Tales With My Lama: On Being a Monk
Pastor David has been a student of His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche for over 15 years and within the ‘Tales With My Lama’ series of articles, he explores his spiritual relationship with Rinpoche, sharing anecdotes, stories, observations and little Dharma nuggets. It is all told to inspire others for their own spiritual relationship with their teachers.
On Being A Monk
For as long as he remembered, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche always wanted to be a monk. While growing up in America, Rinpoche’s foster parents didn’t understand nor appreciate his early yearnings for the monastic life. They figured it was the influence of his teacher and monk friends at the local temple, Rashi Gempil Ling. Therefore, they sought to stifle his spiritual aspirations with punishments and did their best to disassociate the young boy from the temple but to no avail.
What Rinpoche’s foster parents didn’t understand was that his desire to be a monk wasn’t the influence of his teacher, monk friends or the temple. It is clear that the young Rinpoche had very strong karmic imprints from previous lives to be a monk. They were so strong that no shouting, grounding, punishment or abuse could deter the boy from fulfilling what he had done in his previous lifetimes, which was to be ordained as a monk.
Rinpoche eventually ran away from home, slept on the streets and hitch-hiked across the breadth of America from New Jersey to Los Angeles. He had to survive on his own then and make it all by himself. He left home because he wanted to practise the Dharma and to keep his dream of becoming a monk alive. It took quite a few years working a number of jobs and studying under the erudite Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, who Rinpoche fondly referred to as Geshe-la, at Thubten Dhargye Ling Center before he started to realise this dream.
The turning point came when Geshe-la invited his own teacher, His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche to the Dharma centre in order to give teachings and initiations. The young Rinpoche asked his teacher, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche if he could be a movie star or a monk. The answer was yes, he had the karma to make it in front of the camera and be successful but if he became a monk, he would be of benefit to sentient beings. It was there and then that the young man promised to become a monk and the promise was sealed by Kyabje Zong Rinpoche who then symbolically snipped Rinpoche’s hair. The young Rinpoche eventually made his way to India to receive his monastic ordination from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Rinpoche kept his monk vows purely till the end and never saw his ordination as a hindrance or regretted his decision. In fact, he often shared a new perspective with others, that defy some common notions. Such notions include that being a monk or taking vows and commitments are like a prison and that people who become monks are usually failures in life and resort to monastic ordination as a means of escape. Rinpoche said that those who seek ordination as a means of escape do not remain long as monks or nuns.
Rinpoche has elaborated that those seeking monastic ordination should have a higher motivation. One should at least see the faults of samsara or of ordinary living, worldly affairs of family and material success. These do not bring us happiness and ultimately do not help us at the time of our deaths. Instead, the best motivation for a monastic would be an altruistic one, that of wishing to take up ordination as a means to free others from samsara. Those who take up ordination for such sublime reasons remain monks or nuns for life and they become objects worthy of offerings and veneration even if they are not spiritually attained.
After his ordination, Rinpoche entered Gaden, the monastery of his root teacher, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche and he instantly felt at home. Rinpoche said the happiest days of his life were when he was at the monastery serving his teachers. As Rinpoche was a latecomer to the monastery, it was a struggle initially to adapt to the language, schedule and rigour of monastic life. Nevertheless, he soon overcame the hurdles, served his teachers and made many lifelong friends in the monastery. In fact, when Rinpoche was away from the monastery for long periods of time, he longed for the company of monks and to be in the monastery.
On a day-to-day basis, everything Rinpoche did was in consideration of his monastic vows. Even what he wore on a casual basis, a dark brown kurta, was on the basis of whether it conformed to his monastic vows. Rinpoche always said he would never give up his vows until the day he passed on and prayed that he would take rebirth again and again with deep renunciation at a young age in order to take up monastic ordination once more and thereby uphold the Vinaya, the monastic tradition of Buddha Shakyamuni.
For more interesting information:
- Tales with My Lama: Bigfoot Dreams
- Tales with My Lama: What does Rinpoche like about Liz Taylor?
- Tales with My Lama: Daily Practice
- Tales With My Lama : Laugh Away Your Ego
- Tales With My Lama: Why Rinpoche Has To Suffer
- Tales With My Lama : Larger than Life
- Tales with my Lama – Manjushri
- Tales With My Lama : Audience With Tsem Rinpoche
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Rinpoche was attracted to Buddhist practice and learning about Dharma since very young. He has such strong imprints that he could not be convinced otherwise by his foster family. He volunteered at the Buddhist center close to his home in Howell, New Jersey and was so happy to do so.
His strong imprints from his previous lifes and his attainments have given him the environment and conditions to be close to the Dharma, although his family was not on his side. But he was never influenced to live a “normal” life.
Rinpoche has lived a pure and devoted life to his teacher H.H. Zong Rinpoche and to the vows he took which he kept sacred and kept them pure. Being a monk and living in a monastery was all Rinpoche wanted in this life and benefited us all tremendously.
The picture is when Rinpoche promised to his teacher H.H. Zong Rinpoche to become a monk, when H.H. Zong Rinpoche cut his hair.
Thank you Pastor David for your kind sharing.
Another interesting and great insight of our beloved Guru,Tsem Rinpoche. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche always wanted to be a monk. While growing up in America, Rinpoche’s foster parents didn’t understand nor appreciate his early yearnings for the monastic life. Rinpoche eventually ran away from home, slept on the streets and hitch-hiked across the breadth of America from New Jersey to Los Angeles. He had to survive on his own then and make it all by himself. The turning point came when Geshe-la invited his own teacher, His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche to the Dharma centre in order to give teachings and initiations. Rinpoche kept his monk vows purely till the end and never saw his ordination as a hindrance or regretted his decision. Thank you Rinpoche and Pastor David for this wonderful highlight which many people would love to read and know more about Tsem Rinpoche.????
Rinpoche’s entire life was a show case of his being a pure monk through and through.
It had always been Rinpoche’s dream to be a monk , even, as a child. Not even a mother, who punished and abused him every time he went to the nearby temple Rashi Gemple Ling to pray or engage in dharma work or activity, could deter him from fulfiling his spiritual aspirations.In the end, he ran away to be close to dharma and to make sure his dream of being a monk would be kept alive.
He wanted to become a monk to benefit sentient beings. So powerful was his compassion and his renunciation of samsara that he kept his monk vows all the way even unto the end. He prayed that he would take rebirth again and again with deep renunciation at a young age in order to take up monastic ordination again and again. The happiest days of his life were gthose spent in the monastery, serving his teachers.How true to his purpose did Rinpoche remain right to the end.
Sentient beings come to this present life from their previous lives and take rebirth. Positive karma are created and their imprints remain on the consciousness. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has always wanted to be a monk, since young. He had a very strong imprints from a previous existence , that Rinpoche enjoyed drawing images of Buddha and keen to read Buddhist books. Rinpoche will somehow go and looked for Buddhist Temple to practice Dharma teachings without his foster parent knowledge. Rinpoche could be a movie star but Rinpoche chose to be a monk where Rinpoche would benefit to all sentient beings. Well, Rinpoche had since kept his vows until the last day . Rinpoche did say before that the happiest days of his life was at the monastery serving his teachers.
Thank you Pastor David for sharing this short post.
There was a time where Rinpoche have the choice to either become a very famous actor or to be ordained to become a monk and he chose to be a monk. He promised his root guru which is Zong Rinpoche to be ordained so that he can benefit more sentient beings. I also remember Rinpoche saying that when we are facing 2 choices, and we don’t know which one to choose. Rinpoche said we should always go for the choice that will benefit more people.