OBITUARY: Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk

Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk/File Photo

Dharamshala: The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) mourns the demise of Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, one of the accomplished Buddhist masters of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, the abbot of Dzongsar Institute, a Tibetan Buddhists learning centre based in Chauntara, Himachal Pradesh, India, breathed his last on Sunday, 25 May, at the age of 88.

As a mark of respect, the departments and offices of the Central Tibetan Administration remained closed yesterday afternoon, following an hour-long prayer session at 2 pm.

CTA officials, including justice commissioners, members of Parliament, members of the Kashag (cabinet), heads of autonomous bodies and a large number of staff members attended the prayer session.

In his brief address, Kalon for the Department of Religion and Culture Ven Tsering Phuntsok described Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk as the "one who has attained great learning from the study, contemplation and meditation on Buddhists teachings".

Last year, the Department of Religion and Culture offered tenshug (long life offering) to the prominent spiritual heads from the four main traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and the traditional Bon religion and spiritual leaders, including Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk.

In Tibet, after spending more than 20 years in prison under Chinese rule, Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk was released in 1980 at the age of 60. In 1983, one year after coming into India, Khen Rinpoche went to the Dzongsar Institute in Sikkim, India, which was reestablished in the same year under the aegis of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. Soon, the institute was moved to Bir, which is in Himachal Pradesh in India, 70km east of Dharamsala.

Through the great efforts of Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk the institute steadily grew and came to attract more and more students as it renewed its reputation as one of the foremost centres of Buddhist learning.

The institute was relocated from Bir to Chauntra in 2004 and was renamed Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute (DKCL). His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over the three-day inauguration.

--Additional information compiled from www.khyentsefoundation.org