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Gelek Rinpoche with Lama Yeshe at Rinpoche’s house. Lama Yeshe would go there to buy texts. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
It was with great sadness that we at FPMT International Office learned of the passing of Gelek Rinpoche (often spelled Gelek Rimpoche), founder of the Jewel Heart centers, on February 15, 2017. Rinpoche was a close friend of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe and spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Long-time student and director of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive Nicholas Ribush shares a personal reflection and some historical photos of Rinpoche from the Archive:
In January 1977, Lama Yeshe sent me to Delhi to start Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre “in order to help repay the kindness of the Indian people to the Tibetans.” Lama explained that the Buddhadharma had come to Tibet from India, had largely been lost in India, had been preserved and developed in Tibet, and now was the time to reintroduce it to its land of origin.
It took a couple of years to find the right place but I eventually found a great house to rent in the lovely New Delhi suburb of Shantiniketan. During this period, in 1978, I first met Gelek Rinpoche at his home in Defence Colony, which was the base for his publishing many important Gelug texts and was where Lama Yeshe went to buy sets of these for his developing Western centers.
Gelek Rinpoche with students at Tushita. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
After we found the house for Tushita in 1979, Lama suggested I ask Gelek Rinpoche to teach, and he kindly accepted. That was the beginning of a seven-year collaboration between Rinpoche and Tushita. He was a wonderful teacher and connected with both Indian and Western students. I think it was as a result of the connections that Rinpoche made with some American students staying at Tushita (one of our functions was as a guest house for Westerners passing through Delhi) that led to Rinpoche being invited to the USA to teach and later to the establishment of his own organization, the Jewel Heart centers, starting in the late 1980s.
Tushita’s First Dharma Celebration. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Rinpoche also actively participated in Tushita’s Dharma Celebrations. The first was held at the Oberoi Hotel and Rinpoche was one of the featured panelists. The guest of honor was supposed to be His Holiness the Dalai Lama but he couldn’t make it, so we got the home minister Giani Zail Singh, who later became president of India. Rinpoche was also a prominent guest at our Second Dharma Celebration, held at the Hotel Ashok.
Tushita’s Second Dharma Celebration. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche used to pass through Delhi at least twice a year and would stay at Tushita. Most times Gelek Rinpoche would visit them on at least one of those visits and they would enjoy meals with him at the center or take him to one of Lama’s sister’s restaurants or to one of the five-star hotels around town.
Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche pushing Gelek Rinpoche into the top seat. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
After Rinpoche moved to the USA and I arrived soon after, I would meet him only occasionally and sometimes speak by phone, but I always felt a strong connection with him and rejoiced at the success of his Dharma work. Gelek Rinpoche’s passing is a great loss to his students, the Dharma, and the world.
Rinpoche’s official biography may be found on the Jewel Heart website.
An interview with Rinpoche appeared in Mandala in 1999:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/older/mandala-issues-for-1999/may/gelek-rinpoche/
Rinpoche also talks about his early life in his book Good Life, Good Death. If you “look inside” the book on Amazon, you can read Robert Thurman’s very interesting introduction online.
A complete obituary for Gelek Rinpoche will be included as part of the July-December 2017 issue of Mandala.