The Treasury of Lives

The Third Khordong Tertrul, Chimed Rigdzin Rinpoche ('khor gdong gter sprul 03 'chi med rig 'dzin bla ma), popularly known as C. R. Lama, was born in Trehor, Kham on a full moon day of the fifth month of the water-dog year, 1922.

When the child was four years old, Tulku Tsullo Tsultrim Zangpo (sprul sku tshul blo tshul khrims bzang po, 1895–1957) identified him as the third incarnation of Khordong Terchen Nuden Dorje ('khor gdong gter chen nus ldan rdo rje, 1791/1802–1864). Tulku Tsullo's elder brother, Khordong Choktrul Gyurme Dorje ('khor gdong mxhog sprul 'gyur med rdo rje, 1887–1967), who would later give him multiple empowerments and transmissions, was likely also involved in the recognition. Several other prominent lamas, among them the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, the Tenth Minling Trichen (smin gling khri chen) and the Thirty-Ninth Sakya Trizin (sa skya khri 'dzin 10, 1871–1935), are said to have confirmed the recognition. Chime Rigdzin later explained that because the Khordong Terchen Tulku had become a figure of considerable importance in the region, the Tibetan government in Lhasa mandated the use of the Golden Urn to select him, a method designed to remove influence of powerful families.

That year he was enthroned at Khordong Monastery ('khor gdong), a Nyingma institution in the Trehor region of Kham. Khordong dates possibly as far back as  the twelfth century and has followed the Jangter (byang gter) tradition beginning in the eighteenth century, when it was introduced there by Khamtrul Sherab Mebar (khams sprul shes rab me 'bar, 1752–1815).

He began his training at Khordong, under some pressure to prove that his abilities were greater than other students. According to his hagiography he displayed miracles by the age of seven, such as leaving footprints in a rock and crushing a stone with his bare hand, as well as having discovered his first treasure. At the age of ten he set out for central Tibet and studied for two years at Dorje Drak (rdo rje brag).

Following his return to Khordong he continued his studies under the prominent lamas of the time, including Baḥne Tulku Orgyen Tenzin (bah: gnas sprul sku o rgyan bstan 'dzin), Khenpo Jigme (mkhan po 'jigs med), and Tulku Tsullo. He trained in philosophy, medicine, logic, grammar, maṇḍala construction, astronomy, and astrology. Tulku Tsullo was his main teacher, and transmitted the tantric teachings and Dzogchen.

After finishing his education at the age of eighteen with the degree of dorje lobpon chenpo (rdo rje blo dpon chen po), on the advice of Tulku Tsullo he embarked on the life of a wandering yogi. During this period he visited the Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Tibet, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, and India. For a while he worked in the administration of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in Lhasa, sorting out historical documents and organizing the library. 

In the mid-1940s Chime Rigdzin entered a traditional three-year-three-fortnight retreat at Rewalsar, known to Tibetans as Tso Pema (mtsho padma) in Himachal Pradesh. Around the year 1945, Gendun Chopel (dge 'dun chos phel, 1903–1951), the renowned Tibetan scholar, visited him there. There the two discussed the Dhammapada, which Gendun Chopel was then translating into Tibetan. It is said that Gendun Chopel's letters to Chime Rigdzin may be preserved in his archives, currently in the possession of his son in Siliguri.

At some point he gave Vajravārāhī and other Northern Treasures teachings to Khenchen Choying Khyabdel (chos dbyings khyab brdal, 1920–1997).

Soon after the completion of his retreat he married Sanggye Dolma (sangs rgyas sgrol ma) with whom he had six children. Two of his sons have been recognized as incarnations: Tulku Migmed Dorje (dmigs med rdo rje, b. 1952) and Tulku Tulku Urgyen Chemchog (o rgyan che mchog, b. 1956). Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdrel Dorje (bdud 'joms rin po che 'jig bral rdo rje, 1904–1988) encouraged him to become the head of a Nyingma monastery in Tso Pema but he declined, saying that the monastery needed sponsors and that patrons were problems.

