Central Tibetan Administration mourns the passing away of a great tibetan buddhist master, prays for his speedy re-birth
Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok with His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
Dharamsala, 8 January 2004: “The sudden and tragic passing away of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok will be mourned not only by the Tibetan people but by his international followers,” said Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, the Kalon Tripa of the Central Tibetan Administration. Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche said, “The Tibetan people and his international disciples will pray for his speedy re-birth. Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok was a great Tibetan Buddhist master who tried to preserve and promote the teachings of the Buddha in a very difficult circumstances.”
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche was reacting to persistent reports of the passing away of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, the Chief Abbot of the Serthar Buddhist Institute, in a hospital in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province on 7 January 2004.
Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok |
This morning the Central Tibetan Administration offered prayers for the soul of the well known and much respected Tibetan Buddhist master and sent its condolence to his students and disciples the world over.
Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok had been suffering ill health since the summer of 2001 when the Serthar Buddhist Institute that housed more than 8000 monks, nuns and lay students was dismantled and the inmates evicted from the place. The summer of 2001 saw a force of 3800 People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers deployed to demolish the institute and to crack down on any possible protest. Six nuns reportedly committed suicide. Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok himself was taken away from the place and was held incommunicado in a military hospital.
At its peak, the Serthar Buddhist Insititute attracted over 8000 students. Nearly 1000 disciples were from mainland China. Students and disciples came from far away as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
Since 1999 Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok was interrogated three times by officials from the Sichuan United Work Front department and the central government Religious Bureau concerning his connection with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Each time Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok responded that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is his spiritual guide who told him to work for the welfare of all the sentient beings. He categorically denied any involvement in political activities and further said that His Holiness the Dalai Lama never advised him to undertake any political work.
At the same time, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok was directed by the officials from these two departments to limit the total body of students to 1500. Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok explained that this would not only rake up problems but also shake the very foundation of Serthar Buddhist Institute. Since the hermitage which he started in 1980 acquired the status of an academy with the help of the 10th Panchen Lama, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok explained that it was the duty of every resident student to preserve and protect the institute. Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok said that the students have joined the institute of their own free will and therefore forcefully expelling them would be akin to trampling upon the laws that guarantee religious freedom.
The 2001 demolition of Serthar Buddhist Institute saw about 8500 students being evicted and almost 3000 of their living quarters being destroyed. Since the destruction brought upon his institute in 2001 Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok had suffered ill health.
Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok was born in the Dhok region of Dhokham in 1937. At the age of 2 he was recognised as Terchen Lerap Lingpa and at the age of 22 he became fully ordained monk.
In 1980 he started a small hermitage which grew into the Serthar Buddhist Institute. With the help of the late Panchen Lama, Serthar Buddhist Institute acquired the status of academy which meant that the institute did not have to follow the regulations of having to impose upon itself a fixed ceiling on the number of students it could have, unlike other regular Tibetan monasteries. That was the one reason why the Serthar Buddhist Institute managed to attract such a large number of student body. In 1987 Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok made a pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of Wutai Shan where he taught the 37 practices of the Boddhisattavas vows to an unprecedented gathering of Tibetans, Chinese, Mongolians and others.
In 1990 Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok traveled to India, where he met His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Since then he traveled to many countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Taiwan and Hong Kong where he taught extensively on Tibetan Buddhism and culture.
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