Tulkus – what’s THAT about?
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What is a tulku in Tibetan Buddhism?
The reality is, of course, that I don't really know who most of my listeners are. And some of you might be wondering what a tulku is in the first place. Very shortly then, a tulku is somebody who is recognized as being the emanation or rebirth, if you like, of a previous highly regarded teacher. Usually somebody who died relatively shortly, perhaps just a small number of years before the tulku was born. One way or another, this recognition is made when the child is quite small, perhaps just a few months or perhaps a few years old.
How is a tulku recognized and trained?
And the child is then marked out for special training, education and preparation for taking up their role as a figure in the religious institution to which their reincarnation lineage belongs. The word tulku basically means transformation body or it can be translated as emanation body or you might see the Sanskrit equivalent of nirmanakaya. This is the third of nirmanakaya. The three bodies of the Buddha. I shan't digress by trying to explain that concept, three bodies of the Buddha, in this episode, but I will mention that name in the list of words you might like to look up. So this word tulku turns up in two overlapping but actually different contexts. It's on the one hand the third of the three bodies of the Buddha, and it refers to this kind of recognised rebirth. The term seems to have started to find use in this second meaning sometime around our western 13th century. It's often said that the second Karmapa,
What is the historical significance of tulkus?
Karmapakshi was the first figure to be recognised as a tulku, that is to say, the rebirth of the person later recognised as the first Karmava. Surprisingly, or I suppose being realistic it's not surprising at all, the story is more complicated than the, so to speak, official Tibetan histories have it. These histories have projected the theory backwards onto the earlier figures and the earlier stories. If you want to plunge into fascinating details about this, Charles Manson, yes, you did hear that name correctly, Charles Manson, but of course it's a completely different person, has written a fascinating and thorough account of the life of Karmapakshi. Its full title is The Second Karmapakshi Tibetan Mahasiddha. I've included that name in the fabled word list. To approach an understanding of what the toku role is these days, let's try to take a look at how they fit in socially, religiously and administratively. We can argue, and perhaps you know that people do, about whether Buddhism is a philosophy or religion or what.
What we can definitely say, though, whichever side of that argument we come down on, is that it is a path to liberation. It says so on the tin. I don't know quite why the term sermon tends to be used here, although I suppose it might go back to the 19th century attempt to portray Buddhism as a kind of rational, oriental version of Protestantism. But the term is somewhat ingrained, so I'll stay with it. The Buddha's first sermon, then, was given in the Deer Park at Sarnath. Here, in his very first teachings, He spoke about the four noble truths. One, life is crap. Two, it's mostly our fault. Three, there is a way out. Namely, four, following the eightfold path. This statement is called Turning the Wheel of the Dharma.
This first and very straightforward presentation of Buddhism is commemorated in the mouldings you may see over the entrance gate to Buddhist establishments round the world. You may well have noticed it. Two deer, one on each side of a large eight-spoked wheel. The eight-spoked wheel representing the Eightfold Path, the deer, of course, reminding us of the deer park.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is a tulku in Tibetan Buddhism?
1:04–1:43
2
How is a tulku recognized and trained?
1:43–2:56
3
What is the historical significance of tulkus?
2:56–5:43
4
Do tulkus play a role in Buddhist teachings?
5:43–7:52
5
What controversies surround the tulku tradition?
7:52–10:12
6
How do tulkus fit into the structure of Tibetan society?
10:12–21:40