Bakula Arhat’s Journeys to the North: The Life and Work of the Nineteenth Kushok Bakula in Russia and Mongolia

Vesna A. Wallace

Among the earliest, eighty great disciples of the Buddha ⁄›kyamuni and among the sixteen

celebrated Arhats, all venerated in Buddhist traditions for their high spiritual achievements

and ethical conduct, Bakula1 Arhat became legendary as a contemplative hermit who

endured the hardships of an ascetic life and sustained himself on plants, roots, and fruits of

the forest. According to the Indian, Tibetan and Mongolian sources, he never experienced

illness, enjoyed an unusually long life, and healed sick monks with medicinal plants. Due to

the accounts of his many extraordinary achievements such as the five extrasensory

perceptions (abhijñ›), knowledge of medicinal plants, and the like, he became worshipped as

a giver of long life and as a provider of freedom from hunger, thirst, and material and

spiritual poverty.

According to the popular Mongolian legend, in the nineteenth century, at the time

of the Eighth Bogdo Gegeen, Jebtsundamba Rinpoche, who was the head of Mongolian

1Sometimes his name is also spelled as Bakkula, Vakkula, and B›kula. In P›li sources, particularly in the

Majjhima A˛˛hakath›, IV, the meaning of his name is derived from the word dvi-kula (“two families”), a derivation based on the narrative according to which, he was swallowed by a large fish when his nurse tried to bath him in the river Yamun› when he was five days old. A fisherman from Benares, who caught the fish and found the boy alive in it, adopted the child. Since the birth parents claimed the child to be theirs, the king decided that the child should belong to both families. According to the later Tibetan and Mongolian sources, he was named Bakula after the bakula tree because he wore the clothing made of the leaves and bark of a bakula tree during his life of a forest hermit.

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Buddhism, a Mongolian monk whose name remains unknown, predicted that Buddhism in

Mongolia will be assaulted by inimical forces. He further prophesized that some time after

the destruction of Buddhism in the country, Arhat Bakula will come to Mongolia to

revitalize the Mongolian Buddhist tradition. He further foretold that after Buddhism among

Mongols receives “a crushing blow at the hands of the red barbarians in the early twentieth

century” the Mongolian Buddhist cultural heritage will be restored to its previous glory.2 The

well-known Mongolian scholar and monk, Zava Damdin (rTsa bar rTa mrgrin dka ‘bcu,

1867-1937) makes reference to such a prophecy in his Golden Book (Altan Devter), but

points out the MañjuŸrımÒlatantra as the original source of the prophecy. There he appeals

to Mongolians, saying: “In order to liberate [ourselves] from suffering, [we] must worship

Bakula.”3 For that purpose, he composed a prayer in praise of Arhat Bakula, titled Opening

the Door of the Space Treasure of a Compilation of Homage and Worship of the Elders Led by

Ārya Bakula (‘Phags pa Ba ku las thog drangs pa’i gnas brtag phyag mchod gyi tsogs nam mkha’

mdzod kyi sgo ba byed), which was read in Mongolian monasteries. According to Zava

Damdin, the lamas of Demchig datsan of Sanggin Dalain Nomin aimag and the lamas of

2Lama G. Purevbat. 2008. “A Great Teacher of Mongolian People.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 84. See also Shakspo, Sonam Wanghuch. 2008. Bakula Rinpoche: A Visionary Lama and Statement. New Delhi: Private Publication by Sonam Wangchuk Shakspo, p. 58.

3Lkhamsürengiin, Khürelbaatar. 1999. Bakula Rinbüchi Tüvdenchognor (Bakula Rinpoche Thubten Choknor). Ulaanbaatar: Mongol Uls Shinjlekh Ukhaani Akademi Khel Zokhiolin Khüreelen, p. 85.

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Gandandarjailin of Ulaan eregiin nomin aimag recited that liturgical text of the offering rite

to Bakula Arhat, in which he is mentioned as foremost among all the Arhats.4

Following the aforementioned prediction, in the Banner (khoshuu) of Agi nobleman

(üizen gün) of Sain Noyen Khan aimag, a thangka was made for the sake of worshiping Arhat

Bakula. The thangka depicts sixteen Arhats of the Buddha, with Bakula Arhat occupying a

central position in the painting and holding a mongoose in his hands. He is surrounded by

fifteen other Arhats and the Buddha ⁄›kyamuni, who is attended by ⁄›riputra and

Maudgaly›yana, depicted above the head of Bakula Arhat. On the upper left and right

corners of the paintings are depicted two Bodhisattva figures, T›r› and MañjuŸrı. On the

bottom of the painting are the four Mah›r›jas, the guardians of the four cardinal directions,

and on the lower, right side, above the fourth Mah›r›ja there is a representation of the seated

