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LOSING A SENTRY: A Message from Rinpoche on the passing of Chatral Rinpoche

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The passing of Chatral Rinpoche marks the end of an era. Suddenly we have lost a sentry who was zealously guarding the Buddhadharma in general, the Vajrayana in particular, and especially Tibetan Buddhism and the Nyingma lineage.

The word 'chatral' has the connotation of an ascetic yogi who abandons all. Usually names are given as labels. But in the one now passing into paranirvana, the name Chatral was not just a label. He was the epitome and embodiment of what the word chatral really means.

In his long lifespan of more than 102 years, this is a man who did so much, associated with some of the greatest beings, and became master of the masters, including teaching and becoming the guru of the very man who found the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who was known as Yongzin Gyaltsab Radreng Rinpoche. Yet this same man can barely boast a monastery, institute, or dharma centre. Around him, paraphernalia like gold-plated roofs and thrones are nowhere to be found. He was a Chatral in the true sense.

But make no mistake: Many lamas like myself, who make the loudest noises, display the most jarring images, and travel every inch and corner of the world, have achieved next to nothing compared to this man who appears never to have done anything except for keeping his meditation mat from ever getting cold. And if he did manifest in action, this is the man who spent 99.99% of what he had rescuing the lives of animals. So for ignorant beings like us to try and express the great qualities of this enlightened being is like trying to measure the depth and width of the sky.

And yet if I may express one thing from the little I have known of this man it is this: The Buddhadharma has so many challenges, including all the charlatans who do outright damage to the image of the Dharma. These may be overcome by those who seem to do the right thing, who appear serene, proper, and moral, and who never upset anyone. But that often leads us into another challenge that is harder to overcome. Because in doing things correctly, properly and morally, and in bearing the burden of not upsetting people, one ends up being the victim of political correctness and becoming hypocritical.

In my limited life I have seen very few anti-hypocritical beings, and he was one of them. He meant business, there was no negotiation, and of course he never traded one single word of the dharma for money. Time and again, he refused to bow down to the mighty.

He made a lot of us hypocritical beings shudder. Just knowing he was alive and breathing somewhere between Siliguri and Pharping made our hearts quake. Even though we never got to see him, especially towards the end of his life – and I myself was refused an audience 20 times or more – his mere presence on this earth shattered hypocrisy.

To express our homage, veneration and supplication, may we disciples of this man keep in our lives the practice of freeing living beings, such as releasing fish, and especially so within this month.