My Uncle
My Uncle, David Minh
My grandparents had two children, one boy and one girl. The girl is my mother and the boy, who is my uncle Prince David Minh, resides in Taiwan. The black and white portrait here is my uncle in his younger days.
It was nice meeting my uncle for the first time. He knew about me but until the encounter in the video below, I had never met him. Prince David Minh is my only uncle on my mother’s side, as my mom has no other siblings. In Taiwan, where he has lived for most of his life, he is a minor celebrity because he is Mongolian royalty. For decades, he has been interviewed and written about in Taiwanese media.
When we met in Taipei, he told me that he is writing his biography and an account of his life. My uncle speaks fluent Mongolian, Mandarin and very good English, and so he told me more about my background and how our family left their homeland and ended up in Taiwan. Before we arrived in Taiwan however, my grandparents, my mother and my uncle himself journeyed from Xinjiang to India where they met His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Anyway, I have more relatives from my mom’s side of the family in Xinjiang whom I have never met but I heard they would like to meet me. Irene and Pastor Seng Piow, two of my students, visited them and connected them to me, but I myself am yet to visit. But it was nice to meet my uncle and get more background on my family, as he told me many things I did not know for the past 40 years. Thank you Uncle David Minh for your time. I hope your book comes out soon. I am interested to read it.
Tsem Rinpoche
Meeting my uncle David Minh
for the first time…
For more interesting information:
- The Promise – Tsem Rinpoche’s inspiring biography now in ebook format!
- My Short Bio in Pictures
- I Like This Picture of My Mother
- Tsem Rinpoche’s Torghut Ancestry | 詹杜固仁波切的土尔扈特血统
- My Childhood in Taiwan…Revisiting…
- My Great Aunt the Princess
- My Father
- My Grandmother
- My Grandfather the Ruler of Xinjiang
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Its truly wonderful able to connect again back to where our relatives are. The whole stories of the past and for-most meeting someone whom we do not know but related to us. Kechara team did a good job having doing all research and background tracing those related to Rinpoche. Making it possible for Rinpoche to meet his uncle Prince David Minh ….son to Mingyur Wang and grandson of Prince Palta. A very special moment, full of memories.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this
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
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
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
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
Tsem Rinpoche at Kechara Forest Retreat, Bentong, Malaysia
H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche is very devoted to his root guru, H.H. Zong Rinpoche.
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Rinpoche’s uncle Prince David Minh, son to Mingyur Wang and grandson of Prince Palta who both were governors of Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty. Prince David Minh has 2 children, a son and a daughter and is married to a Taiwanese wife. He is a very private person and often refuse to take on visitors. He is a man of very little words and do not socialise easily. When I first tried to establish contact with him to meet up through Tu Mama in Taipei I was not successful. However, when I got hold of him during my second trip to Taipei he received me with curiosity and an open mind when he was informed I was sent by Rinpoche, his long lost nephew. My subsequent meetings with him became more cordial and he even allowed us to film and record our meeting with him. My last meeting with him he was flamboyant and gave me a hug before he bidded goodnight. It goes to show that Prince David Minh has accepted Rinpoche as his nephew, his relative and a lama.
In all our meetings he advised Rinpoche to forget the painful past and forgive his mother as she has her own reasons for what she is to Rinpoche.
I had the opportunity to meet David Minh in Taiwan in 2008, during a chance visit there. It was a very special moment, as none of Rinpoche’s students had been in contact with any of Rinpoche’s birth family for quite a long time already. So, to be able to meet Rinpoche’s uncle was a great opportunity and we had cameras and recorders at the ready!
Prince David Minh is now a distinguished-looking older gentleman, with manners and carriage that befits his station. He was a little wary of being taped, but kindly agreed in the end – which is really good news because now Kechara Media & Publications will have very valuable material for the book that they will be writing about Tsem Rinpoche’s biography! While we were in Taiwan, we even had a chance to interview the lady who used to care for Rinpoche … and wait till you hear what she told us!
Don’t miss Rinpoche’s biography – watch the KMP website for more details: http://kechara.com/kmp
A group of us are currently working on writing Rinpoche’s biography, which was advised to be done by Rinpoche’s Guru because it would be beneficial for many. In the course of researching Rinpoche’s biography, a few of us went to interview David Minh in Taiwan a few years ago.
He is highly intelligent, articulate and a prolific writer. David confirmed that Rinpoche was his nephew and said that he was told this by his mother. He also shared stories about how his parents, his sister (Rinpoche’s mother) and himself journey from Xinjiang to India where they met the 14th Dalai Lama and their eventual arrival in Taiwan. We shared what was happening in Kechara with David and Rinpoche’s tremendous works and he was very attentive and looked at everything carefully, saying that he appreciated the update.
A brief biography of Rinpoche’s life can be found on his website: http://tsemtulku.com/biography/brief-biography/