Hashang.5 During the years of the communist revolution, in every monastery, during daily

ritual services, lamas recited the prayer gNas brtan phag mchod (Salutation and Worship of the

Elders), in which Bakula Arhat is mentioned as learned and holy.6

As we will see, a learned monk born in the lineage of Bakula Arhat’s incarnations,

respected for his strict adherence to the monastic discipline and for his learning, meditative

4Zava Damdin, I, 47a, 1-3 mentioned by Lkhamsürengiin, Khürelbaatar. 1999. Bakula Rinbüchi

Tüvdenchognor (Bakula Rinpoche Thubten Chognor). Ulaanbaatar: Mongol Uls Shinjlekh Ukhaani Akademi Khel Zokhiolin Khüreelen, p. 77.

5The painting is now in the private possession of Dorjiin Damba’s family in Ulaanbaatar. 6Lkhamsürengiin, Khürelbaatar. 1999. Bakula Rinbüchi Tüvdenchognor (Bakula Rinpoche Thubten Choknor).

Ulaanbaatar: Mongol Uls Shinjlekh Ukhaani Akademi Khel Zokhiolin Khüreelen, p. 77.

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practices, and vegetarian diet, which he adopted in 1925 after hearing that certain villagers

slaughtered sheep for his meal, modeled his life work on the celebrated virtues of Bakula

Arhat. He eventually made his way to the territories of the Mongols, where in good part he

fulfilled their prophecy. But before venturing to those lands, he had to follow the footsteps of

his predecessor, the eighteenth incarnation of Bakula Arhat in improving the lives of the

local people in his native Ladakh.

On May 19, 1917, on the day commemorating the Buddha’s parinirv›˚a, a son was

born at Mangtro palace to Yeshe Wangmo, the princess of Zangla and a niece of Lobsang

Yeshe Tenpa Gyaltsen (bLob bzang ye shes brtan pa rgyal mtshan, 1890-1917), the prince of

Zangskar, considered to be the Eighteenth incarnation of Bakula Arhat. It is said that prior

to his death, the Eighteenth Bakula Lobsang Yeshe Tenpa Gyaltsen foretold his next birth,

indicating one of the four daughters of his sister as his future mother. His next incarnation,

born as a son of Yeshe Wangmo, was recognized as the Nineteenth Kushok Bakula Lobsang

Thubten Chognor (bLob bzang thub bstan bchog nor) and confirmed as such at his age of

six by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. After receiving a preliminary education in Ladakh, at the

age of ten he set out to Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, where he stayed for fourteen years and

earned the highest monastic degree with honors, the Geshe Lharampa degree. Returning to

Ladakh at the time of India’s transition from the centuries-long colonial rule to

independence, and witnessing the poor social conditions of the people in his home state, the

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Ninteenth Kushok Bakula (from now on called Kushok Bakula) applied himself to securing

the religious, social, and political welfare of the people of Ladakh. He thus continued the

work of his predecessor, the Eighteenth Bakula Lobsang Yeshe Tenpa Gyaltsen, who worked

for the welfare of the people of Ladakh and ensured a tax exemption for all Buddhist

monasteries in the region. In the 1950s, when the existence of Buddhist monasteries in

Ladakh was threatened, the Nineteenth Kushok Bakula established two organizations, the All

Ladakh Gonpa Association and the Ladakh Buddhist Association committed to the

preservation of the Buddhist monastic life in Ladakh. His concern for the economical

wellbeing of the people of Ladakh and for their religion and culture led him to a political

career, which lasted fifty years, never separated from his Buddhist practice and religious

works. Becoming the first Ladakhi member of the Indian parliament and the first Ladakhi

member of the Government Commission for Minorities, he championed the rights of the

people of Ladakh, who were experiencing the hardships of poverty, illiteracy, and abuse from

corrupt landlords and governmental officials. His efforts yielded several significant results for

his home state: 1) the preservation of the unique identity and Buddhism of Ladakh, 2) the

recognition of Ladakh as a part of India in 1948 and thereby the state’s liberation from the

long-lasting neglect of the rulers of Jammu and Kashmir who controlled the state and

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hindered its economic development, and 3) the creation of unprecedented educational

opportunities for the young people of Ladakh.7

Convinced that peace is possible if people genuinely follow the fundamental ethical

principles of Buddhism, the Nineteenth Kushok Bakula became committed to nurturing

peace and facilitating harmony among different peoples. As the Vice President of the Asian

Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP), which he co-established with S. Gombojav, the

abbot of Gandantegchenling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar in 1969, and later as the President of

the ABCP, he helped shape its policies and programs. During the Fifth General Conference

of the ABCP, held in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar in 1979, the Nineteenth Kushok

Bakula expressed his perspective on solving social and political frictions in Asia by stating:

“We can overcome all tension if we learn to live in peace, remove all misunderstandings, and

get rid of fissiparous tendencies.”8

Kushok Bakula persevered in the career of a social activist, a politician, and a

diplomat not merely because of the difficult social and political conditions that warranted

the amelioration in his native Ladakh, but also because of the oppressive circumstances of

various Mongol ethnic groups in the former Soviet Union and in Mongolian People’s

Republic. Learning about the prohibition of religious expression and of the demise of

7See Shakspo, Sonam Wangchuk. 2008. Bakula Rinpoche: A Visionary Lama and Statesman. New Delhi: Private

publishing by Sonam Wanghuck Shagspo, pp. 17-27. According to Shakspo, Indian government provided one hundred scholarships for higher education of students from Ladakh.

8Luvsantseren, G. 2008. “My Memoirs about H.H. Bakula Rinpoche.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 76.

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Buddhism in the countries ruled by communist governments, he felt compelled to positively

affect socio-political changes in these regions. According to his own words, his “karmic

connection” with Buddhists in Russia and Mongolia emerged in 1917, in the same year

when the Bolshevik Revolution was victorious in Russia; from that time onwards, his desire

to visit these countries never waned. While many Tibetan Lamas living in India sought to

travel to the United State and Europe, where religious freedom allowed the spread of

Buddhist teachings, the Nineteenth Kushok Bakula chose to journey to the northern and

northwestern parts of Asia. Speaking of his inner calling, he said: “A spread of Buddhism to

the West was a very important achievement of the twentieth century, which may have a far

reaching effect. I myself had a few such opportunities (to set out to the West), but I did not

go because in reality I never felt a strong interest in that. However, when the opportunity to

leave for Russia was presented, I took it. This may sound strange, but I always passionately

endeavored to get there.9” Thus, he became the first Buddhist monk to visit the Soviet

Union and its regions of Buryatia and Kalmykia, as well as socialist Mongolia, and

communist China, where he advocated peace and nuclear disarmament. In 1968, on the

invitation of the Soviet Ministry for Religious Affairs, the Ninetheenth Kushok Bakula paid

his first visit to the Soviet Union as the head of a religious delegation from India to discuss

the creation of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace. This historic visit also included his

9Kozhevnikova, M. 2003. Povesty ob Uchitele: Bakula Rinpoche v Rossii. (A History of the Teacher: Bakula

Rinpoche in Russia). Moscow: Nartang, pp. 14, 17-18.

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travels to Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryatia and to Leningrad (now St. Peterburg). Bato

Tsybenovich Tsybenov, who served as the advisor for religious affairs at that time and

accompanied him to Ulan Ude, recounted the excitement of the Buddhists of Buryatia

stirred by Kushok Bakula’s visit: large crowds of excited people hindered his departure by

standing in front of the car that was taking him to the airport.10 Since that first official

journey, Kushok Bakula regularly visited various Mongolian ethnic groups living in Buryatia,

Kalmykia, and Mongolia. During one of his diplomatic visits to the Soviet Union, he

appealed to Soviet leaders to return to Russian Buddhists their temple in St. Petersburg,

which was built by the renowned Buryat Lama Agwan Dorjev (1853-1938) but later

vandalized by the Red Army and made into a zoology institute. He saw the new political

movements of Perestroika and Glasnost (1985-1991), which strove to bring economic

reforms and democratization of the communist party in the Soviet Union, as an opportunity

for Russian Buddhists to become socially engaged with the goal of ending the cold war. In

his speech given at the banquet celebrating one thousand years of the Russian Orthodox

Church in 1999, Kushok Bakula pointed out that Perestroika and Glasnost are not a cause

10Kozhevnikova, M. 2003. Povesty ob Uchitele: Bakula Rinpoche v Rossii. (A History of the Teacher: Bakula

Rinpoche in Russia). Moscow: Nartang, p. 18.

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for staying quiet, but for making a new effort in mobilizing the Buddhist community in a

struggle for peace and vigorous resolution.11

In 1989, Kushok Bakula also became the first Buddhist teacher to visit Kalmykia.

