Tsem Tulku Rinpoche (24 October 1965 – 4 September 2019) was a recognised

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

of Kalmyk descent, an incarnate

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

of the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...

school 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 ...

, and the founder and spiritual guide of Kechara House Buddhist Association with its headquarters in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Rinpoche was born on 24 October 1965 in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

to a Tibetan father and Mongolian mother, and was adopted by an American-Mongolian family. His adoptive name was Burcha Bugayeff. In 1987, at the age of 22, Rinpoche received full ordination from the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

and became a monk of Ganden Shartse Monastery in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Starting in 1992 Rinpoche has lived in Malaysia where he commenced work on the establishment of

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

Institutes. One of the institutes he founded is known as Kechara House Buddhist Association. He also founded a charity organization known as

Kechara Soup Kitchen Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) is a non religious, non-profit organization operating in Malaysia. It provides food, healthcare, education and other facilities to the homeless and urban poor. It was founded in 2006 by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. Apart from t ...

and the dharma retreat centre Kechara Forest Retreat. In the meantime, Rinpoche took a stand against the position of the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

in the

Dorje Shugden controversy The Dorje Shugden controversy is a controversy over Dorje Shugden, also known as Dolgyal, whom some consider to be one of several Dharmapala, protectors of the Gelug school, the school of Tibetan Buddhism to which the Dalai Lamas belong. Dorje Shu ...

and built the world's largest Dorje Shugden statue. Rinpoche strongly supported the

Dorje Shugden Dorje Shugden ( bo, རྡོ་རྗེ་ཤུགས་ལྡན་, Wylie: ''rdo rje shugs ldan'', ), also known as Dolgyal and Gyalchen Shugden, is an entity associated with the Gelug school, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. ...

religious practice, prohibited in 1996 by the

, and was a critical voice advocating for the separation of politics and religion which is a feature of

. He was known for his advice against the

self-immolation protests by Tibetans in China As of May 2022, 160 monks, nuns, and ordinary people have self-immolated in Tibet since 27 February 2009, when Tapey, a young monk from Kirti Monastery, set himself on fire in the marketplace in Ngawa City, Ngawa County, Sichuan. According to ...

. For his dissenting opinions, he was marked as a controversial Buddhist teacher although Rinpoche simultaneously advocated devotion for both the

and the

religious practice. Rinpoche died on September 4, 2019, after a long illness.Tsem Tulku dies after struggle with illness, age 53
Lion's Roar Magazine

Major works

* ''Gurus for Hire: Enlightenment for Sale'', Kechara Publications, 2005 * ''Faces of Enlightenment'', Kechara Publications, 2006 * ''Why I Make Myself Unhappy'', Kechara Publications, 2005 * ''Compassion Conquers All: Teachings on the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation'', Kechara Publications, 2007 , * ''Nothing Changes Everything Changes'', Kechara Publications, 2007 ,
Online
* ''If Not Now, When?'', Kechara Publications, 2008 * ''Snakes, Roosters & Pigs'', Kechara Publications, 2011 * ''The Living Buddha Within'', Kechara Publications, 2012 * ''The Promise (4th Edition)'', Kechara Publications, 2017

References

External links

*
Tsem Tulku
- Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia entry. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tulku Rinpoche, Tsem 1965 births 2019 deaths Dorje Shugden lamas Buddhism in Malaysia American people of Mongolian descent American people of Tibetan descent Tibetan Buddhism writers