Lama Chimed’s uncle, Kathog Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa

Parinirvana of a great master

On July 14th, 2017, Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa passed into Parinirvana. He was the main tutor at Kathog University and Lama Chimed’s youngest uncle. In the days that preceded the parinirvana, he gave guidance to his disciples khenpos and tulkus in Kathog, and let them know that he would enter retreat. He then went back to his retreat house in Nyag Rong valley, Lama Chimed’s home land.

Being in his house, on the top of the mountain, he requested his attendant, Tsopu Dorlo Rinpoche’s daughter, to contact Khenpo Tsering Gyatso, Lama Chimed’s first cousin, and three other khenpos and Lamas, asking them to come fix his water tank. While they hadn’t yet arrived, he would have many informal conversations with her that would leave signs that would be important later.

When the four people that he invited arrived, they set themselves in a tent close to his retreat house. On the following day, he passed into parinirvana. When they realized it, none of them knew what to do, so they asked one another if any of them had received the instructions for that moment. They also asked this question to his attendant, who hadn’t either received such instructions. So, they decided to initially cover Khenchen with his yellow zen, as it is the tradition to cover the Lama with the zen that he uses. When they opened the yellow zen to cover him, they found, inside it, handwritten texts by Khenchen containing his instructions on how to conduct regarding his parinirvana, as well as his last advices to his disciples.

Instructions and advices

One of the instructions was to make public those advices, because they would be of great benefit to all. Such advices are already available in the Sambhota alphabet (below on this page) and in Chinese. When possible, we will make them available also in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Regarding his parinirvana, he wrote that he would not return as a tulku, he instructed that no ceremony should be carried out specifically for his parinirvana, no offerings – not even a single butterlamp – should be made for this purpose. Also, he instructed that there should be a simple cremation, such as the one of a common person, in the middle of the night, after four days, and that no-one should be allowed to know of his parinirvana until the 49 days had already passed. All his belongings, including his sadhanas, should be burned together with his kundun. Whoever transgressed those guidelines would be breaking the samaya with him.

Very special Signs

During the cremation, there was the display on the sky of rainbows shaped as the implements of the Buddhas of the five families, one at a time, transforming itself into the other. Those who were present witnessed that such display had never been seen before! After the cremation, many relics from the bones, shaped as Dharma items, were found. Such phenomenon is a common one in the cremation of Tibetan Buddhist masters. He also left the instruction that none of these relics should be preserved or used to any purpose whatsoever, but that all rests from the cremation, even the ashes, should be put in the Mei Che river. This means that no belongings and no relics from Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa were left behind from his parinirvana. All those who plead to have one of these would be lying – these were the instructions left by him.

Lama Chimed Rigdzin has some presents given by Khenchen in his visits to Tibet in 2004 and 2007, and he rejoices on this. For not even him, Khenchen’s oldest nephew, was let know of the parinirvana until the time was ready. Khenpo Tsering Gyatso contacted Lama Chimed in the end, letting him know of what had happened and apologizing for not having him let know of it before, and also explaining that he couldn’t do it because of the instructions left by Khenchen. So, he needed to keep his samaya to his Guru. Khenpo Ngawang wasn’t told about it either and later, when he heard of it, he thanked everyone wholeheartedly for having kept the Guru Yoga, and he said that everyone should continue doing it.

A little about Khenchen’s life

Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa had vows, since the age of around 20, of abandoning family life. Milarepa, Djalu Dorje, among others, kept this same conduct.

In this small cabin, he lived during the seven first years. Some relatives, worried about his health condition, requested him to move from there.

These relatives then offered him a new house upper on the mountain compared to the first one, with a kitchen, besides the meditation room. He lived in this new house until he went to Kathog University.

Some years after Khenchen Tsultrim Tarchin’s parinirvana – he was Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa’s brother and Lama Chimed’s oldest uncle and also his Guru -, who was the main tutor at Kathog University, Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa was invited by Kathog to hold this position. And this invitation was made in a most unusual way: knowing that Khenchen Sodnam Tenpa was somewhat unsociable, Kathog maters went to his house in the middle of the night and there they set camp so that they could do the invitation in the morning, without Khenchen being able to run away from it! Then, next morning, they made katag offerings to him and told him that, if he didn’t accept the invitation, Kathog University would be closed.

So, for around the 30 years that followed, he lived on the house that we see on the left, in the Kathog Gonpa lands. Because of his unsociable nature, not enjoying the community life, his house was outside the University. Everyday, he would walk to the University to give the teachings. During the years he served in Kathog University, hundreds of monks reached the level of Khenpos. This is one of the facets of the immeasurable benefit he brought to the Nyingma lineage and to all beings.

When he decided to end his activities in this life, he left personal instructions for the hundreds of his disciples khenpos at Kathog University on how to uphold the lineage.