Commenting on his experiences during that visit, he expressed his empathy and concern for

Kalmyk Mongols in these words:

“I made several trips to Kalmykia, to the region of Volga, to the people, who

suffered not only from the communist storm, as everyone everywhere did,

but who also endured the great pain and humiliation under the rule of

Stalin’s regime. Not only their culture was destroyed, but also all people were

forced to leave the homeland and were forcibly resettled far from the Volga

region. Thousands died . . . In Kalmykia I was struck. I saw a complete

erosion of their culture without any sign of the preservation of the remainder

of the culture. A strange feeling arose in me, to find myself in the midst of

the people of the Mongolian origin and to see that they behave more like

Russians. But their passionate desire and determination to restore their

culture made me happy.”12

In 1969, a year after his first visit to Russia, Kushok Bakula made his first visit to

Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar. Upon his arrival in Mongolia, he emphasized the urgency

for organizing activities related to world peace, with this message:

11Kozhevnikova, M. 2008. Povesty ob Uchitele: Bakula Rinpoche v Rossii. (A History of the Teacher: Bakula

Rinpoche in Russia). Moscow: Nartang, p. 49. 12Kozhevnikova, M. 2008. Povesty ob Uchitele: Bakula Rinpoche v Rossii. (A History of the Teacher: Bakula

Rinpoche in Russia). Moscow: Nartang, p. 57.

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In all countries of the world,

Let all living beings be free from disease and drought.

Eliminate disaster and war so that

Peace could prevail, and with peace on the Earth,

Let all people enjoy a happy life.13

During that visit he discovered that the faith of Mongolian Buddhists had not

entirely vanished, despite the seven decades of religious repression and communist ideology

imposed by the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party. Since religious teachings in public

were still prohibited at the time of Kushok Bakula’s first visit to Mongolia, he quietly offered

them to a small group of the faithful in his hotel room. This was the first of his regular visits

and teachings in Mongolia through which he enabled Mongolian Buddhists to strengthen

their weakened ties to Buddhism. D. Choijamts, the abbot of Gandanthegcheling Monastery

in Mongolia, who at the time of Kushok Bakula’s first visit to Mongolia was a student at the

monastery, remarked on Kushok Bakula’s benefaction to Mongolian Buddhists during that

period: “In spite of the fact that the time was severe and security was rigorous during the

socialist regime in Mongolia, we would secretly find opportunities for the faithful to receive

teaching and empowerments from our precious teacher, Bakula Rinpoche. These occasions

enabled the Mongolian disciples to form a solid and indestructible relationship with our

13Luvsantseren, G. 2008. “My Memoirs about H.H. Bakula Rinpoche.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 77.

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Guru. Then the peaceful transition to democracy in 1990, in the Year of the Horse, gave us

the opportunity to enjoy freedom and practice faith and spirituality freely.”14

In 1989, just a year before the peaceful democratic revolution in Mongolia, Kushok

Bakula was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Mongolia. Thus, he became the first

Buddhist monk to hold an ambassadorial position and take part in the development of the

bilateral relations between India and what will soon to become a democratic Mongolia for

the next ten years. In this new role, he arrived in Mongolia on December 31, 1989, and on

January 2, 1990, he presented his diplomatic credentials to J. Batmunkh, who at that time

held the post of the Chairman of the Great People’s Khural (Mongolian Parliament). On

that occasion, Kushok Bakula expressed his view of the Buddha ⁄›kyamuni as the first

Indian Ambassador to Mongolia15 and bewildered the Mongolian governmental officials by

attending the meeting in his monastic robes and presenting them a ceremonial, white, silken

scarf (khata) as an expression of his wishes for their long and prosperous lives. Several

months after that, he witnessed the overthrow of one-party rule and the establishment of a

new political system that was supportive of the human rights, freedom of religious

expression, and democratic, multiparty elections. The democratic changes in the country

14Ven. Choijamts, D. 2008. “Bakula Rinpoche’s Contribution to the Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia.” In In

Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 45.

15Enkhbayar, D. 2008. “A Visionary Monk and a Statesman.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 35; and Shakspo, Sonam Wangchuk. 2008. Bakula Rinpoche: A Visionary Lama and Statesman. New Delhi: Private publishing by Sonam Wanghuck Shagspo, p. 62.

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allowed Kushok Bakula to openly assist Mongolian Buddhists in their attempts to revitalize

their Buddhist knowledge and practice and to rebuild their temples and monasteries, most of

which were razed to the ground under Stalin’s influence.

