Khandro Lhamo (1914 - 30 March 2003) was a doctor of

Tibetan medicine Traditional Tibetan medicine (), also known as Sowa-Rigpa medicine, is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior ...

, who was also a practitioner of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

who helped to build and maintain

Shechen Monastery Shechen Monastery () is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally located in Kham, Tibet, but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in Nepal in ...

in Nepal.

Biography

Lhamo was born in

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...

in eastern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

to a modest family in 1914. She married

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 198 ...

when she was nineteen years old. The marriage was arranged quickly since Dilgo Khyentse had fallen ill after an austere retreat and his mentor,

Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (c. 1893 – 1959) was a Tibetan lama, a master of many lineages, and a teacher of many of the major figures in 20th-century Tibetan Buddhism. Though he died in 1959 in Sikkim, and is not so well known in the We ...

,Greg Zwhalen, prophesied that a wife would heal him (despite the fact he did not want to marry, even though as a

tertön Tertön () is a term within Tibetan Buddhism meaning a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or '' terma''. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), who foresaw ...

he could die at young age if he did not); Lhamo did help him recover and was recognised as a ḍākinī. They travelled together whilst her husband undertook spiritual retreats; Lhamo also received Buddhist teachings with him in Tibet. The late 1950s saw the People's Republic of China invade Tibet, one of the first places they reached was Kham, where Lhamo and Khyentse were living. In order for Khyentse to escape Chinese soldiers, Lhamo sent him a secret message warning him to flee to Lhasa. In 1959, accompanied by their two daughters and a small group of disciples, they fled Tibet to reach

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

. Khandro Lhamo was a highly accomplished Doctor of Tibetan medicine, who contributed to the construction and maintenance of

in Nepal. After the death of Khyentse Rinpoche in 1991, she lived in the monastery Shechen Orgyen Chodzong in Bhutan and worked with Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche their son, to develop the institution for women. Lhamo died on 30 March 2003 and was cremated in June 2003; relics of her eyes, tongue and heart were kept.

References

External links

The Cremation of Khandro Lhamo
{{Authority control 1914 births 2003 deaths Tibetan women by occupation Tibetan medicine People from Kham