Author Topic: Last remaining descendant of Tibetan kings graduates from St. Andrew's  (Read 7471 times)

WisdomBeing

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I liked this article about this young man... a descendent of the Dharma King, Songtsan Gampo, who was historically regarded as the founder of the Tibetan Empire and said to be the thirty-third ruler in his dynasty. Songtsan Gampo is traditionally credited with being the first to bring Buddhism to the Tibetan people. He was also said to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara and built many Buddhist temples, including the Jokhang in Lhasa. So Lhagyari Trichen Namgyal Wangchuk descends from an esteemed biological lineage. However, I don' t think that he could claim any relationship to being a "king" in this day and age, especially as the Dalai Lamas had taken over temporal and spiritual head of Tibet since the time of the Great Fifth in the 17th century.

Points of interest -

1. Could Trichen become the next Sikyong? Perhaps his descent would be an factor in his favor, compared to Lobsang Sangay. It is good to see that he is humble about his background when he says "Refugee or king is just a name".

2. "at age 12, he was coronated by the Dalai Lama" - what does coronated mean? Was he enthroned? As what? What is his spiritual lineage?

3. Trichen opted to study Mandarin. Despite him saying that if he goes to China he will never get to leave, he is showing interest in China and is respectful about China. "He regularly opens his talks by sharing his affection for the Chinese people and a respect for their traditions – and cuisine." This is a sharp contrast with the TYC who is vociferous about Tibetan independence. He diplomatically states that "“We are not asking for complete independence (from China),” he says. “All we want are human rights.”

4. He has a strong relationship with the Dalai Lama.

so what future holds for this young Tibetan?

It will be interesting to see if something comes of it.


Last remaining descendant of Tibetan kings graduates from St. Andrew's
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130526/LIFE/305260013/Heir-to-an-invisible-throne?nclick_check=1
Written by Margie Fishman
The News Journal

Today, Lhagyari Trichen Namgyal Wangchuk and his 75 other graduating classmates will mark the end of an era – leaving the cocoon of their Middletown boarding school to enjoy the four-year freedom binge known as the American college experience.

Wearing his red-and-white striped St. Andrew’s tie, Trichen (pronounced TREE-chin) will blend in with the throng of exuberant teenagers accepting their diplomas. No one will curtsy as the last remaining descendant of Tibetan kings exits the stage. He will sling an arm around his mother, whom he has not seen in three years.

And that is all the 20-year-old could hope for – to be ordinary, for a moment.

For there is a heaviness about him, despite his serene demeanor and unwavering grace. Vested with a century-old Tibetan legacy, he carries the expectations of his extended American family and benefactors; his mentor, the Dalai Lama; and the millions of people suffering in his homeland, a place in which he has never set foot.

“I’m still in someone else’s home,” he acknowledged softly during an interview last week, wearing cargo shorts and flip-flops. Behind him, students bounced balls idly and reclined in the grass overlooking Noxontown Pond.

Before enrolling in St. Andrew’s in 2010, Trichen lived with his mother and three older sisters in exile in northern India. The refugee life was one without privilege, as the family earned a modest income renting space to shop owners. Trichen’s father, a former Tibetan king who was imprisoned for more than two decades, died when Trichen was in the sixth grade.

Today, Trichen is the only recognized descendant of the first Dharma King of Tibet, King Songsten Gamp, who introduced Buddhism to the unified kingdom in the seventh century.

As heir to an invisible throne, Trichen attended the Tibetan Children’s Village boarding school in Dharamsala, India, before taking the Dalai Lama’s advice and pursuing further study in America. He will attend Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania this fall, possibly majoring in political science.

Holly Carter, a New York City film producer who helped connect Trichen with St. Andrew’s, expects him to be elected prime minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile in India or hold another prominent position.

“He is as centered and thoughtful as anyone I’ve met in my life,” she says.

“He knows he needs to prepare to do something,” she adds. “But he doesn’t know what that something is.”

'Like his father'
Carter met Trichen when they teamed up on the 2010 documentary, “My Country is Tibet.” Carter’s BYkids nonprofit group pairs experienced filmmakers with youths around the world to create documentaries for an American audience.

The 27-minute film, narrated in English by Trichen, traces young Tibetans as they struggle to preserve their cultural identities in the face of persecution. Wearing a Peugeot T-shirt with a dusting of teenage stubble on his face, Trichen interviews Tibetans in their settlement in Dehradun, India.

