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Gendun Chompel or Gendün Chöphel () (1903–1951) was a Tibetan scholar, thinker, writer, poet, linguist, and artist. He was born in 1903 in Shompongshe, Rebkong,
Peer reviewed biography of Gendun Chopel by Dr. Heather Stoddard on The Treasury of LivesGendun Choephel
*The Story of a Monk Wanderer: part
, part
Gendun Choephel
– Angry Monk website {{DEFAULTSORT:Choephel, Gendun 1903 births 1951 deaths Buddhist artists Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Tibetan Buddhism writers Tibetan painters 20th-century Tibetan painters Tibetan poets Tibetan emigrants to India
Gendun Chompel or Gendün Chöphel () (1903–1951) was a Tibetan scholar, thinker, writer, poet, linguist, and artist. He was born in 1903 in Shompongshe, Rebkong, Amdo
Amdo ( �am˥˥.to˥˥ zh , c = 安多 , p = Ānduō ), also known as Domey (), is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions. It encompasses a large area from the Machu (Yellow River) to the Drichu (Yangtze). Amdo is mostly coterminous wi ...
. He was a creative and controversial figure and is considered by many to have been one of the most important Tibetan intellectuals of the twentieth century.
Chöphel was a friend of the Indian scholar and independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
activist Rahul Sankrityayan. His life was the inspiration for Luc Schaedler's film ''The Angry Monk: Reflections on Tibet''. He is best known for his collection of essays called ''The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun Chophel''. and ''Grains of Gold: Tales of a Cosmopolitan Pilgrimage'', written during his time in India and Sri Lanka in between 1934 and 1946. These essays were critical of modern Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, and British imperialism. While condemning places and events like the Black Hole of Calcutta
The Black Hole of Calcutta was a dungeon in Fort William, West Bengal, Fort William, Calcutta, measuring , in which troops of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawabs of Bengal, Nawab of Bengal, held British Prisoner of war, prisoners of war on the night ...
and the Goa Inquisition, he praised certain British colonial practices of legislations.
His erotic
Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...
classic, ''Treatise on Passion'' (), was completed in 1939, though it was first published posthumously in 1967. Written in Tibetan verse, this poetic and practical work was inspired both by his reading and partial translation of the ''Kama Sutra
The ''Kama Sutra'' (; , , ; ) is an ancient Indian Hindu Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kamasutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions ...
'' (introduced to him by Sankrityayan) and by his own recent, and prolific, sexual awakening. The work aims to provide extensive guidance on heterosexual lovemaking and sexual happiness for both women and men in an overtly democratic spirit. By now an ex-monk, Chöphel was happy to compare favourably his detailed sexual guidance (written from a lay perspective) to that contained in an earlier – and much less explicit – work bearing a similar title composed by Mipham the Great.
See also
* Tibet Improvement PartyReferences
Sources
Translations
* * * * *Other sources
* * Dhondup, K.: "Gedun Choephel: the Man Behind the Legend". ''Tibetan Review'', vol. 13, no. 10, October 1978, p. 10–18. * * * * * * Roerich, George N. and Gedun Choephel (Translator) (1988). ''The Blue Annals'' by Gö Lotsawa. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1976, Reprint in 1979. eprint of Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1949, in two volumesExternal links
Peer reviewed biography of Gendun Chopel by Dr. Heather Stoddard on The Treasury of Lives
*The Story of a Monk Wanderer: part
, part
Gendun Choephel
– Angry Monk website {{DEFAULTSORT:Choephel, Gendun 1903 births 1951 deaths Buddhist artists Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Tibetan Buddhism writers Tibetan painters 20th-century Tibetan painters Tibetan poets Tibetan emigrants to India