Khandro Tsering Chodron, Female Tibetan Buddhist Master, Dies

Huffington Post

by Michaela Haas

2011-06-09 【Share to Friend】 【Print Friendly】

Many Masters but One Message

Santa Barbara, CA (USA) -- Wherever she went, whether it be in a small park in India, or a hospital in Europe, inadvertently people would feel drawn to her. Not knowing anything about her, people would inquire as to who the petite Asian lady in the wheelchair was, noting they felt a special presence. In his bestselling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, her nephew, the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche, refers to Khandro Tsering Chödro as the greatest woman master of our day.

In her, he goes on to say, you see very clearly what years of the deepest devotion and practice can create out of the human spirit. Her humility and beauty of heart, and the shining simplicity, modesty, and lucid, tender wisdom of her presence are honored by all Tibetans, even though she herself has tried as far as possible to remain in the background, never to push herself forward, and to live the hidden and austere life of an ancient contemplative.

Khandro Tsering Chödron passed away last Monday (May 30) in France. She was one of the few Tibetans whose unusual biography could still offer a glimpse into what life in an untouched, intact Tibet had been like. Born in a small village in the mountains of Eastern Tibet around 1929, early black-and-white pictures show a beautiful, young woman standing tall but with a slightly shy gaze. Those who knew her during those years say she was gentle and reserved, but at the same time endowed with a somewhat wild, playful and independent spirit.

Her life story, populated by warriors and princesses, is so full of unexpected turns and dramatic events that it seems more like a mythical, yet sometimes cruel, fairytale. In 1949, she became the wife of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (1893-1959), the most revered Tibetan master of the 20th century. Authority on all traditions and holder of all main lineages, he was the heart of the non-sectarian movement in Tibet. In Tibetan Buddhism, the consort of a great master is regarded as his equal, and thus students worldwide revered her just as they did him. Yet Khandro's happiness with Chökyi Lodrö in Tibet lasted only for six years.

The year after their marriage, Chinese troops started to pile up at the borders. In 1955, just before the Chinese began to crack down on Tibetan masters and monasteries, Chökyi Lodrö and Khandro slipped out of their grip, disguised as ordinary pilgrims. Leaving almost all their possessions behind, they crossed on foot and horseback over the rugged terrain of the Himalayas. Their path took them from the high, arid plateau of Tibet, across mountain trails, glaciers and snow-bound passes into the kingdom of Sikkim. Not long after their arrival in the safety of Sikkim, Chökyi Lodrö's health deteriorated.

His death was eventually to occur just after receiving news that the three great monasteries of Tibet -- Sera, Drepung and Ganden -- had been occupied by the Chinese. His remains were enshrined in a small golden structure in the Sikkimese Royal Palace. Khandro was only about 30 years old at the time, but stayed on for decades, living near the shrine, spending most of her time in prayer. She was still very young when Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, says her friend Dagmola Sakya, herself married to the great Tibetan master Dagchen Rinpoche, but she remained at the palace temple, and didn't want to move. It shows how strong she is, a really extraordinary human being. Khandro always insisted that there was no separation between her and Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.

Khandro is the Tibetan word for dakini, or embodiment of feminine wisdom, and her name, Tsering Chödron, literally means lamp of the teachings and long life. She was unanimously regarded as one of the most realized female Buddhist practitioners of our times. She was what Tibetans call a hidden master because her whole life she refused to sit on thrones and preach with words, yet taught by her sheer presence, beauty and example. Some might have mistaken her humility for lack of self-esteem. But I believe her unassuming silence goes far beyond anything that could be labeled shyness. Buddhist practice, understood in all its profundity, is not about being special, it is about being truly natural. In Tibetan Buddhism, the absence of any sense of ego is the greatest and most fundamental accomplishment. It added grace and dignity to everything Khandro did. Despite her humbleness and silence, people could not help but be moved by her sheer presence.

Occasionally, a splinter of Khandro's sharp wisdom sparked through a casual conversation. Khandro was always completely present in the moment, exhaling purity, innocence and love. Despite her status, she never put on any makeup or elaborate jewelry. Usually she wore a traditional floor-length wraparound Tibetan dress, her hip-long gray hair strung back in a knot topped with a green knitted cap above. The princess of Sikkim had knitted it for her, and Khandro was rarely seen without it. Her complete lack of vanity brought with it an immediate ease and poise when in her presence. One never felt intimidated around her -- only in awe, as if encountering a powerful, yet gentle force of nature.

For more than 30 years, Khandro lived by herself in Chökyi Lodrö's shrine room in Sikkim, before her nephew, Sogyal Rinpoche, brought her and her sister to Europe to ensure better health care. Thus, Khandro had come full circle. From living like a revered master's wife in the snow mountains of Tibet, to being a refugee in India, she finally found her home at Rigpa, one of the most influential Buddhist communities in the West. Though Khandro did not teach in a formal way, what she did say would often be so penetratingly clear that it became prophetic.

