Koushak Bakula Rinpoche: As an Indian Buddhist Leader

                                                                                  Dr. Subhasis Barua (Sumanapal Bhikkhu)

                                                                                                                                     & 

                                                                                                                                Rahul Majumdar

19^th KoushakBakula Rinpoche was recognized as a reincarnation of Bakula Arhat (one of the sixteenth direct disciples of the Buddha) by the thirteenth Dalai Lama. He was one of the best known Lamas of Ladakh, a statesman and an international diplomat of India. He is known for his efforts in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia and Russia.  

19^thBakula Rinpoche was born on the 19^th May in Ladakh in a royal family in Matho village. His father was a well known and erudite scholar of Buddhism and his mother Queen Eshey Wangmo was a member of the Zangla royal family. Instead of looking for fulfilment in the worldly pleasures of the royalty he took the spiritual path.  Already at the age of nine he had studied in several monasteries in Ladakh. 

When the Rinpoche was 13 years old he was sent to Lhasa for higher education. There he received Geshe ordination from the 13^th Dalai Lama. In Lhasa he was a student of the largest monastery Drepung. Thereafter 12 years of study he received the degree of Geshe Lharampa which was the highest degree in Buddhist metaphysics. He returned from Tibet in 1940 at the age of 23.

After returning from Tibet the Rinpoche took an active part in the socio cultural regeneration of Ladakh. By that time India had become an independent nation and Ladakh remained with India along with most of the rest of Jammu Kashmir. This decision was welcomed by the Ladakhis because India was the birth place of the Buddha. When a section of people in Pakistan Kashmir demanded plebiscite, the Rinpoche categorically stated that even if the people Kashmir decided to go to Pakistan, Ladakh would never do so and would remain with India unless India decided otherwise. As Ladakh could remain with India, it   provided the people of Ladakh a chance to be attentive to their religious development according to their choice. It was an age of great political, religious and social upheaval. When India got freedom in 1947 the Rinpoche was only 30 years old. But even in that young age he had established himself as a noted spiritual leader of Ladakh. Indian Prime Ministe Pandit Nehru and the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Mohd Abdulla impressed upon the Rinpoche  to lead the people of Ladakh. In 1949 he became the political representative of Ladakh and was supported by the leaders of both the Buddhist and the Muslim communities.   On 4^th July the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru came to Ladakh accompanied by the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdulla. In the first democratic election which coincided with this visit the people of Ladakh chose Bakula Rinpoche as their leader as well as the President of the National Conference Party. In his speech the Prime Minister assured the people of Ladakh that they were a part of independent India by saying, “Ladakh is no longer far away, we are all children of India and we shall face our problems together.”¹

During his visit Pandit Nehru presented the Rinpoche an ivory casket that contained photographs of the Buddha image at Sarnath, the Sanchi Stupa and Bodh Gaya Temple. He also handed over to the Rinpoche two statues of the Buddha, one made of bronze and the other of marble. About Buddhism and Buddhist studies the Prime Minister remarked, “Buddhism is the prevailing religion here in Ladakh so Buddhist religion and learning must be encouraged and helped. You know that Buddhism came from India; rest assured that Buddhism and Buddhist institutions here will receive every possible opportunity for development.”²

An unrest was created in Ladakh when the Kashmir Government under the leadership of Sekh Abdullah passed the Large Landed Estate Abolition Act without prior consultation with the Ladakhi Buddhist leaders. At that time the Ladakhi Buddhist monasteries owned a vast area of fertile land though they were not regarded as the agents of oppression like the landlords in other parts of India.  On the contrary such an arrangement was necessary for the welfare of the people of Ladakh. So they opposed the decision of the government and selected the Rinpoche as their leader.

A lot of heated discussions took place between the Rinpoche and Sekh Abdullah and finally a settlement was reached. Besides, a Buddhist delegation was formed in which the Rinpoche took part and called on Pandit Nehru in New Delhi. The delegation formed an action committee under the name of Gonpa association to fight the case with the state government.³It was decided to set up an enquiry committee under the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir Jankinath Wazir. The Committee visited Ladakh and investigated the matter. It talked to the people of Ladakh and found that the existing system was beneficial for them. They had to pay only one fourth of their produce to the monasteries and that amount was utilized for educational religious and charitable purposes. So the previous system was retained in Ladakh and the people breathed a sigh of relief.

As promised by the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the relics of Lord Buddha and his two principal disciples Sariputta and Mahamoggallan were brought to Ladakh for the Darshan of the people. Originally they were kept at Mulagandha KutiVihara in Sarnath and now they were brought here under the auspices of the Mahabodhi Society of India. The Rinpoche remarked on the day by saying, “This is the proudest day in my life and the life of the people our gratitude to Pandit Neheru is immense.” ⁴

 This was a unique event for Ladakh in recent history and people thronged in order to pay their homage to the relics. The relics remained in Ladakh for two and a half months and during that period they were taken to various monasteries for the Darshan of the people.