A friend claims the exiled would-be king used to be naughty like other boys. His sister describes him as a consummate gentleman, “the best brother in the world.” His mother, who radiates a warm glow that rivals her son’s, insists he’s exactly like his father.

The movie also offers a primer on modern Tibetan history.

When the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950, the Dalai Lama went into exile, and Trichen’s father, Lhagyari Trichen Namgyal Gyatso, was sent to prison, where he was shocked with electric prods and forced to wear heavy chains, his son says.

The Chinese offered to save the royal palace if his father would surrender. Instead, he fought back.

After he was released, the Dalai Lama urged him to move to India, where he spent a dozen years in the Parliament for the government in exile.

“Refugee or king is just a name,” Trichen says. “The most important thing was the work he did.”

Trichen was aware of his lineage, but says his father never pressured him.

“He never made me feel like I had too many responsibilities,” he says. “At least I have a beautiful childhood memory.”

The last time the pair shared a hug, father praised son for maturing both mentally and physically.

“He told me he was so happy I was his height,” Trichen remembers.

A few days later, Trichen learned of his father’s death from a warden at his boarding school. The elder Trichen slipped away while meditating to one of the Dalai Lama’s speeches, his son says.

Following Tibetan custom, Trichen set fire to his father’s funeral pyre. He recalls feeling lost, confused and heartbroken at the time, knowing he would have to change – to learn to sit still, to become a model student.

One year later, at age 12, he was coronated by the Dalai Lama, the highly revered Tibetan spiritual leader.

“When I first met him officially, I almost forgot my name,” Trichen remembers.

At first, the young king didn’t appreciate the marathon prayer sessions with dignitaries while his friends horsed around in the streets. Over time, he became grateful for the opportunity to provide a “voice for the voiceless.”

“We are not asking for complete independence (from China),” he says. “All we want are human rights.”

About Trichen
Following the film’s release, Trichen and Carter were scheduled to begin a brief promotional tour in the U.S. It was Trichen’s first trip outside of India.

But before he left, he met with the Dalai Lama to discuss life plans. His Holiness advised Trichen to pursue a “modern education” at an American university, Trichen remembers.

When he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport, he wore a shirt emblazoned with “King.” Below, in smaller type, were the words Martin Luther.

“I found him easily,” Carter remembers.

The two spent six weeks bunking in Carter’s cramped two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side, temporarily exiling Carter’s own children.

Carter, who has “dabbled” in Buddhism, tried to sell Trichen on the merits of yoga.

“I don’t need to do yoga,” he replied. “I’m calm.”

Scouting for colleges proved difficult, because Trichen’s family could not afford the tuition and he was not familiar with a little acronym called the SAT.

A friend of Carter’s, a St. Andrew’s parent, suggested that Trichen consider boarding school to better acclimate.

Thus, “Team Trichen” was born, consisting mainly of Carter and her well-connected friends stretching from Boston to Texas.

Carter discussed financing Trichen’s education with a billionaire friend, who prefers to remain anonymous. One day, while Carter was talking to him on the phone, then-U.S. Sen. John Kerry buzzed in on the other line.

The billionaire told Kerry he would call him back. But before he did, he mentioned Trichen’s predicament.

Within five minutes, the headmaster of Kerry’s alma mater, St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., had phoned Carter to inquire about Trichen.

“It was a bidding war,” she remembers, laughing.

But Trichen already had committed to St. Andrew’s, which provided him with a full scholarship. His spending money came from private benefactors.

An Episcopal Church school founded by Felix du Pont at the dawn of the Great Depression, St. Andrew’s educates students regardless of socioeconomic status. Today, nearly half of the school’s 303 students from 16 countries receive financial aid. The average annual award is $38,000, which covers about 75 percent of tuition.

“We’re bringing together students from all different backgrounds and we’re enlarging their possibilities,” says Louisa Zendt, the school’s director of admission and financial aid.

Those possibilities include 2,000 acres of farmland, woods and wetlands, along with 14 tennis courts and 10 athletic fields. During the summer, tourists descend on campus to snap photos of the towering stone buildings that appeared in the 1989 film “Dead Poets Society.”

School officials will not disclose the names of notable alumni. Trichen is St. Andrew’s first Tibetan student.