Her sense of humor was legendary. One of the first English words she picked up was naughty girl and she liked to use it whenever she had her own mind about something. Her caretakers admired her playful nature, and none of them ever heard her complain about all the friends and fortunes she lost in Tibet. When other Tibetans lamented the terrible loss that has befallen Tibet, she simply stood up and walked away. She passed away like a great practitioner -- lucid and aware, surrounded by her students and family. The light of the teachings shines on through her example and inspiration.

미국, 캘리포니아- 인도의 작은 공원이나 유럽의 병원 등 그녀가 나타나는 곳의 사람들은 자기도 모르게 단아한 그녀에게 끌려 누구인지에 대해 묻곤 한다. ‘티베트의 삶과 죽음’의 저자 쇼갈 린포체는 칸드로 저링 초드로를 우리시대의 가장 위대한 여성수행자이며, 그녀를 보면 깊은 신심과 수행이 인간 정신에서 무엇을 창조해 낼 수 있는지를 알 수 있다고 했다. 그녀의 겸손함과 마음의 아름다움, 빛나는 단순함, 맑고 부드러운 지혜는 스스로 드러내려 하지 않는 운둔의 엄격한 수행의 삶에도 모든 티베트인들의 존경을 받았다.

그녀는 5월 30일 프랑스에서 열반했다. 그녀는 평화로운 티베트에서의 삶이 어떤 모습일 거라는 것을 보여줄 수 있는 몇 안 되는 사람의 하나이다. 1929년 티베트 동부 산악지역의 한 작은 마을에서 태어난 그녀는 젊은 시절 흑백사진에서 당당하면서도 부끄러움을 타는 모습을 보여준다. 그 시절의 그녀를 아는 사람들은 그녀가 예의 바르고 내성적이었으나 천성적으로 길들여지지 않은 밝은 독립심 강한 정신을 소유하고 있었다고 회상했다.

그녀의 삶은 예기치 못한 사건과 드라마틱한 일들로 가득 차 있어 마치 신비로우면서도 잔인한 동화 같다. 1949년 20세기 티베트에서 초종파운동으로 유명했던 큰스님 잠양 켄체 쵸기 로드로의 부인이 되었다. 1955년 중국이 티베트를 무너트리자 평범한 순례자로 위장해 말을 타고 히말라야를 넘어 시킴왕국에 도착했으나 쵸기 로드로는 건강악화로 열반했다. 그녀의 나이 30세 때다. 티베트인들은 그녀가 평생 높은 자리에 앉아 설법하지 않으면서도 아름답고 귀감이 되는 모습만으로도 교훈을 주는 숨은 선지식이라고 생각한다. 늘 겸손하게 침묵을 지키는 모습은 아상이 없는 위대한 깨달음의 자연스러움으로 생각되었다. 칸드로가 하는 모든 것에는 기품과 위엄이 어려 있었다. 겸손과 침묵에도 그녀의 모습에 감동 받지 않을 수 없었다. 때때로 그녀의 지혜는 일상적인 대화에서 날카롭게 빛났다. 순수함, 천진함과 사랑을 내뿜으며 순간에 항상 온전히 깨어 있었다.

그녀의 겸손함은 모두를 편안케 했다. 누구도 그녀 앞에서 주눅 들지 않았다. 마치 대자연의 위대하면서도 부드러운 힘을 마주 대한 듯 경외감이 들었다.

30년 이상을 시킴에 있는 쵸기 초드로의 사당에서 혼자 살았으나 조카인 쇼갈 린포체의 청으로 유럽에 정착함으로써 티베트에서 존경받는 큰스님의 아내로 시작해 인도에서의 피난만으로, 마침내 유럽에 이르는 삶의 둥근 원이 완성되었다. 정식으로 설법을 하진 않았지만 그녀의 말은 사물을 꿰뚫는 듯 명확했고 그래서 예언을 하는 듯 받아들여졌다.

그녀의 유머감각은 전설적이었다. 처음 배운 영어 중 naughty girl은 마음에 뭔가 생각날 때마다 즐겨 사용했다. 그녀를 보살피던 사람들은 그녀의 장난스러운 성품을 존경했고, 티베트에 두고 온 친구나 재산에 대해 아쉬워하는 말을 들은 적이 없다. 티베트가 처한 운명에 대해 한탄하는 말에는 단지 조용히 일어나 자리를 피할 뿐이었다. 위대한 수행자가 그렇듯 제자와 가족에 둘러싸여 밝게 깨어있는 모습으로 열반했다. 그녀의 모범적인 삶과 정신이 가르침의 빛이 되었다.