The Treasury of Lives

Tashi Chime was born sometime in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Her mother was Konchok Peldron (dkon mchog dpal sgron), the daughter of the great nineteenth-century treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa (mchog 'gyur gling pa, 1829-1870). Her father was Orgyen Chopel (o rgyan chos 'phel), from the Tsangsar family (gtsang sar), a noble house of Nangchen. She had one sister, Rigdzin Peldron (rig 'dzin dpal sgron), and four brothers: Samten Gyatso (bsam gtan rgya mtsho, 1881–1945), Chime Dorje ('chi med rdo rje, 1884–1948), Lama Sangngak (bla ma sangs sngags, 1885–circa 1949), and Tersey Tulku (gter sras sprul sku, 1887/89–1956/57).

She served as manager of her brother Samten Gyatso's monastic estate at Lachab Monastery (bla khyab dgon) while her nephew, Tulku Urgyen (sprul sku o rgyan, 1920–1996) lived there. In his memoir, Blazing Splendor, Tulku Urgyen faults her for not allowing him to take sacred objects from the monastery when he left the region for central Tibet and India, a decision that consigned them to destruction by the Chinese.[1]

She once prevented her nephew from climbing to a cave near one of his family's hermitages, Dzonggo Ling (rdzong mgo gling); the cave was said to have sacred objects inside, but was physically challenging to reach. Tulku Urgyen, as a young boy, had enlisted several friends to help him scale the cliff with ropes tied to trees when his aunt discovered them and reported them to Samten Gyatso, who put an end to the adventure.[2]

Tashi Chime was recognized by Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros, 1893–1959) as an accomplished practitioner. Tulku Urgyen relates how, following Konchok Peldron's death, her possessions were distributed among her children. Later, in central Tibet, Tashi Chime offered Chokyi Lodro strands of her mother's hair and one of her rosaries. Chokyi Lodro considered these to be sacred, and touched them to the crown of his head. After Tashi Chime left, he praised her and related to an attendant what Tashi Chime had told him of the qualities of her mind: "My state is one of being totally lucid and awake without clinging to anything whatsoever." She continued, "I don't have to try to keep still as if afraid my cup might spill. I'm not afraid of that at all!" She explained that while other meditators fretted that they would lose their clear awareness, she did not: "How can fear maintain the true state of samadhi? Isn't meditation meant for transcending the three realms of samsara? How can one be free while still afraid of losing emptiness? How can emptiness be lost, anyway?"[3]

No other details about her life are given in Blazing Splendor.



[1] Tulku Urgyen, p. 176.

[2] Tulku Urgyen, pp. 151–152.

[3] Tulku Urgyen, pp. 202–203.

 

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Alexander Gardner is Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the author of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great.

Published January 2023

参考书目

Tulku Urgyen. 2005. Blazing Splendor: The Memoirs of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche as told to Erik Pema Kunsang & Marcia Binder Schmidt. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe.