13 Responses to My Great Aunt the Princess

1. 

   Pastor Shin Tan on May 17, 2019 at 10:17 am

   The great Protector Manjushri Dorje Shugden depicted in the beautiful Mongolian style. I hope many Mongolians will print out this image and place in their houses to create an affinity with Dorje Shugden for greater blessings. To download a high resolution file: https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz

   The powerful Mongolian nation has a long history and connection with Manjushri Dorje Shugden, as expressed in the life of Venerable Choijin Lama, a State Oracle of Mongolia who took trance of Dorje Shugden among other Dharma Protectors. Read more about Choijin Lama: https://bit.ly/2GCyOUZ

   

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2. 

   Pastor Shin Tan on Dec 14, 2018 at 4:10 am

   1984 Los Angeles-Left to right: Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, monk assistant to Zong Rinpoche and the 18-year-old Tsem Rinpoche prior to ordination. Read more- https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/category/me

   

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3. 

   Valentina Suhendra on Oct 31, 2018 at 10:41 am

   View
   A poem inspired by seeing a picture of my teacher, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche…

   In the sport of correct views,
   all that is correct is just a view,
   without permanence or substance.
   As long as we hold onto views,
   our sufferings are gathered 
   to be experienced without end.

   Without the strong methods of emptiness
   and compassion, bereft of merit,
   we sink deeper without respite.
   To arise from this samsara is but
   a dreamscape on the deluded mind.
   Therefore seek the guru, who confers the yidam,
   hold your vows and fixate on liberation 
   free of new creations. Free of new experiences as 
   there are none. 

   ~ Tsem Rinpoche

   Composed in Tsem Ladrang, Kuala Lumpur on July 7, 2014

   

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4. 

   Valentina Suhendra on Jul 26, 2018 at 6:42 am

   I was walking past a second hand shop on Western Ave selling old things. They had a Japanese-style clay Buddha which was beige in colour on the floor, holding the door open. I thought the shopkeeper would collect a lot of negative karma without knowing if he kept such a holy item on the floor as a doorstop. So I went in to talk to him, but he didn’t look like he wanted to talk or that he even cared. So I asked him the price and he said US$5. I purchased it so he did not collect more negative karma. I was 17 years old and that was in 1982.

   I escorted my new Buddha home and washed it lightly and wiped it. I placed it on my altar and was happy with the Buddha. I would do my meditations, prayers, sadhanas, mantras and prostrations in front of this shrine daily. When I left for India in 1987, I could not bring this Buddha along and gave it to a friend. It was a nice size and I made offerings to this Buddha for many years in Los Angeles. In front of the Buddha I placed His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s photo. I remember I was so relieved that the price was affordable. But US$5 that time was still expensive for me but worth it I thought. But I was happy to have brought the Buddha home. Tsem Rinpoche

   https://www.tsemrinpoche.com

   

   

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5. 

   Pastor Shin Tan on Jul 19, 2018 at 8:44 pm

   Tsem Rinpoche at Kechara Forest Retreat, Bentong, Malaysia

   

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6. 

   Valentina Suhendra on Oct 20, 2017 at 1:37 am

   H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche is very devoted to his root guru, H.H. Zong Rinpoche.

   

   

   

   

   

   

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7. Tidbits that touched me | Tsem Rinpoche on Jan 15, 2014 at 8:08 pm

   […] https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/my-great-aunt-the-princess.html […]

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8. 

   Marianne Barkman on Jul 4, 2013 at 5:52 am

   Hi, my dad met your Great Aunt in Peking, I think and couldn’t get her doleful yet strong woman eyes out of his mind. My dad was Dutch Ambassador to China at that time around 1947-ish. He dedicated his historical novel ‘The Mandate’ to her. Its beautifully written and was offered to the British publishers, however it was too long winded, tho a good read. I have that original here. It was later published in Dutch under the title ‘Asaray, Nomade between Russia and China. You can read it in English on the website we kept on http://www.barkman.nl My dad’s other works about Mongolia and China and the tensions with Russia. He was such a scholar. There’s a man called Marco who is the webmaster of my dad’s website who also wants to know more about your Great Aunt.
   Do write back, because there are more people in Holland interested.
   Warmly smiling,
   Marianne Barkman

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9. 

