Lama Chime Tulku Rinpoche is a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

and

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

teacher. Chime Rinpoche was born in 1941 in Kham,

. In 1959, due to the annexation of Tibet, he was forced to flee to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

via

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

into exile. Gaining British citizenship in 1965, he taught extensively throughout Europe and established Marpa House, the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. His students include American author and Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön and musicians

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

Early life in Tibet

Chime Rinpoche was born in Jyekundo, Kham, East Tibet,

, into a family that were direct descendants of the

chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...

Rardha Pontsong, who was inspired to give his land to the 4th Sangye Nyenpa so that Benchen Monastery could be built (in the 14th century). He was not the only

in his family, as both Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and the 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche were his maternal uncles. He was educated at Benchen Monastery, where he completed academic studies as well as a traditional three-year, three-month retreat. Chime Rinpoche studied and combined the practices of

Mahamudra Mahāmudrā ( Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmud ...

and

Dzogchen Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...

(Atiyoga) through receiving instructions in Mahamudra from Kabje Sangye Nyenpa and Dzogchen from Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche.

Escape from Tibet

Due to the invasion of Tibet and subsequent occupation by the Chinese army, the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa indicated that Chime Rinpoche should flee Tibet. In 1959, Chime Rinpoche reached

via

alongside his Root Gurus and maternal uncles, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche.

Life in Britain

In 1965, Lama Chime was invited to live in the UK. He shared a small apartment with

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa ( Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th of the Trungpa tülkus, a tertön, sup ...

Rinpoche and Akong Rinpoche in Oxford. He later gained British citizenship, registered 22 October 1970 and has lived in Britain ever since. As Akong Rinpoche was the first one to find paid employment, becoming a hospital orderly, Akong supported both Chime Rinpoche and Trungpa Rinpoche.

Marpa House

In 1973, Chime Rinpoche founded Kham House in Ashdon,

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, UK the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre in England. The building was purchased with the help of sponsors. Previously an orphanage for homeless children called All Saints' Home, it was built by the rector of Ashdon

Henry Barclay Swete Henry Barclay Swete (14 March 1835 in Bristol – 10 May 1917 in Hitchin) was an English biblical scholar. He became Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge in 1890. He is known for his 1906 commentary on the ''Book of Revelation'', and oth ...

. In 1975, just two years after Kham House was established, the

16th Karmapa The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (; August 14, 1924 – November 5, 1981) was the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Followers believed him to be part of the oldest line of reincarnate lamas in Vajra ...

visited this centre after visiting the

Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre is a Tibetan Buddhist complex associated with the Karma Kagyu school located at Eskdalemuir, Scotland. History Before the present Temple complex was built, Samye Ling centred on just one building, a ...

earlier in the year. Kham House was later renamed Marpa House and is run by the charity The Dharma Trust. Although presently in poor health, Chime Rinpoche still teaches at Marpa House on occasion.

Status as a Tulku

During his 1975 visit, the

identified Chime Rinpoche as Radha Tulku, the incarnation of Radha Phuntsok, one of the four Tulkus (incarnate Lamas) of Benchen Monastery. The Four Benchen Tulkus are: * Chime Tulku (born 1991, not to be confused with the subject of this article) *Radha Tulku (Chime Rinpoche, the subject of this article) *Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche *

Tenga Rinpoche Tenga Rinpoche (1932 – 30 March 2012) was a Tibetan teacher (lama) in the Karma Kagyu tradition.

Personal life

In England, Chime Rinpoche chose to stop being a monk and married. He and his English wife had three daughters, all of whom are now adults. In Britain, Chime Rinpoche is the President of the Tibetan Terrier Association, a club that is dedicated to preserve and promote the Tibetan Terrier breed of dog. The club was established in 1967. Rinpoche still teaches occasionally at Marpa House when his health permits and annually leads a ten-day Summer School retreat in Baerenthal in northeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In a video message to his students on the passing of Tenga Rinpoche, Chime Rinpoche stated that he is preparing for his own visit to the '

Pure Lands A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

' by praying and meditating more but assures his students that it is 'a very nice place, very nice'.

Work at the British Library

Rinpoche was employed by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

as Curator for Ancient Tibetan Manuscripts for 16 years.

Notable students

* Pema Chödrön - Before becoming a novice nun, Pema Chödrön studied

in London with Chime Rinpoche for several years. After taking her novice vows in 1974, Chime Rinpoche advised Chödrön to seek training with

Rinpoche, who later became Chödrön's root guru. David-Bowie Chicago 2002-08-08 photoby Adam-Bielawski

- Chime Rinpoche also tutored David Bowie for a number of months at

Tibet House Tibet House is an international, loosely affiliated group of nonprofit, cultural preservation organizations founded at the request of the Dalai Lama, to preserve, present, and protect Tibet's ancient traditions of philosophy, mind science, art ...

in London. During an interview in 2001, Bowie relates the time of his first meeting with Chime Rinpoche,

"One day, I walked into the office and it was empty," Bowie said, calling from his New York office. "I went down the stairs and saw a man in saffron robes. He said, in very broken English, 'You are looking for me.' I realized years later that it was a question, but as a 16-year-old, I took it as a statement: 'You are looking for me.'" The man in the saffron robes, Chime Yong Dong Rinpoche, became Jones' guru for several months. "After a few months of study, he told me, 'You don't want to be Buddhist ..You should follow music."

:Later, on his first album ''

'', Bowie wrote and recorded the song "

Silly Boy Blue "Silly Boy Blue" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Originally demoed in 1965 as a mod-influenced track about a teenage runaway, it was revised in 1966 with new lyrics and released on Bowie's self-titled ...

" about a young Tibetan Monk who broke the rules as a tribute to his teacher. *

- Bowie later recorded the track live at the BBC with Tony Visconti, another student of Chime Rinpoche. Later, whilst recording Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), Visconti invited Chime Rinpoche to speak with Bowie about his idea to stage a

rock concert A rock concert is a performance of rock music. During the 1950s, several American musical groups experimented with new musical forms that fused country music, blues, and swing genre to produce the earliest examples of "rock and roll." The coin ...

at the

Potala Palace The Potala Palace is a ''dzong'' fortress in Lhasa, Tibet. It was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959, has been a museum since then, and a World Heritage Site since 1994. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythi ...

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...

, Tibet; however, nothing materialised.''Strange Fascination: David Bowie: The Definitive Story'', 2005, p.47 (Virgin) *

- In 2010, the singer Mary Hopkin, with her son Morgan Visconti, dedicated the song "Chime" on their 2010 album, ''You Look Familiar'', to Chime Rinpoche.

Bibliography

*Chime Radha Rinpoche (1981) 'Tibet', in M. Loewe and C. Blacker (eds) Divination and Oracles, London: George Allen & Unwin, pp. 3–37.

References

External links

Marpa HouseDVD: Lama Chime Rinpoche Old Lady's Finger and Other Mahamudra Teachings (Wisdom Books)David Bowie, Carnegie Hall, speaking of his teacher Chime Rinpoche then sings Silly Boy Blue (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chime Rinpoche 1941 births Living people 20th-century lamas British people of Tibetan descent Employees of the British Library Karma Kagyu lamas Karma Kagyu tulkus People from Uttlesford (district) Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Tulkus