Tulku Chat Night in Canada

Last week I may have written the word “tulku” more than I ever imagined I would in this lifetime and any future lifetimes. The CBC’s documentary series “The Passionate Eye” presented Gesar Mukpo’s film “Am I Reincarnated : Tulku” and hosted a live chat on Twitter with @chewyguru aka Gesar Mukpo. It was cool to see some chatter going on around the film and the questions that many of us had related to this tradition. A while back, someone had asked on this blog if there were any female tulkus so I posed this question and Gesar reminded me of Khandro Rinpoche who is a perfect example.

The film itself was a very well developed examination of the experiences of several Western tulkus and the paths they have taken since being recognized as reincarntions of Buddhist masters. Several of the tulkus featured in this film have continued to study in monastery settings, while some have chosen to ‘be of the world’. Watching, made me think of how much responsibility has been put on “these chosen ones” and I developed a case of judging mind towards the unfairness of being plucked from your family and plopped into India to be a participant in something that you really might not have any interest in. Eat your peas and study your sutras and you’ll grow big and strong!

Then I thought of how this structure is no different than that of Western society in that it’s an amalgamation of teacher and parent manifesting in both the spiritual master and monastery that the tulku’s are placed. That being said, I was particularly struck by one tulku’s recount of the monasteries being filled with petty jealousy, sexual abuse and other nefarious activities that we don’t usually associate with monastic life and Buddhist behaviour. A quote by Gesar in response to this particularly rang true when he said in response “”There’s a difference between Buddhism and Buddhists.”

I highly encourage you to check out this film as Gesar and his team did a great job in presenting a snapshot of a group of people who are presently in the right place at the right lifetime.

The film can be seen at select showings or purchased from the National Film Board. Visit the film’s website or Facebook page for more information. If you’re on Twitter, you can also check out the chat session by searching the hashtage #tulku or you can follow Gesar’s twitter name @chewyguru