Kushok Bakula began to travel across the extensive, rugged terrains and dusty roads

of Mongolia. During his frequent expeditions to Mongolia’s rural areas, he visited the rebuilt

temples, imparted teachings to Buddhists in rural areas, performed rituals of blessings and

empowerments, and called for the return to Buddhist ethical values, which were neglected

during the communist period. As Kushok Bakula’s popularity grew, Mongolian people from

various corners of the country were converging on the Indian Embassy, waiting in queues

every morning to receive his blessings, and soon he became affectionately called among

Mongolians as Elchin Bagsh (Ambassador Teacher). On May 29, 1991, Kushok Bakula

initiated the first public celebration of the Buddha’s birthday in democratic Mongolia, which

was held at the National Cultural and Recreational Center and attended by thousands of

people. Another significance of that event was that for the first time after the seven decades

of religious oppression, Mongolian political leaders, headed by the President of Mongolia,

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, participated at a public, religious ceremony.

Observing the conditions of Buddhist monasticism, Kushok Bakula noticed the

pressing need for the proper training of Mongolian monks, among whom many did not

adhere to monastic regulations for a variety of reasons, one being the lack of monastic

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institutions that could house monks and provide them with daily necessities and adequate

education. He often publicly pointed out the importance of upholding one’s monastic vows,

which he saw as indispensible for the flourishing of Buddhism in Mongolia. Not long after

filling the post of Indian Ambassador, Kushok Bakula procured Indian visas and funding for

Mongolian monks who desired to study in Tibetan monasteries in India such as Gomang,

Sera, the Buddhist School of Dialectics in Dharamsala, the Central Institute of Tibetan

Higher Studies, and so on, at the time when it was virtually impossible for Mongolians to

acquire such a visa.16 More significantly, in 1999, Kushok Bakula built the Pethub Stangey

Choskor Ling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, which is commonly referred to by Mongolians as

Bakula Rinpoche’s Monastery. The monastery was built in the Tibetan architectural style,

and it is named after Kushok Bakula’s main monastery in Ladakh. This monastery in

Ulaanbaatar became a prominent venue for the training of young monks, public teachings,

and ritual empowerments bestowed by Kushok Bakula himself.17 Until recently, in addition

to Gandantegchenling Monastery, now recognized as the official center of Mongolian

Buddhists, Bakula Rinpoche’s monastery was the only teaching monastery that provides

room and board for the young monks. Prior to granting the novice ordination to young

16One of the monks sent to India by Kushok Bakula in 1990 was Lama G. Purevbat, who after completing his

studies in Dharamsala became the most prominent Buddhist artist in Mongolia and the founder and director of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art.

17Luvsantseren, G. 2008. “My Memoirs about H.H. Bakula Rinpoche.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 79. In the present time, Erdene Zuu monastery in Kharakhorum also has a dormitory for young students, which was built few years ago with the financial assistance from the United States.

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candidates, some of whom came from as far as Buryatia, Kushok Bakula carefully examined

the candidates and their families to determine their motivation and suitability for a monastic

life. At the time when well trained Buddhist teachers were in great need in Mongolia,

Kushok Bakula brought highly qualified lamas from Ladakh and Sikkhim to educate

students in his monastery. To this day, young monks of his monastery continue to be

educated in Buddhist doctrine, in the classical Tibetan and Mongolian languages, English,

mathematics, and geography. Upon graduation, the best students are sent to India for higher

monastic education. With the financial assistance from the Tibet Foundation U.K., in 2002,

a clinic of traditional Buddhist medicine was built on the monastery’s grounds, where

Mongolian and Tibetan traditional doctors offer medical care to both monastic and lay

communities. G. Luvsantseren, the head of the Mongolian Buddhist Studies Institute, who

worked closely with Kushok Bakula in the ABCP, in his commemorative speech highlighted

the fact that Kushok Bakula appreciated the unique, Mongolian Buddhist culture and that

his “unique venture was not aimed at Indianising or Tibetanising the monks” in Mongolia.18

As a fervent advocate of human rights, Kushok Bakula made sure that the spiritual needs of

Mongolian women and their contribution to Buddhism would not be neglected. To that

end, he opened the Lay Women Buddhist Organization and gave monastic ordination to

women, the first ever in modern Mongolia.

18Luvsantseren, G. 2008. “My Memoirs about H.H. Bakula Rinpoche.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 79.

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Kushok Bakula’s various activities dedicated to the restoration of the Mongolian

Buddhism and culture included his undertaking to convince the Indian government to allow

for the relics of the Buddha, kept at the National Museum in New Delhi, to be brought to

Mongolia for viewing. As a result of that effort, in August of 1993, the Indian Deputy

Minister of Culture brought the Buddha’s relics to Ulaanbaatar. The relics were on display at

the Central Cultural Palace for a month and worshipped by tens of thousands of people.