With a student-teacher ratio of five to one, learning happens through lively debates around tables – in the classroom or in the family-style dining room, where students rotate as servers.

“In my old school, we would listen and memorize,” Trichen says. “Here, I think. Here, I talk.”

Still, he found it difficult to adjust to the academic rigor, language and cultural differences of St. Andrew’s, where students wear blazers to class and play four square after dinner. Even the bells that chime on the hour sounded different.

The plan was for Trichen to graduate last year, but St. Andrew’s extended his scholarship to strengthen his academic foundation, Zendt says. (All of St. Andrew’s students go on to attend four-year colleges).

Trichen received emotional support from his group of “second mothers,” including Carter, Zendt and other St. Andrew’s faculty, who adopted him for the holidays, shuttled him to Starbucks and introduced him to the Philadelphia cheesesteak. He spent summers studying intensive English language, babysitting for Carter’s uncle’s kids and relaxing in the Hamptons.

“It’s really hard to let him go,” admits ChiaChyi Chiu, Trichen’s academic adviser and Chinese language instructor.

Chiu says Trichen decided to study Mandarin, his fourth language, to deepen his connection to his late father. She gave him the Chinese name of “Le,” meaning happiness.

In the film, Trichen notes that his refugee settlement is called Dekyiling, meaning land of happiness.

“He has a very humble heart,” Chiu says. “He is willing to learn from everybody.”

This year, Trichen bunked with one student from Greenwich, Conn., and another from New York City in a postage stamp of a room crammed with ramen noodle cartons and an enormous American flag.

“Some things that get under my skin, Trichen is able to brush off,” says roommate Peter D’Agostino, senior class president. Recently, Trichen gave D’Agostino a banner with a message about friendship from the Dalai Lama.

To relax, the pair slam tennis balls against the wall or sing along to folk-rock by Jack Johnson. Trichen also served as co-president of the international students’ group and joined the soccer and crew teams.

“They don’t care about my title,” he says. “They like me as a person.

“In my hometown, we are friends,” he adds, “but they know who I am.”

He checks his Facebook page less than once a day, usually to catch up on Tibetan news. He owns an iPhone but sees no benefit to texting.

He takes stink bugs outside.

Occasionally, he will play a violent video game, he concedes, “but it’s not real life.”

A strip of photos on his bureau show him goofing off James Bond-style at the school prom. He took a friend, a Chinese student. He doesn’t have a girlfriend.

During the last three years, he has visited dozens of American schools to talk about his film and the plight of his people.

He has braved sweaty New York subways, which he admits can be a meditation challenge, and engaged in constructive dialogue with Chinese students who ask, “Are you my enemy?”

He regularly opens his talks by sharing his affection for the Chinese people and a respect for their traditions – and cuisine.

But he also expresses sympathy for the dislocated Tibetans, whose cultural identity is becoming diluted, as they are not permitted to study in the languages of their ancestors.

Since 2009, more than 100 people in Tibet have died by lighting themselves on fire in protest, according to estimates by the Tibetan Youth Congress.

Last week, while Tibetan protests were erupting in New Delhi over Chinese Premier Li Kegiang’s visit, Trichen sat on a sleek leather sofa in the St. Andrew’s admissions lobby. In walked a representative from a travel agency who is sending a group of St. Andrew’s students to China this summer.

“You’re not going?” the man asked Trichen.

“No, I made other plans.”

“Where are you from?”

“From Tibet,” Trichen replied in Chinese.

“Oh, you’re from China?”

“I’m Tibetan.”

“Well, yes, the autonomous region of Tibet,” the man said.

After the man left, Trichen explained to a visitor: “If I go to (China), I will never come out.”

But he dreams of home, where the mountain peaks are the highest in the world, to serve an estimated 6 million Tibetans in a democracy. It’s “the best policy of the 21st century,” he says.

One of his sisters, Namgyal Dolkar, successfully won a court challenge against the Indian government to allow Tibetans to apply for Indian passports. She now travels throughout India, educating Tibetan women about their rights.

“I would have to be elected,” says her brother. “I don’t want to be the chosen one.”

To be sure, Trichen could ignore the calls and use his American education to obtain a job in the States and work toward full citizenship, Zendt says.

But she knows that’s far-fetched.

