Exclusive: Living Buddha in new era

The Star

Balog Rinpoche is a reincarnated Living Buddha in China's Xizang. Growing up in Lhasa, he has not only immersed himself in the study of Buddhist doctrines but also cultivated a deep understanding of music, and proficiency in English.  In an enlightening conversation, Xinhua engaged with the Rinpoche to unravel the mysteries surrounding one of the most esteemed and venerable Living Buddhas in the region.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 At the closing ceremony of a folk art festival

00:16 in Lhasa, capital city of China's Shizhan Autonomous

00:19 Region, we met Balog Rinpoche for the first time.

00:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:27 He's a lead singer, a Tanka teacher, a scripture

00:30 instructor, and a living Buddha.

00:34 [APPLAUSE]

00:37 Balog Rinpoche was born in 1982 and was

00:45 identified as the reincarnated living

00:47 Buddha of Yangriga Monastery in Mandrakunga County

00:51 at the age of eight.

00:53 Growing up in Lhasa, he not only studied Buddhist doctrines,

00:58 but also learned Mandarin, English, painting, music,

01:02 and other subjects from a young age.

01:05 Balog Rinpoche is the 42nd generation inheritor

01:09 of the songs of Milarepa, a national intangible cultural

01:12 heritage of China.

01:15 I formed a band called Dharma in 2013.

01:20 Our band has performed in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou,

01:25 and Chengdu.

01:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:29 Actually, I tried to start a Rinpoche band

01:41 during the very first semester of our newly established

01:45 Buddhism university.

01:47 It was a happy and interesting experience

01:50 during my college days when I was

01:53 searching for an innovative way to inherit and spread

01:58 the song of Milarepa in the new era.

02:03 The idea of starting a band came to my mind very naturally.

02:09 Milarepa was one of the most influential figures

02:12 of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

02:15 His oral teachings of Buddhist doctrines

02:17 were passed down and collected by his followers

02:20 as the songs of Milarepa, serving

02:23 as a valuable resource for understanding

02:25 Buddhist philosophy.

02:28 Balog Rinpoche was taught by his guru, the 41st inheritor,

02:32 Khenpo Dantra at Drigang Thail Monastery.

02:36 As the songs of Milarepa have been traditionally passed down

02:40 among practitioners, Balog Rinpoche

02:43 aims to better preserve and introduce them to more people.

02:48 Almost all the guru songs of Milarepa

02:51 are selected from the book, The 100,000 Songs of Milarepa.

02:56 He was a Buddhist poet and saint in the 11th century

03:00 who wandered from place to place,

03:03 teaching enlightenment and the path to Buddhahood

03:07 through his spontaneously composed guru songs.

03:11 I hope the songs could break language barriers

03:15 and give people different feelings.

03:17 For Balog Rinpoche, art is an important expression

03:24 in his daily practice.

03:26 As a graduate of Tanka major at Shizan University,

03:29 he also teaches Tanka painting at Manual Art School in Lhasa.

03:35 When I was young, my family used to live inside Nurbulingka,

03:39 which is famous for its fabulous mural paintings.

03:42 Since I had the chance to watch them and talk

03:46 with some mural painters, I fell in love with Tanka art.

03:51 Typically depicting Buddhist deities,

03:53 Tanka paintings are Tibetan Buddhist scroll paintings

03:57 on cotton or silk with mineral and organic pigments.

04:02 To promote the art, Balog Rinpoche

04:04 established a Tanka painting class in 2014,

04:07 receiving apprentices from diverse ethnic backgrounds

04:11 in order to encourage more exchanges and interactions

04:15 among different ethnic groups.

04:18 I have been learning Tanka for four years.

04:22 Balog Rinpoche is my Tanka teacher.

04:26 He not only teaches art,

04:28 but also teaches personality and love.

04:33 I hope to grow more people like Balog Rinpoche

04:37 and to grow more wisdom,

04:38 and at the same time,

04:39 to have a more gentle, compassionate heart

04:43 to help more people.

04:46 Apart from art, Balog Rinpoche teaches the 37 practices

04:51 of Bodhisattva and Mandarin at the Shizan Buddhism University.