Reflecting on that event, Mr. N. Enkhbayar, who held various political posts throughout his

career, such as those of the President of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, the

Minister of Culture to the President of Mongolia (2005-2009), said: “For the Mongolian

people who had suffered many years of cultural persecution and were denied practice of their

faith, the coming of the holy Buddha relics was like coming of the Lord Buddha to our

land.”19 Since in the early years of Mongolian democracy, literature on Buddhist teachings

was virtually non-existent in the modern Mongolian language, so Kushok Bakula encouraged

N. Enkhbayar to translate The Teaching of the Buddha20 from English to Mongolian. The

book was published in 1995 in Japan and distributed to Mongolian Buddhists free of charge.

On yet another inspiration of Kushok Bakula, the International Buddhist Institute in

Mongolia was established with the aim to enable international students to conduct research

19Enkhbayar, D. 2008. “A Visionary Monk and a Statesman.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 35. 20The translation is based on the English version of Teachings of the Buddha published by Bukkyo Dendo

Kyokai in Japan and dedicated to the promotion of Buddhism in the world.

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on Mongolian Buddhism. He also invited other eminent Buddhist teachers to come to

Mongolia, including the H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai, who came to Mongolia for the first

time in 1992, where gave public teachings and the K›lacakra initiation. Aware of the early

contacts of the Mongols with the Sakya order of the Tibetan Buddhism, which dates to the

thirteenth century when Qubilai Khaan brought to his court the Sakya master Phagpa Lama

(‘Phags pa) from Tibet, Kushok Bakula made it possible for Mongolians to reestablish their

historical connection with the Sakya order. By inviting one of the heads of the Tibetan Sakya

order, Sakya Trinzin Rinpoche to Mongolia, who arrived there in the summer of 1995,

Kushok Bakula, who belonged to the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism, demonstrated to

Mongolian Buddhists his nonsectarian approach to Buddhism and his genuine desire for the

development of Buddhism in Mongolia.

As the Indian Ambassador, Kushok Bakula sought ways to facilitate India’s fruitful

cultural relations with Mongolia that would enrich the lives of Mongolian people and create

new educational opportunities for young people. In so doing, he set up the Indian Cultural

Center, equipped with audio-visual material, books, artworks, and the like to enable

Mongolians to study Indian languages and classical Indian dances. He also helped to

establish the Mongolian-Indian Friendship Farm in the city of Darkhan and the Training

and Industrial Center in Ulaanbaatar, which was named after Rajiv Gandhi. Likewise, under

his initiative, more than fifty Mongolian students were sent for training in Indian colleges

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and universities under various exchange programs. Ts. Gombosüren, who was a Mongolian

Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1996, said this of Kushok Bakula’s ambassadorial service:

“There are many major developments that took place in promoting bilateral relations

between our two countries (India and Mongolia), and one can clearly see the impact of

tremendous contribution made by Kushok Bakula Rinpoche.”21

Acknowledging Kushok Bakula’s contribution to the Mongolian political, social, and

religious life at the time when democratic governance in Mongolia was in its infancy, the

first democratically elected President of Mongolia, P. Ochirbat, who governed Mongolia

from 1990-1997, wrote of Kushok Bakula’s constructive inputs in the highest of terms. He

pointed out that by the end of 1990, there were about fifty reopened temples and

monasteries with 1,000 monks; but due to restrictive regulations in the country, it was

difficult to coordinate the functioning of temples and monasteries, which were in disarray

and had many obstacles regarding religious activities. There was no universally recognized

leader of Mongolian Buddhists either. The new government dissolved the Council of

Religious Affairs that was set up earlier and replaced it by a supernumerary Religious Council

led by a presidential adviser. It was seen as necessary to formulate and declare the state policy

regarding religion and to enact a law that could guarantee religious freedom and preservation

of ancient, cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mr. Ochirbat also stated: “Bakula Rinpoche

21Gombosüren, Ts. 2008. “A Pioneer from Jagar (India).” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of

HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 64.

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advised the people to accept change and maintain peace, harmony, and good will in accord

with the cherished values of civilized behavior. Bakula Rinpoche’s approach to human

psychology brought about desired change, yielding peaceful and meaningful results.”22 N.

