BOULDER — It’s not easy being the young incarnation of a great Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teacher.
Children gathered Friday to meet with 17-year-old Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche at the Boulder Shambhala Meditation Center, and one asked him:
“Are you glad you’re a rinpoche?” — the title for a reincarnated Tibetan lama and whose literal meaning is “precious one.” Yangsi Rinpoche is held to be the emanation of beloved and revered master Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who died in 1991 at the age of 81.
“I can’t really say I enjoy being a rinpoche,” the robe-clad teenager told the mostly youthful audience of 250 to 300. “It’s a big job.”
Tibetan Buddhists this year celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of their spiritual treasures.
The Dalai Lama called Khyentse Rinpoche one of his most important gurus — a great practitioner and scholar who was always gentle and humble despite his fame. And the Dalai Lama has recognized Yangsi Rinpoche as the tulku, or incarnation, of his old teacher.
“I am still a student myself,” Yangsi Rinpoche said Friday. “I have many, many things to learn, so please do not think I am some kind of living Buddha. Supposedly I am the incarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. It doesn’t mean I have all his knowledge. I am the same as a normal boy.”
Yangsi Rinpoche, born in Nepal, is being educated in Bhutan with eight other tulkus, or incarnate lamas.
The world traveler is touring the U.S. for the first time — stopping in Colorado, New York and Vermont — under the wing of a host organization, the Boulder-based spiritual community Mangala Shri Bhuti.
Yangsi Rinpoche has a strong interest in Western culture and in a young generation drawn to Buddhist teachings, said spokesman Tyrone Takami.
“He is very eager to connect with Westerners,” Takami said.
Yangsi Rinpoche made no pretenses.
“He is an extremely honest person,” said chief spokesman Sasha Dorje Meyerowitz. “He’s exploring his role.”
A young boy asked Yangsi Rinpoche, “How does it make you feel knowing you’re a big past-life guy.”
“I don’t really think about that,” Yangsi Rinpoche said. “My teachers chose me. I sometimes wonder why they chose such a weird boy. I’m not saying I hate my life. There are some things I like about my life.”
The opportunity to study under and be guided by great teachers is one of those things, he said.
“But there’s not one thing in my life I can point to as really, really enjoyable.”
When the children asked for tips on meditation, he said, “I’m not such a big fan of meditation.”
He said he wasn’t disciplined.
“I’m just a cloud,” he said. “I’m just a laid-back, boring boy.”
However, 11-year-old Thalia Lhatso- Suppan of Boulder said it was exciting to meet him.
“A great teacher has come to Boulder, and we are fortunate to receive his teaching,” Thalia said.
Yangsi Rinpoche said that to be known as the incarnation of a great teacher yet not have any of that teacher’s qualities sometimes makes him feel ashamed.
His teachers and supporters, however, have said he is a diligent student. He has completed three years of a Shedra, or nine-year philosophical course.
“He is compassionate, direct and understanding,” his sponsors say in tour literature. “While still a young man, he exudes the unmistakable presence of his predecessor — a relaxed and open interest in others and a natural warmth, humor and insight.”
For Buddhists, events here this weekend are an opportunity to witness a highly valued lineage — an incarnation-succession mode unique to Tibetan Buddhism. For Western observers, the visit offered insight into the development of wisdom in Eastern tradition.
Julia Hellerman, a 38-year-old Boulder mom, is not Buddhist, she said, but she wanted her two children to have this experience with a great person.
“I thought he was really honest,” Hellerman said. “I really enjoyed it and I think my kids did too.”
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
