Tales With My Lama: Rinpoche and His ‘Mumus’
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.
Rinpoche and His ‘Mumus’
Tsem Rinpoche had a deep love for animals ever since he was very young. This love is a hallmark of all incarnate lamas. It is an expression of compassion that was developed over the course of many previous lifetimes. Therefore, lamas have a natural aptitude to develop forms of compassion at a very young age for all beings, especially for helpless animals. When Tsem Rinpoche was very young, he had a number of pets, from fish to dogs, and he loved to play and care for them.
This love for animals never left Rinpoche and extended into his adulthood. He always kept canned dog food and biscuits in the trunk of his car so that whenever he saw a stray dog that was scrawny and hungry-looking, he had his students stop the car and bring out the food and place it in disposable trays and bowls for the dog. Rinpoche taught us to recite mantras, including Medicine Buddha, Manjushri, Dorje Shugden and others, from afar so that the dog was blessed. We did this with Rinpoche many times over and he was always on the lookout for hungry strays. He would often drive specifically to a particular location whenever he knew that strays congregated there, in order to feed them. Occasionally, Rinpoche even found dogs injured by a car or fights with other dogs, and had these sent to the vet.
Oftentimes, Rinpoche went to pet stores to stock up on dog snacks for his own dogs and other dogs in Kechara Forest Retreat. Rinpoche had three schnauzers, Yogi also known by his nickname – Mumu, Dharma and Oser. Yogi was a salt and pepper-coloured schnauzer, Dharma is as well, while Ozer is a white schnauzer. Unfortunately, Yogi passed away three years ago and was Rinpoche’s favourite because he had a rather enduring character that was almost human-like in his empathy towards anybody who came near him. A student of Rinpoche was able to overcome her phobia of dogs when she came near to Mumu. Over time she was even able to chase after Mumu to play with him. Mumu was Yogi’s nick name that Rinpoche used all the time but it was also sometimes used to refer to the rest of the dogs as well.
Rinpoche and Yogi aka Mumu
Rinpoche always took great care of his dogs and ensured they had plenty of toys, snacks and walks outdoors. When any of them fell ill, he made sure they got the best care, doctors and medicines. Rinpoche also had a special bed made for the dogs and placed next to his desk since he worked late into the wee hours of the morning, as they liked to rest near to him. There was also a little speaker system set up to play Medicine Buddha mantras softly to bless and lull the little ones to sleep. Rinpoche even had a special light installed that was turned on using a remote, so that Rinpoche could fix their blankets to make sure they were warm and comfortable. The doors in Rinpoche’s residence all have smaller doggy doors at the bottom for the dogs to pass through and there is also an open-air veranda where they can pee and poo as well as bark at other dogs, birds and the occasional passerby. This is not to mention the various games Rinpoche devised to play and stimulate their interests, which usually involved snacks. Rinpoche’s Mumu was so well taken care of that some people even affectionately called him the ‘Little Prince’.
Aside from taking care of Mumu, Rinpoche also went to pet stores to look for unwanted puppies, birds, tortoises and fish in order to rescue them. Sometimes, Rinpoche bought the puppies and had a student adopt them so that they could enter a loving family and be taken care of. On the other hand, the rescued fish, birds and tortoises were brought to Kechara Forest Retreat and housed either in the pond or huge aviary respectively where they are also fed and taken well care of. These animals would have otherwise been left neglected and underfed in deplorable conditions, and this is the reason that Rinpoche did whatever he could to rehouse these animals and ensure they have a better life outside of the pet store.
At one time, Rinpoche had a special assignment for a group of his students who were working for Kechara, and this was to take care of beta fish. He wanted to instil consistent care and concern for an animal into his students. Rinpoche gave a whole teaching elaborating on the fact that fish, like any other animal, cannot talk. Therefore, they would never be able to reciprocate or express any form of gratitude and appreciation. And since that was the case, caring for them was a step closer towards the development of real compassion if done conscientiously and with a genuine heart. Rinpoche bought small aquariums and the necessary equipment and had the students care for these fish. He even regularly checked on the fish to see if they were cared for well. From the state of the aquarium, he gauged the level of care that a particular student expressed, so he would know how to nurture the student.
Last of all, Rinpoche always advocated a vegetarian lifestyle for his students and friends, not from the standpoint of health but from an ethical standpoint. There is always a level of cruelty involved when slaughtering animals and this contradicts our aspiration towards the development of real compassion. In order to get a sense of conviction in this, Rinpoche often promoted viewing documentaries and pictures of how farm animals are slaughtered daily for food. By being vegetarian, we do not actually save animals from slaughter directly but foster a lifestyle of compassion and empathy towards animals so our prayers become genuine and not just an aspiration. All these reflect the broad spectrum of Rinpoche’s love and interest for animals in general and were meant to reach out to and change the lives of his various students and friends.
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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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Tsem Rinpoche: “Eating meat is bad karma. Animals have to die, be killed, be murdered and then you take their bloody bodies and cook and eat. When they die for you to eat , they are frightened and crying”.
Rinpoche’s compassion for animals, which began in his childhood, continued into his adult years. This compassion was expansive and borderless -he cared for his pets and he cared for stray animals as well. If he found stray animals injured he would arange for them to be taken to the vet. He would go into pet stores and buy unwanted puppies and get his students to adopt them. .He would also rescue unwanted birds, tortoises and fish from these pet stores and house them in a special aviary and a pond that he had created for them in Kechara Forest Retreat, to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. He always wanted his students to realise that this was real compassion – caring for beings who were helpless, who could not give voice to their feelings, their pain and their suffering, and who would never be able to reciprocate or express any form of gratitude and appreciation towards their carers.
He loved his pets – Mumu(a most beloved and endearing schnauzer , who has since passed away), Dharma and Oser – dearly and cared for them like a father, seeing to the last detail of their needs. He created a culture of caring for them dearly , among his students, who now continue to love and care for Dharma and Oser ever so lovongly.
Vegtarianism was a cause he promoted with passion. If only we can empathise with the animals who are slaughtered to satisfy our tastebuds – see and feel their pain and their suffering as they are being killed.
Thus did Rinpoche leave a legacy of love and compassion for animals among his students by his fine example.
Looking at the picture of Tsem Rinpoche with his pets tells us a thousand words. Yes since young Rinpoche had a special bond and love for animals. Having a number of pets at that time and he loved to play, care for them too. It clearly show Rinpoche’s compassion, caring and loving personality.Picture of Mumu, Dharma and Oser. with Rinpoche says all..staring at Rinpoche with a cheeky smaile. Rinpoche continued his love and care for animals even coming to live in Malaysia. Rinpoche always untiring advocate of a vegetarian lifestyle for many of us . By being vegetarian, we save animals from been slaughtered directly , living a healthy lifestyle and having compassion and empathy towards all animals. Rinpoche’s love , compassion to all animals and reaching out to help many had indeed change our lives.
Thank you Pastor David Lai for this wonderful sharing.