Enkhbayar in a similar manner indicated Kushok Bakula’s important role in the peaceful

solution to political changes in Mongolia, which found itself at a crossroad when a new

political experiment was being made, which involved a complete departure from the past and

a change for the better. He said:

“It was due to our Buddhist heritage and Rinpoche’s presence in the country

that the transition to democracy in Mongolia, unlike in other socialist

countries, was so peaceful. Rinpoche was an integral part of this great

transformation and he played an active role in these changes through his

advice, assistance, and participation . . . Young people, including those who

actively participated in democratic changes in Mongolia, sought Rinpoche’s

guidance and help. Many politicians and businessmen also sought audience

with Rinpoche to seek his advice . . . Bakula Rinpoche’s advice was simple,

yet convincing . . . If not Bakula Rinpoche, who else could have guided the

people through these changes? . . . In all his interactions with Mongolian

people, Rinpoche enthused unity among them and asked the people to work

for preserving Mongolia’s distinct national identity and independence. And

at the same time, he exhorted them to work for the development of the

22Orhcirbat, P. 2008. “Bakula Rinpoche who left behind a bright influence in Mongolia.” In In

Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, pp. 57-58.

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country . . . For his yeomen service to the nation, the President of Mongolia

(P. Ochirbat) conferred upon him ‘Polar Star,’ a state award, in 2001.”23

It seems not everyone appreciated Kushok Bakula’s council at that time of political

turbulence, as certain political circles that resisted change in the country accused Kushok

Bakula of interfering in the domestic affairs of Mongolia, and some even suggested that he be

sent back to India.24

On the basis of his endeavors and accomplishments among the Mongols, to this day

Kushok Bakula has been revered as a prophesized, bodhisattvic emanation of Arhat Bakula,

who fulfilled the hopes and prayers of Mongolian Buddhists. In the year 2008, on the

occasion of the ninety-first anniversary of Kushok Bakula’s birthday, several distinguished

figures in Mongolian political, cultural, and academic spheres wrote of him in their essays

either indirectly or directly as a bodhisattva who brought the nineteenth-century prophecy to

reality. Lama G. Purevbat, the most prominent Buddhist artist in Mongolia and the founder

and director of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art, referred to Kushok Bakula as “our

great teacher Bodhisattva, who made many meritorious deeds to restore and revive

Buddhism in Mongolia for the fourth time in the history of our country.”25 Similarly, G.

23Enkhbayar, D. 2008. “A Visionary Monk and a Statesman.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, pp. 33-34, and 37-38. 24Gombosüren, T. 2008. “A Pioneer from Jagar (India).” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of

HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 66. 25Lama G. Purevbat. 2008. “A Great Teacher of Mongolian People.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, 86.

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Luvsantseren, the Director of Mongolian Studies Institute, wrote about Kushok Bakula’s

historic role in Mongolia in this way: “Kushok Bakula Rinpoche was a Bodhisattva who

dedicated his life for the welfare of all living beings on this earth . . . [regarded] as a Great

Teacher who had come from India to perform this historic task.”26 The previously

mentioned, first democratically elected President of Mongolia, P. Ochirbat, wrote this: “[He]

came to Mongolia as a divine messenger at the time of peaceful transformation to democracy

and inspired our people.”27 Ochirbat further stated: “I always looked to him with prayer in

my heart to gain inner strength and confidence when our country was passing through a

crucial phase of history in the period of democratic reforms . . . Bakula Rinpoche recognized

distinctive characteristics of Mongolian democracy and the historic necessity to develop its

national culture and traditions, to restore religion to its pristine glory with emphasis on

reviving Buddhism as an inseparable part of Mongolian cultural heritage.”28

During his diplomatic service in Mongolia, Kushok Bakula travelled to Beijing every

two months on his diplomatic mission. During those visits, at the request of Chinese

Buddhists, he discretely offered teachings at the time when giving religious teachings there

26Luvsantseren, G. 2008. “My Memoirs about H.H. Bakula Rinpoche.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth

Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, pp. 75, 77. 27Ochirbat, Punslamaagiin. 2008. “Bakula Rinpoche Who Left Behind a Bright Influence in Mongolia.” In In

Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, p. 55.

28Ochirbat, Punslamaagiin. 2008. “Bakula Rinpoche Who Left Behind a Bright Influence in Mongolia.” In In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche. Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center, pp. 55-56.

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without governmental permission was prohibited. At the conclusion of his diplomatic

service, Kushok Bakula returned to India in the year 2000, but he regularly visited Mongolia,

imparting teachings and empowerments, despite his frail health. On November 24, 2004,

Kushok Bakula died at the age of eighty-seven. His body was kept in Delhi for several days

for viewing by many high political and religious dignitaries of India and other countries. On

November 7, a special Indian Air Force plane carried Kushok Bakula’s body, covered with a

national flag to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, and it landed in the airport renamed as “Bakula

Rinpoche Airport.” Monks in Leh performed prayers and rituals for fourteen days, and on

