The Treasury of Lives

Tubten Lhundrub (thub bstan lhun grub) was born in Tadrok Shar (rta grogs shar), a village of Dranang (gra nang) in Lhokha, central Tibet, in 1906. His father, who died when Tubten Lhundrub was young, was named Tashi Wangdu (bkra shis dbang 'dud) and his mother was named Yudron (g.yu sgron). His name as a child was Namgyel Dondrub (rnam rgyal don grub).

An uncle who lived near the Lhasa Mentsikhang (lha sa sman rtsis khang), also known as Tibet-Lhasa Mentsi Dropen Ling (bod ljongs lha sa sman rtsis 'gro phan gling), approached Khyenrab Norbu (mkhyen rab nor bu, 1883–1962), the head of the medical institute and a fellow Lhokha native, for help enrolling the young boy as a medical student. Khyenrab Norbu accepted the request but recommended that Tubten Lhundrub first complete the foundational training in grammar and composition under the tutorship of Chondzela (chos mdzad lags), an office clerk at the Mentsikhang in Lhasa.

After this training, he joined Jampa Ling Monastery (byams pa gling) in Lhokha as a novice and was given the name Tubten Lhundrub. Not long after, now a monk, he gained admission into Mentsikhang, where he studied The Four Tantra (rgyud bzhi), The Blue Beryl (bai DUrya sngon po) and its Supplement (man ngag yon tan rgyud kyi lhan thabs), and Instructions of the Forefathers (mes po'i zhal lung), and received practical training under Khyenrab Norbu, Tekhang Jampa Tubwang (bkras khang byams pa thub dbang, d. 1922), and Jampel Tutob ('jam dpal mthu stobs, b. 1908). He also received instructions and training in Indo-Tibetan planetary astrology (skar rtis; jyōtiśa), Sino-Tibetan geo-planetary astrology (nag rtis), and Swarodaya astrology (dbyangs 'char).

As a young physician and astrologer possessing a high level of skill in penmanship, Tubten Lhundrub became an ideal candidate to work in the institute's natal horoscope unit. In addition to years of training in medicine and astrology, he also received a religious education. He sought Yutok Nyingtik (g.yu thog snying thig) initiation from Lama Orgyen Tenzin (o rgyan bstan 'dzin) and instructions on the Fourth Amdo Zhamar, Gendun Tenzin Gyatso's (a mdo zhwa dmar 04 dge 'dun bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho, d. 1912) Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (zhwa dmar lam rim) from and Jampel Rolpai Lodro ('jam dpal rol pa'i blo gros, 1888–1936), much to the delight of his teacher Khyenrab Norbu.

Khyenrab Norbu is said to have considered him his most promising student, and gave him the title of Tukse (thugs sras), meaning "heart disciple." Thereafter, he was affectionately addressed as Tukse Tubten Lhundrub (thugs sras thub bstan lhun grub). Physicians at Mentsikhang extol the respectful teacher-disciple relationship the two shared, and how Tubten Lhundrub served his teacher in the manner the culture prescribed. For example, he made a daily ritual offering to his master, a bowl of hot drinking water at the second crowing of the rooster (bya skad gnyis pa), a practice he never failed to observe until he fell ill at the end of his life.

The intervening years witnessed a series of political turmoils on the Tibetan plateau. In 1918, when the junior physician Jabuk Damcho Pelden (bya sbug pa dam chos dpal ldan) retired, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933), appointed Khyenrab Norbu his junior physician. After a decade of service, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama unexpectedly relieved Khyenrab Norbu from his position as a personal physician in October, 1932, and appointed him the head of Chakpori and Mentsikhang. The explanation given was poor student assessments. The following year, when the Dalai Lama fell ill with what many considered to be a common cold, his attendant Chensel Tubten Kunpel (spyan gsal thub bstan kun 'phel 1905–1963) and a physician Jampa Yeshe (byams pa ye shes) administered medication. The Dalai Lama passed away on December 17, 1933 and as a result the Tibetan government detained Kunpel and banished Jampa to Kongpo. Subsequently, the Fifth Reting, Tubten Jampel Yeshe Tenpai Gyaltsen (rwa sbreng 05 thub bstan 'jam dpal ye shes bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, 1912–1947) ruled over Tibet as a regent.

Reting Rinpoche showed strong support of the Mentsikhang during his regency by extending the Dalai Lama's initiatives there, such as developing its infrastructure and increasing enrollment. Reting recruited Tubten Lhundrub to serve as the secretary of the fifth level (drung las mtshan gnas lnga pa) in the Tibetan government.

Following the violent transition of power, in 1941, to the regency by the Third Takdra, Ngawang Sungrab Tutob (stag brag 03 ngag dbang gsung rab mthu stobs, 1874–1952), Takdra appointed Tubten Lhundrub to serve as the personal physician (bla sman) of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 14 bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho, b. 1935), and promoted him to the position of secretary of the fourth level (rim bzhi). With these responsibilities, he continued to reside at Mentsikhang. In addition to courses on medicine and astrology, he taught Tibetan grammar, poetry, and composition, Sanskrit morphonology (saṃdhi), and Ranjana script. Khyenrab Norbu, who served as the dean of Mentsikhang, was aging and thus Tubten Lundrub served as his assistant in overseeing the institute’s administrative and academic works and activities.

In 1954, when the Fourteenth Dalai Lama traveled to Beijing, Tubten Lhundrub joined the delegation as the Dalai Lama's physician. Upon his return to Lhasa in 1955, he became severely ill and was bedridden. It is believed that his teacher Khyenrab Norbu conducted an astrological calculation when Tubten Lhundrub was in China and predicted danger to his life.

Tubten Lhundrub died at the age of forty-nine in 1955. Khyenrab Norbu oversaw all required funerary rituals and services for his favored disciple. Tenzin Chodrak (bstan 'dzin chos grags), who was Khyenrab Norbu's and Tubten Lhundrub's disciple, succeeded him as the personal physician of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in the following year, but the responsibility of administration of the Mentsikhang fell squarely on his teacher, Khyenrab Norbu, in spite of his old age and his severe case of cataracts.

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