“I don’t know what it will ever mean for him, being a descendant of kings,” she says. “But I know what it will mean for him to help lead his people and give them hope.”

Contact Margie Fishman at 324-2882 or [email protected].
Kate Walker - a wannabe wisdom Being

Ensapa

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This does sound interesting indeed. Will he be the beacon of hope to the Tibetans? Or will he be a disappointment like lobsang sanggay? To me, just because he was born in royalty does not mean that he could be a good leader like his ancestors. It takes a lot more than just a lineage to be a good leader of the people. It takes leadership qualities and the ability to make decisions and changes and revolutions, the ability to override the old policies with new ones so that there can be progress and most importantly, genuine care and concern for the people that they are serving. If he does get elected, I hope that he seriously implements changes in the current CTA system and help improve the whole situation.

Rihanna

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This does sound interesting indeed. Will he be the beacon of hope to the Tibetans? Or will he be a disappointment like lobsang sanggay? To me, just because he was born in royalty does not mean that he could be a good leader like his ancestors. It takes a lot more than just a lineage to be a good leader of the people. It takes leadership qualities and the ability to make decisions and changes and revolutions, the ability to override the old policies with new ones so that there can be progress and most importantly, genuine care and concern for the people that they are serving. If he does get elected, I hope that he seriously implements changes in the current CTA system and help improve the whole situation.

[ If he takes over eventually, I do hope that there will be revolutionized changes in the CTA government as it is largely ineffective. CTA seems to be more interested to enforcing the ban of Dorje Shugden rather than taking care of the welfare of all Tibetans. To add to that, we hear more cases of discrimination and mistreatment of Dorje Shugden practitioners all the time.

With his British 'liberal geared' education system that encourages one to question instead of staying quiet,  I hope Trichen will propagate religious freedom among his country men, something which his predecessors failed to live up to.]

DharmaSpace

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Quote
RANDOLPH – The 22-year-old king of Tibet will SHARE his short film, "My Country Is Tibet," and answer questions from the public at County College of Morris on Tuesday.

Lhagyari Trichen Namgyal Wangchuk - the first two names are ancestral - is descended from Songtsän Gampo, a seventh-century king revered for helping his country prepare to receive Buddhist teachings from India.

"I tell everyone to please not call me a king," Lhagyari said. "His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is the king for the Tibetan people for those who live outside and inside Tibet. I call myself a Tibetan man who is descended from the kings of Tibet."

His presentation is part of The Legacy Project at the college—an initiative started in 2013 to highlight, outside a classroom setting, social movements, time periods, and people of influence.

The 27-minute documentary, though made by Lhagyari, was produced by BYkids, a nonprofit group that pairs experienced filmmakers with children who have globally relevant stories to tell.

The two spend a month filming together, explained Holly Carter, the group's founder and executive director. During that time, the mentor teaches the child the medium and the art of storytelling.

"My Country Is Tibet," filmed in 2008, mostly in north India, is narrated by Lhagyari. It highlights life among young Tibetan refugees in northern India and the stark choices they must make about where to live, what language to speak, and the erosion of their identity as Tibetans.

Trichen-2.jpg
Trichen Lhagyari, king of Tibet, is pictured in his residence hall at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, where he is a student. (Photo: COURTESY MIRANDA HARPLE/GETTSYBURG COLLEGE)
Lhagyari, now a student at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, told the Daily Record that he jumped at the chance to work with German filmmaker Dirk Simon, who had created "When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun," a movie about Tibet.

"I thought it was a great opportunity to talk about myself as a Tibetan refugee, about my family, about my father, and about my country," Lhagyari said. "My story is the story of the Tibetan people."

Yet it is Lhagyari's lineage, which has led to a difficult yet remarkable life, that has drawn viewers to his film.

His father, Lhagyari Trichen Namgyal Gyatso, had enjoyed a ceremonial role as king in Tibet until the Chinese invaded the country in 1949, according to an account in Indian media. At that point, the family palace was pillaged and the king imprisoned for 20 years.

"At least here, there's some level of human respect in prison, but not in Tibet, sadly," Lhagyari said. "Once my father was released, he moved to India. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama told him to stay there and serve the Tibetan Parliament-In-Exile. He did that."