November 16, 2003, Kushok Bakula’s body was cremated with state honors and the police

and military men fired shots in the air as an expression of respect. Thousands of monks and

laypeople attended the cremation to collect his ashes for blessing. Within a year of the

cremation, a gold-gilded, silver stÒpa, measuring 3.5 m was constructed for keeping his relics

and placed in his monastery in Ladakh. According to the report of Sonam Wangchuk

Shakspo, who worked in various capacities with Kushok Bakula and as Indian Cultural

Attaché in Mongolia during Kushok Bakula’s ambassadorial post, shortly after the cremation

of Kushok Bakula’s body, a mongoose29 appeared in the courtyard of Pethub monastery in

Ladakh, ran into the private room of Kushok Bakula, and sat on his cushion. While staying

29A reason for which the appearance of a mongoose was considered miraculous by monks of the Pethub

monastery is that this animal species is not found in Ladakh.

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there for forty-nine days, the mongoose behaved like a pet and ate only vegetarian food from

the hands of the amused monks. At the completion of the forty-ninth day, it disappeared.30

When the news of his death reached Mongolia, crowds of people gathered at Pethub

monastery in Ulaanbaatar to pay homage to their Ambassador Teacher. N. Enkhbayar, who

at that time was the Prime Minister of Mongolia, sent his condolences to the government

and people of India, and the Mongolian government dispatched a Special Envoy to India to

offer a floral tribute to Kushok Bakula. Having obtained some of Kushok Bakula’s relics, his

Mongolian disciples placed them in a newly constructed, silver Bodhi StÒpa, made of 110 kg

of white silver, embedded with 1,878 precious stones, and measuring 2.5 meters in height,

and weighing 150 kg. Likewise, a gold plated, life-sized statue of Kushok Bakula was made

by Mongolian artists and ceremonially installed in the same monastery in Ulaanbaatar, with

prayers for his swift rebirth. A thangka with a portrait of Kushok Bakula, which was painted

by Lama Purevbat and placed in the monastery, was reprinted in a smaller size (60x50 cm)

and distributed among Mongolian Buddhists across the country.

A year after Kushok Bakula’s passing, on November 24, 2005, a boy by name Thup

stan Nga wang was born in Ladakh, who was to be recognized as Arhat Bakula’s twentieth

incarnation and confirmed as such on February 26, 2008 by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. As

this news reached Mongolia, requests for the young Bakula’s visit to Mongolia were made,

30This incident was reported to me by Sonam Wangchuk during my field research in Mongolia in the summer

of 2009.

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indicating that a connection between Arhat Bakula and the Mongols that was established by

the Eighteenth Kushok Bakula will continue. What form that connection will take remains

to be seen.

The life and work of the Eighteenth Kushok Bakula exemplify both 1) the

responsibility that a person who is accepted into the lineage of incarnations of the renowned

Buddhist practitioners takes on in order to follow the example of his predecessors and 2) the

unique features of his way in the world that arise in response to social realities of his time.

Further Readings

When it comes to Buddhist religious figures of the modern era who lived and worked among

Mongolian ethnic groups in Russia and Mongolia, their biographies seem to be scanty,

incomplete, and primarily written in the languages other than English, namely, in

Mongolian, Russian, and Tibetan.

“Bakkula.” 1966. In Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Vol. 2. Edited by G. P. Malalesekera. Government of Ceylon.

Bakkula Sutta. 2001. In The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the

Majjhima Nikaya. Translated by Bhikkhu Ñanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi. Boston: Wisdom Publications. (Second edition)

Bakula Thup-bstan-mchog-nor. 2001. Rang rnam padma dkar po’i pha reng ba (Autobiography. Garland of White Lotus Flowers). Leh: Bakula Foundation.

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Byrne, Sue. 2005. “The Ambassador-Teacher: Relfections on Kushok Bakula Rinpoche’s Importance in the Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia.” Ladakh Studies 19 (March 2005): 38-48. n

Kozhevnikova, M. 2003. Povesty ob Uchitele: Bakula Rinpoche v Rossii. (A History of the

Teacher: Bakula Rinpoche in Russia). Moscow: Nartang. Lkhamsürengiin, Khürelbaatar,. 1999. Baküla Rinbüchi Tüvdenchognor (Bakula Rinpoche

Thupten Chognor). Ulaanbaatar: Mongol Uls Shinjlekh Ukhaany Akademi Khel Zokhiolyn Khüreelen.

Shakspo, Sonam Wangchuk. 2006. Bakula Rinpoche: A Visionary Lama and Statesman. New

Delhi: Private publishing by Sonam Wanghuck Shagspo. -----. ed. 2008. In Commemoration of the 91st Birth Anniversary of HH Bakula Rinpoche.

Ulaanbaatar: Pethub Buddhist Center.