As he had by then started a family, Chime Rigdzin focused on getting a paying job. In 1954 he took a position at Visva-Bharati, the university at Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, that had been founded by Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941). Along with renowned Tibetologist Suniti Kumar Pathak he built the Department of Indo-Tibetan Studies into a separate research unit for the study of Tibetan literature and Buddhism, ultimately becoming the Head of the Department, the first Tibetan to hold such a position in an Indian university. The manuscripts he had brought out of Tibet formed the foundation of the department's Tibetan library.

During the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai's (1898–1976) 1956 visit to India, Chime Rigdzin was part of the delegation to meet him at Visvara-Bharati, where he was accompanied by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964).

Chime Rigdzin was fluent in Hindi and Nepali and knew both Sanskrit and Bengali. His main research activity at Santiniketan involved working with Indian scholars to reconstruct the Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Paishachi, Apabhramsa, and early Bengali Doha literature backwards from the Tibetan translations. He also translated into Tibetan a number of Rabindranath Tagore's writings that were based on Buddhist Jatakas and Avadanas such as Pujarini (Maiden Worshipper) and Shrestha Bhiksha (Best Gift of Begging). These can be said to have been the first Tibetan translations of Bengali works since Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (a ti sha dI paM ka ra, 982–1055?) visited Tibet in the eleventh century.

Chime Rigdzin was a generous teacher, instructing his Indian students in Tibetan and translation. He became a prominent figure in the University, known for emphasizing the importance of knowledge of Buddhism as the key to understanding the Indian culture. Over his many decades of teaching his Tibetan students included Tulku Thondup (sprul sku don grub, b. 1939) and Lopon Ogyan Tenzin Rinpoche (slob dpon o rgyan bstan 'dzin rin po che). He also served as a Tibetan informant for Western scholars such as René De Nebesky-Wojkowitz (1923–1959). He was known also for his wrath, scolding students and colleagues in a burst of temper that would vanish as soon as it was expressed.

In 1958, Guiseppe Tucci (1894–1984), director of Rome's International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (Is.M.E.O), invited Chime Rigdzin to assist research projects and teach in Rome. While there he met Pope John XXIII (1881–1963). He assisted Tucci in translation and restoration of several Tibetan works, including Tselpa Kunga Dorje's (tshal pa si tu kun dga' rdo rje, 1309–1364) Red Annals (deb ther dmar po) and Pawo Tsukla Trengwa's (dpa' bo gtsug lag 'phreng ba, 1504–1566) Scholars' Feast (chos 'byung mkhas pa'i dga' ston), which were published by Is.M.E.O. He also taught at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich at the invitation of Helmut Hoffman.

He taught Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy at the Calcutta University for years. For some time he served as the working president and the Special General Secretary of the International Indo-Tibetan Nyingmapa Buddhist Cultural Preservation Society, a position of considerable influence in the Nyingma exile community. At some point he was awarded the honorary title of Bodhisattva by the Mahabodhi Society of India for his meritorious activities and for spreading the Buddhist dharma.

Among his Western students were the Englishmen Martin Boord and James Low, both of whom met Chime Rigdzin in the 1970s and facilitated his later travels in Europe.

In 1985 Chime Rigdzin visited Tibet for the first time since he left his monastery at the age of eighteen. It was said that during his travels rainbows would appear wherever he went and as a result he became known as the Rainbow Lama. He made a second trip in 1990, accompanied by his son Tulku Urgyen Chemchog. He funded the rebuilding of Khordong Monastery and the establishment of a monastic college there.

He retired from Visva-Bharati University in 1987 and moved to Siliguri in West Bengal, where the hills meet the plain. He continued to visit Europe where he taught to groups of students in Germany, Poland, England, and France.

In the mid-90s he and his son Tulku Urgyen Chemchok purchased a large piece of land in Siliguri, West Bengal, close to the Himalayan mountains, and built Khordong Jangter Monastery ('khor gdong byang gter dgon).

Khordong Terchen Tulku Chime Rigdzin Rinpoche passed away on June 14, 2002, at the age of seventy-nine, in Shivmandir, West Bengal, India. On the day of his cremation rainbows are said to have appeared in the sky and relics were found in the ashes.