Gyalten Lobsang Shampa Rinpoche: his School and Life

Pamela Logan,  May  15, 1998

 I was introduced to Gyalten Rinpoche, who is an incarnate lama of the Gelukpa sect, in Kangding where he maintains a modest apartment overlooking the river.  He is a quiet, humble man who speaks in the Ganzi dialect of Tibetan, or in soft tones of Tibetan-inflected Chinese.  I have never seen him dress in the robes of a lama, and everything about him is low-key.  His servants are deferential but do not bow and scrape the way Tibetans do in the presence of some rinpoches.  If you passed Gyalten Rinpoche on a city street, you would probably not even notice him, far less guess that he is revered by Tibetans.

 Gyalten Rinpoche invited me and two KAF team members to stay at his country estate 25 km outside of the Ganzi County seat, near Tashi Dargye Gonpa (Dajin Si).  The house stands on a hill overlooking a vast valley carpeted with barley fields, and is over-looked by a ridge of spectacular snow-covered peaks.  A temple is attached to the house, and the whole compound surrounded by a high wall.  A short walk away lies a hot-spring that is a popular bathing spot for local farmers.  At least half a dozen people live in the compound as guests or servants of the rinpoche.  The house itself is fairly typical: the first floor is reserved for storage and stabling of animals, while the upstairs is living quarters. A very fine stallion is maintained in the yard for use by the rinpoche; he also uses a Toyota Landcruiser that belongs to the monastery.

Gyalten Rinpoche (center, standing) with the teachers at his school.

 A short history of Dargye Gonpa will place Gyalten Rinpoche’s life in context.  The monastery is more than 300 years old, and reached its peak in the late 1950s when it was home to some 3700 monks.  It was completely destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. Rebuilding began in the 1980s, and now the population is about 200. Traditionally, Dargye Gonpa is home to seven rinpoches; presently all but three are living abroad or awaiting reincarnation.  The monastery belongs to the Gelukpa sect, which is the dominant sect of Tibetan  Autonomous Region and which, traditionally, recognizes the Dalai Lama as its supreme authority.  However, most nearby monasteries belong to other sects, so Dargye Gonpa, although large, is something of an outpost compared to the great Gelukpa centers of Lhasa and Amdo.  Recent conflict over succession of the Panchen Lama has generated turmoil and division among Gelukpa Sect monasteries, consequently they are not flourishing as much as monasteries of other sects.

Dargye Monastery

 Gyalten Rinpoche did not intimate to me his views on the Panchen Lama question, nor on any other political issues. His energy and concern is directed toward the welfare of the community, in particular toward a primary school he himself founded near the monastery. The school is financed entirely through funds raised by the rinpoche, a very ambitious undertaking.  Its curriculum includes language (Tibetan, Chinese, English), painting, sculpture, Tibetan medicine, math, and history. Books and supplies are all provided free of charge.  The school is designed to prepare students either for a trade such as painting or sculpture, or to advance to government-run middle schools. It has been in operation for four years, and at the moment enrolls 259 children, ages 8-18, and employs 11 teachers.  The teachers are all Tibetan, and only the English teacher is not from the local area. The government does monitor the school, but otherwise it does not interfere or provide any money.  The campus cost 340,000 yuan (US$42,500) to build.  It has a current annual operating budget of some 63,000 yuan.

 With this background, let me relate, in paraphrased form, Gyalten Rinpoche’s life story as he told it to me:

 “I was born in 1946 in a village near here, and discovered when I was 2 years old and taken to Dargye Gonpa. My four brothers came with me and joined the monastery as monks. In 1959 the monastery had to close down and all but 20 monks left. I was sent back to the farm to be a laborer.  The 20 monks maintained the monastery until the Cultural Revolution started in 1966 and Red Guards came.  They were mostly Han but there were a few Tibetans, too.  They began the destruction of Dargye Gonpa. Their work was later finished by local people.  The buildings were completely destroyed and 70-80% of the monastery’s treasures lost, including almost all of the library, most of which was irreplaceable. Meanwhile I was working on the farm by day and studying politics at night. That period lasted until I was 37 years old. It was a very bitter time.  People were afraid to look at me as a rinpoche because of the political climate.

 “In 1982 the government allowed the monastery to be reopened, and supplied 530,000 yuan for rebuilding. I was invited to return, but at first I refused because if I returned I would have no way to support myself.  Later on they offered me a post in the government, which I accepted. In 1991 I took a trip to India.  Now I work as a people’s representative, I run the monastery, and I operate the school, which means I’m extremely busy.

 “I opened a school because I think literacy and culture are extremely important. In my family, everyone but me was illiterate.
 “Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, things have been slowly improving. They are much better now.”

 Gyalten Rinpoche has big plans for his school.  At present, enrolled students are limited to villages within walking distance of the school, but he receives frequent inquiries from faraway places such as Dege and Luhuo.  Therefore he is raising funds for construction of student dormitories, so that boarding students can be accommodated.  He plans to recruit more teachers, and build housing for them.  He also plans to build a kitchen and outhouse, both of which are currently lacking.

Gyalten Rinpoche in the classroom.

 Gyalten Rinpoche has a larger vision for the neighborhood and region.  Anticipating the future opening of Ganzi County to tourism, he wants to construct a guest house whose profits will support the school. Visitors will be able to enjoy the local scenery, visit the monastery, and take horseback rides into the mountains. He’d also like to build a small exhibition hall to display items of cultural and historical interest. At Dargye Gonpa, he is undertaking to raise funds for repair of remaining damaged temples.

 The Kham Aid Foundation has a detailed written plans and budget for proposed construction at Gyalten Rinpoche’s school, which is available on request.