   Okiram Ihsoyika on Feb 2, 2013 at 5:54 am

   What happened to the children of Princess Nirgidma?

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10. 

    Wan Wai Meng on Jul 8, 2010 at 7:53 pm

    David, courage was the right word to use. The Great Altan Khan invited the 3rd Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso to meet him. Altai was a great Mongolian leader he used to make military raids into China on a yearly basis and he will get a great bounty of slaves and treasures from the raids. Despite initially declining the offer Sonam Gyatso eventually met up with Altan Khan. Initially Sonam Gyatso sent a disciple and when the disciple came back he spoke of the opportunity about bringing the Dharma to the Mongolians. Many of his students begged Sonam Gyatso not to go.
    Alathan Khan wore a wire robe to meet Sonam Gyatso, the white robe signified his devotion to the dharma. Altan Khan coming from a shamanistic culture expected all religious figures to be able to perform miracles, Sonam Gyatso complied. Altai Khan first heard of Sonam Gyatso from a wandering monk who spoke and expounded Drepung’s Sonam Gyatso’s good qualities. The 3rd Dalai Lama efforts managed to persuade the Mongolians to give up their blood sacrifices in return they got to offer tormas which are still colored red but made of sugar,barley flour and etc. I recall the 3rd Dalai Lama promised to return as a Mongolian and true enough the 4th Dalai Lama was Yonden Gyatso a grandson of Altan Khan.

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11. 

    David Lai on Jul 7, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    Mongolia was one of the last countries who became Buddhist and they became Buddhist mainly through the earlier efforts of the Sakya High Lamas like Sakya Pagpa, Sakya Pandita and more so with the effort of the 3rd Dalai Lama himself. As it is already common knowledge, Mongolia was much feared in the ancient world for its killing horde. But it was through the efforts of these high Lamas that converted much of Mongolia and eventually pacified the war-mongering Mongolian tribes.
    Buddhism took centuries to take root in Mongolia but everything began due to the kindness of these great courageous Lamas. When they first taught and toured the Mongolian Steppes, they instructed their royal students who in turned enforced this religious ruling of no human sacrifice, no killing and pillaging. This effectively pacified the war-like tendencies and effectively altered the course of world history. Hence, the Mongolian empire that stretched from east to west eventually broke apart and many kingdoms reestablished their own rulership once more. Hence, Buddhism had much influence upon world history which goes largely unmentioned by experts and historians today.

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12. 

    Elena on Jul 4, 2010 at 7:18 am

    I Googled her once (haha all great stories start like that these days!), and read up about this remarkable and very intelligent lady who could hold her own with the men. She had a traditional Torghut upbringing but thanks to her father who believed his children should have a Western education, she was also visionary for her time. I mean, an Asian woman married to a French diplomat? And fluent in French, and as well as English, Chinese and Russian? And holding conversations and intellectual discourses with men in a time when women were to be seen and not heard? Talk about forging a path for Mongolian women.
    I think that the way she led her life and her way of thinking is kind of like Rinpoche, in that like Rinpoche, she combined ancient Eastern wisdom with Western methods and speech. Even though Rinpoche gives teachings from a pure lineage, and he is very traditional about certain things like respect for one’s guru, his methods show that he turns conservativism on its head.
    It amazes me how people’s lives mirror one another’s despite so much difference in time. It just goes to show that we’re really not that different to one another…so why all the discrimination and schism, and ‘us and them’ situations? We all need love, we all need kindness and care. We are all also equally capable of giving love, kindness and care and bringing happiness to others…and those qualities transcend time, period and culture.

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13. 

    Tsetchi on Mar 12, 2010 at 3:25 am

    Her costume is really nice !

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