in a previous life and that if he committed himself to being a monk in this life; his health would improve. As a result Losang never considered doing anything else in life but becoming a monk. He just waited for the opportunity to join a monastery – which, interestingly, never happened.
Meeting Dakpa Rinpoche
Around this time Dhakpa Tulku Rinpoche had retired to the Kalimpong area for his health. He lived in the guest rooms of peoples’ homes. Often they did not speak Tibetan. Not having a room of his own, he found himself doing his practice with children running all about. Rinpoche decided to rent a room with a Tibetan family so that he could practice more quietly. At this time, about 1978, Losang’s family had just finished building a four story house and offered Rinpoche a room on the top floor where he could meditate in peace. Rinpoche was too shy to eat with the family and so it became the routine to take his food to his room. Rinpoche rarely went out unless requested to do a puja and so the family only saw him very occasionally. As the eldest boy Losang took Rinpoche his food everyday and soon the 10 year old became his unofficial attendant.
At the same time the local monasteries were requesting that Losang enter their respective monasteries and Losang was trying to decide which one to join. Rinpoche had already made arrangements for an attendant but this fell through. With his family’s coaxing, Losang asked for the job and Rinpoche agreed. Now Losang had an interesting choice: go away to a monastery and be a monk or stay with his family and be a monk in his own house with Rinpoche as his lama. Naturally, he chose the latter! As their bond grew, Losang started to skip school to be with Rinpoche. He also kept trying to sleep in the spare bed in Rinpoche’s room to be close to him but Rinpoche kept sending him downstairs to stay with his family.
Rinpoche realized he could live even more privately if his food was prepared in his own room. From then on Losang looked after Rinpoche full time, cooking his food, making his bed, cleaning his robes; whatever needed be done. When Losang was 12 years of age Rinpoche decided he should become monk and they traveled to the nearest Gyuto related monastery for the ceremony. Here the boy Tenzin Choephel became the monk Losang Choephel (Kindhearted; Dharma Flourishing) that we all know. From that time on Losang has served Rinpoche as his attendant. He says that his duties have really remained the same for all these years and, if anything, have grown easier. Later you will see why he says this. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of their relationship – and an insight into Rinpoche and the depth of his practice is that in 24 years Losang says Rinpoche has never been angry or upset with him – not even the slightest hint of it. All Losang can say is that they must have had a close relationship somehow in a previous life.
Attentdant to Dakpa Rinpoche
He believes that he has received a great blessing in this life to have met Rinpoche and to have been able to serve him. He sees it as small thing to do for such a great master, but I think we would all agree that Losang’s dedication to Rinpoche is a remarkable thing to see. We are extremely grateful to him for taking such excellent care of Rinpoche.
Over time, the monks and tulkus of Sera Mey asked Rinpoche to come and give them teachings and as a result Rinpoche started traveling to South India on an annual basis, specifically to Bylakuppe. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama heard of this he invited Rinpoche to meet with him and he personally thanked Rinpoche for agreeing to share his vast knowledge. Losang was at this meeting and His Holiness asked him about his family and his relationship with Rinpoche. A few years later Rinpoche was invited to Italy and went to see His Holiness again, to get his opinion. His Holiness supported Rinpoche’s traveling to Italy and gave Rinpoche the gift of a watch. As a result Losang had another audience with His Holiness.
Traveling in India can be very difficult and an example of this is that when Rinpoche attended or went to give teachings, all of his possessions had to go with him. His bed, his robes, his text books, all his cooking supplies, utensils and his Dharma items all had to be packed to go with him. These were all bundled up and pushed onto the train as well as possible – and then they had to find seats! No one would give up their seat to an old Tibetan lama. One time, when Rinpoche was on a pilgrimage, Losang’s father put a wooden box in the middle of a carriage and Rinpoche sat on that for five hours inside of a tight crowd of travelers. Losang did not see Rinpoche for the entire five hour trip and just prayed that Rinpoche was okay, which of course he was!
This is why Losang says his job has become easier. He never has these problems any more, especially in the West.
Losang says he notices the difference in Rinpoche’s teaching techniques in the monasteries and in the West. Rinpoche assumes that the monks have a deep knowledge of the Dharma and teaches them with great sophistication. In the West, concerned that students will not be able to follow teachings at this level, he teaches in much greater detail to ensure that students can get a clearer view of what he is trying to explain.
Losang does not see himself as a serious student or monk. He says he is too easygoing to study hard and that he still cannot really understand Rinpoche. He has been to seven Kalachakras by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is still trying to understand the teaching.
Losang’s new hobby since he has been in America has been learning to drive and now he even has a driving license! As a result he can take Rinpoche on short trips through the local hills, to parks and even to the malls for window shopping.
The ideal of total devotion and of dedicating oneself to caring for another – even a great scholar or religious figure – is almost unknown in the West. It is especially true when the attendant is modest, self-effacing and seeks no praise or appearance of importance. Losang continually shows us these qualities by his humble example and of course with his great sense of humor!
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The kind Gyuto monk, Ven. Lobsang Dorjee, was born 73 years ago in the Kham region of Tibet, in the remote village of Dakyap. His family, all farmers, decided that Gen-la should be a monk and he entered Dakyap Monastery at the age of 6. At that time Dakyap had about 1200 monks and was self-sufficient, as the monks worked their own farmlands. When he was 12, Gen-la left Dakyap for Drepung Monastery in Lhasa. He walked alone carrying his own supplies, taking two months and fourteen days to make it to Drepung. Ven. Lobsang tells us that that was pretty quick; a letter could take over a year! Gen-la entered Gyuto at 25 and immersed himself in his studies. He had paid little attention to the troubles outside the Monastery rippling across Tibet. When Lhasa was attacked and His Holiness left Tibet for exile in India, Gen-la was caught by surprise. He said he was astonished and that the chaos was unimaginable. He had never expected to be driven out of his monastery. Outside Gen-la saw people committing suicide and being shot down by Chinese troops. He immediately left Lhasa and twenty-three days later reached Mussoorie in northern India. A vast Tibetan refugee camp had formed and was growing day by day. The monks were arranged by monastery and eventually 70 monks from Gyuto arrived. Gen-la says that, despite the generosity of the Indian government, his first year in exile was the most difficult year of his life.
Ven Tsewang was born in the village of Ufti in Ladakh in 1973. Ufti is about one mile from Ven Ngawang’s home town of Padum and one day’s bus ride from the Ladakhi capital of Leh. Tsewang’s father, Sonam Dorje, and mother, Pema Lhamo, had three sons and five daughters. While Tsewang is the monk in the family, the rest work on the family farm raising wheat and barley and cows, goats and sheep. Before becoming a monk, Tsewang attended Karsha Chamling Monastery in nearby Padum as a student where he learned to read and write.
Ven Ngawang was born Phurba Tsering in 1955 in the town of Patung in the Zangskar district of Ladakh. Ladakh is a remote Himalayan region of north west India with a deep Tibetan culture. Ngawang’s family included his father Sonam Pema, his mother Sonam Yutan, a brother and a sister. His sister was a nun at a local nunnery until she passed away. His family are farmers, growing wheat and barley and raising cows, sheep and goats.
Gyuto Vajrayana Center