04:56 Nestled in Chishi County,

04:58 the institute is the region's only high-level

05:01 comprehensive Tibetan Buddhist institute.

05:05 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:10 to people from all over the world.

05:14 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:17 to people from all over the world.

05:18 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:20 to people from all over the world.

05:22 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:25 to people from all over the world.

05:29 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:32 to people from all over the world.

05:37 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:41 to people from all over the world.

05:45 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:47 to people from all over the world.

05:49 I am very happy to be able to teach Tibetan Buddhism

05:51 to people from all over the world.

05:59 Balog Rinpoche was among the first batch

06:01 of scripture teachers in the Shizan Buddhism University

06:05 when it was founded in 2011.

06:08 It has nurtured thousands of outstanding monks and nuns

06:12 to serve the Tibetan Buddhist community.

06:21 Balog Rinpoche starts his daily morning rituals before dawn.

06:26 As a monk, we need to do rituals every day,

06:30 even many regular believers do their rituals every day as well.

06:36 I do the water offering, butter lamp offering,

06:39 and prostrate in front of the shrine.

06:43 But of course in the monastery we do more rituals

06:46 during those holidays.

06:51 After a simple breakfast,

06:53 Balog Rinpoche drove us to Yangriga Monastery,

06:57 about 90 kilometers away from Lhasa,

07:00 to handle temple affairs.

07:03 For him, Rinpoche means much more than an honorific title.

07:09 Upon arrival, after a short rest,

07:11 he began to lead the monks in chanting sutras.

07:15 Rinpoche, it means greater responsibilities

07:18 because our Rinpoche needs to take charge

07:21 and make a positive impact on the Buddhist practice

07:25 among the monks in his own monastery,

07:28 to carry on historical missions

07:30 and fulfill the wishes and needs of religion believers.

07:35 Apart from his own regular study missions,

07:39 Rinpoche needs to manage religious activities,

07:43 assist with monastery management committees,

07:46 routine duties, and lead the monks to protect

07:50 and inherit intangible cultural heritage of his monastery.

07:57 For many centuries, Tibetan Buddhism has been passed on

08:01 from generation to generation in the plateau region.

08:05 I would probably say in Tibet,

08:08 Tibetan Buddhism has become our lifestyle.

08:12 It's how we live.

08:14 There is a saying in Tibetan, "Migana Chöyi,"

08:17 which means to make other people happy.

08:20 In Chinese, we say, "Renren Ruiwo, Wo Rui Renren,"

08:24 one for all, all for one.

08:27 I believe such is a shared value

08:30 on good old common sense and altruism.

08:33 And I believe such value reaches beyond language.

08:38 I also believe it helps us bond with each other

08:41 and consolidates the sense of community

08:44 for the Chinese nation.

08:47 Shizhong today hosts over 1,700 sites

08:50 for Tibetan Buddhism activities,

08:53 with around 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns.

08:58 Reincarnation of living Buddhas is a practice

09:01 recognized and respected by the government at all levels.

09:06 According to my understanding,

09:08 there are no significant differences

09:10 between regular monk and reincarnated Rinpoche.

09:14 Both regular monk and Rinpoche are expected to study hard

09:18 and become well-educated and absorbed ones.

09:23 But in Tibetan tradition,

09:25 all the monks look up to Rinpoche.

09:27 They respect Rinpoche.

09:30 Why?

09:31 Because Rinpoche is expected to study harder,

09:34 to be more trustworthy and more compassionate.

09:38 So it's a challenge and it's an opportunity.

09:42 Nowadays, living Buddhas do not confine themselves

09:45 to monasteries.

09:46 More and more Rinpoches contribute

09:49 to the promotion of Buddhism

09:51 and benefit the public in diverse ways.

09:54 About my future career goals,

09:57 I would like to establish

09:59 a professional Buddhism translation center.

10:02 At the same time,

10:03 I'm planning to establish a Milarepa museum

10:07 in order to memorialize Milarepa

10:09 to better protect and promote his precious cultural heritage.

10:14 (Music)

10:20 (Music)

10:24 (Music)

10:27 (Music)

10:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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