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Lama Yeshe with Åge Delbanco, photo courtesy of Nicholas Ribush on Facebook
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests for students who read obituaries belonging to members of our precious spiritual community, to please pray in the following manner: “May this person never ever be reborn in the lower realms and at the time of death be born in a pure land where they can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings, and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the gurus mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.” Reading obituaries also helps us reflect upon our own death and rebirth and thus use our lives in the most meaningful way.
Åge Delbanco, who died on February 19, 2021, in California, US, was one of the earliest Western students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Known by his nickname Babaji, he lived at Kopan in Nepal from 1970 to 1973. Even though Åge was from Denmark, California became his home. He became very involved at Vajarpani Institute a year after it started and lived there for thirteen years. He also served as an assistant to Lama Yeshe in 1983, when Lama Yeshe lived in the Santa Cruz-area for three months.
Åge died peacefully in his home in Santa Cruz at the age of 95, after a year of declining health. He had two close friends sitting with him as he passed, who provided him with Dharma support as he transitioned, reading prayers and practices from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book How to Face Death without Fear.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent a twenty-minute audio message after learning of Åge’s death. Here a short excerpt from Rinpoche’s message:
“So, please everybody pray for Babaji, who just passed away. Please everybody pray, especially the old students who knew him, thank you very, very much, and to not be reborn in lower realms. …
“Due to all the three time merits collected by oneself, three time merits collected by numberless sentient beings, numberless buddhas, may the Babaji be reborn in the pure land where he can be enlightened. Or, then he receives perfect human rebirth, meet Mahayana teachings, meet perfectly qualified Mahayana teacher, revealing the unmistaken path to enlightenment. And by pleasing most the holy mind of the Virtuous Friend, and then he achieve enlightenment as quick as possible.
“So please pray, at least like that. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Babaji passing away is a teaching for us, teaching for us, reminding us of impermanence and death for ourself, and the need to make preparation for death, emphasizing to practice Dharma, without being lazy, and without the mind being distracted by attachment and anger.
“So yeah, to practice Dharma, to practice bodhichitta is the heart, and then, okay, thank you very much.”
Listen to the audio recording of Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the Death of Åge Delbanco:
An unedited transcript of the recording is available.
Rinpoche says this is the most critical time for a student, when we will all need the most help and support to avoid the lower realms and have a good rebirth. This is the time when students need to help each other. As soon as you hear of someone’s death, without hesitation, you can at least recite one mala of OM MANI PADME HUM. And then, according to one’s ability and availability, there are many other prayers and practices recommended for this purpose: https://fpmt.org/death/
Read a Mandala interview with Åge Delbanco from 2012.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.