Years after being released from prison, Lhagyari's father died at the age of 74. At the time, his only son was 11 years old. A year later, Lhagyari, the current king, was coronated by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

Today, Lhagyari, who is personally mentored by the Dalai Lama, calls his father one of his heroes.

"Of course, His Holiness is an inspiration for all the Tibetan people and for me, too," he said, "but for me, my father is equally important. I want to work for the Tibetan people, like my father did."

For now, that means talking about his film and spreading awareness about the plight of the Tibetans and to be sure that Americans know the Tibetan and Chinese peoples are not enemies.

"The Tibetan people respect China's great culture, long history, and hard-working people," he said. "We are only against the Chinese government, Chinese leaders, Chinese policy. To be against those does not mean we hate the Chinese people."

After graduation, Lhagyari doesn't know how he'll continue his mission. Then again, he didn't expect the turns his life has taken in the past seven years after the Dalai Lama directed him to get a Western education.

"Trichen's life in America all started with what we were doing," said Carter, of BYkids. "The reason he's here is because we decided to help him make his film, and then, though it's far beyond our mission, we got him into boarding school and got him into college and made sure it was all paid for."

Lhagyari attended St. Andrew's School in Delaware, where the movie "Dead Poets Society" was filmed, before attending Gettysburg College, where is majoring in political science and minoring in religion.

These days, Lhagyari is thinking that, after graduation, he may attend a Buddhist university in India to learn more about the religion in which the lives of his father, and forefathers, were steeped. His father, he said, lived a spiritual life and died a spiritual death.

"My father died meditating," he explained. "In Tibetan society, some people who are really spiritual, like lamas, die without pain, by meditating. When my father died, he was holding the book of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was like that, meditating for many hours, before he died."

The reason the film has been traveling on school circuits, according to Carter, has to do with the core mission of BYkids.

"We feel very strongly that this story, and stories like it, should be in front of American young people so they become more empathetic and knowledgeable about the rest of the world," she said. "Otherwise, we're doomed. Our democracy is not healthy if people abdicate knowledge."

"My Country Is Tibet" is the second of five that BYkids has made to date. All are being made into a PBS national series to air this fall.

Lorraine Ash: 973-428-6660; [email protected]


Learn more

WHAT: "My Country Is Tibet," film presentation/discussion with King of Tibet Lhagyari Trichen Namgyal Wangchuk

WHEN: 12:30 p.m. March 10

WHERE: County College of Morris, Student Community Center, Davidson Rooms, 214 Center Grove Road, Randolph

COST: Free

INFO: Call The Legacy Project at 973-328-5469

On the film

More about "My Country is Tibet," a BYkids film:

•BACKGROUND: www.bykids.org/tibet.php

•TRAILER: www.bykids.org/tibet-trailer.php

•AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC: On Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/kaxsgdv and on PBS in October

•AVAILABILITY FOR K-12 SCHOOLS: Through Discovery Education, http://tinyurl.com/nf4e9ur




This is the descendant of the Kings of Tibet, the Dorje Shugden issue arose when the 5th Dalai Lama took over temporal and secular power in Tibet. The Dalai Lama then took ultimate power over Tibet. The Kings of Tibet have receded into the background.

The current King of Tibet is educated in the Western world and has chosen to learn Mandarin, that shows how open minded this young person is. He came from a line of Dharma Tibetan Kings. Will he have a role to play in the coming days on the Dorje Shugden ban?






http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/2015/03/08/king-tibet-coming-randolph-tuesday/24532253/

My Country is Tibet -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atuL-qCT3c4

Dondrup Shugden

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This is really interesting.  Will he become the next prime minister of CTA? Or will the Dalai Lama pronounce Trichen the king of Tibetan in Exile.

Obviously although enthroned by the Dalai Lama, Trichen cannot be king of a country not recognised as an  independent kingdom. Tibet is part of China.

Matibhadra

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The usefulness of such royal dynastic successions is very doubtful.

Indeed, the same Yarlung dynasty which gave great Buddhist kings such as Sontsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and Ralpachen, also provided the evil king Langdarma, the sworn enemy of Buddhism who, just like the evil dalie lame, persecuted Buddhists and disrupted lineages.

Therefore, if the young Trichen wants to bring some benefit to the Tibetan people, he should distance himself from the criminal Western puppet, the evil dalie lame, together with his Western genocidal neocolonialist sponsors, and refrain from becoming a Western puppet himself.