After the event Ladakh came to be regarded as an important Buddhist region of India and a stronghold of Buddhism. The Rinpoche attended many international conferences and made Ladakh known to the people of the world. The Rinpoche took active part in politics also. He acted as the Minister of State in the J.K. Government from 1953 to 1964 under successive state Governments. But he found himself trapped between bureaucracy and local politics. So he came to the conclusion that Ladakhis should have a voice in the national politics as well. But the Ladakhis were ignorant about the voting procedure and representation. Till 1967 Ladakh was considered as a part of Gandharbal constituency of Kashmir Division. This was another discriminatory measure because it hindered the Ladakhis to reach the Indian Parliament. However in that year Ladakh was granted a seat in the parliament of India. The Rinpoche served as an M.P. in the fourth and Fifth Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1977. He was included in various parliamentary committees and there too he made important contributions. He travelled widely and attended many international conferences like the Sixteenth World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs held in Tokyo.

The 2500^th birth anniversary was celebrated in Ladakh in pomp and grandeur along with the rest of the country and the world and the Rinpoche as the chairman of the celebration in Ladakh. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir sanctioned a sum of Rupees 15000 as a mark of goodwill and this grant enabled all the leading monasteries of Ladakh to take part in the event. The event was celebrated with pomp and splendour and ministers came to Leh from Srinagar and represented the state Government in the function. The town looked gorgeous and unearthly, when it was illuminated at night.

Traditionally Ladakhis celebrated the festival of Buddha Jayanti (the Buddha’s birthday) on the fifteenth day of the fourth month according to the Tibetan calendar but according to a decision taken by the World Fellowship of Buddhists at a conference held in Sri Lankathey started to celebrate the event on Buddha Purnima, the day of the day of the full moon (also known as Vaishaki Purnima) together with the rest of the country.⁵ The Buddha’s 2530^th birth anniversary was celebrated in Ladakh in a very unique fashion. The celebration took place on the open ground near Mani Sermo at Leh, a sacred stupa of Ladakh. Though the Young Rinpoche took initiative to solve the problem Men’s Buddhist Association was in Ladakh was established way back in 1934 it lacked a centre to discuss its problems. Again the Rinpoche took initiative regarding the matter and a part of Wazir Bagh was transferred to the Buddhist Association the enabled them to build the Jo-Khang temple of Leh. The temple was built within a very short period of time, thanks to the active participation of the people of Ladakh who donated both money and material and even offered physical labour for the construction work.

The construction of the temple created a great excitement in Ladakh but the joy was soon overshadowed by the forced exile of Dalai Lama from Tibet with thousands of refugees. The aggressive attitude of the Chinese became a threat for both political and religious stability of Ladakh. The events that unfolded in Tibet gave a rude shock to the people of Ladakh because they depended on Tibetan religious leaders for guidance in spiritual matters. Not only that, the presence of Tibetan refugees who entered inside Ladakh was a serious problem to be addressed because there was a serious question regarding their settlement. Again previously Tibet was the centre for higher education for the Ladakhi Buddhist Lamas. So the question where to send the young Ladakhi monks for education was also a problem.

In such a situation The Rinpoche decided to establish an institution that would impart instruction on Buddhist philosophy and other related subjects. According to this on 23^rd October, 1959 the Buddhist Philosophical School (now called the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies) came into existence. The institution started its journey with only ten students; one each from the Hemis, Chemre, Tak-thong, Thikse, Stakna, Matho, Spituk, Phyang, Likir, and Rizong monasteries. In this endeavour the Rinpoche was inspired by Pandit Nehru’s words regarding his affection for Buddhist education.

In the beginning the institution did not receive any government grant but later the Government recognized it as an autonomous state institution and from  1962, started sanctioning grant for its maintenance. The silver jubilee celebration of the school took place in 18^th April 1985 and its founder Bakula Rinpoche laid the foundation stone for its new complex.

But the Rinpoche was not satisfied with religious education only; he also took initiatives for making provisions to impart secular education to the students of Ladakh. With this aim in view he made tireless efforts and due to this The Government of India, sanctioned grants to enable eighteen Ladakhi novices to go to Sarnath and obtain modern education there. In 1961 another five monks were sent to Sri Lanka to study Buddhism. In this way the Rinpoche made the Ladakhi people aware of the importance of education and both religious and secular education got equal attention.

But the Rinpoche did not confine his activities regarding Buddhism and Buddhist studies in Ladakh only. He also took initiative to build Buddhist temples and Buddhist rest houses for Ladahki pilgrims at all Buddhist centres all over the country, including Delhi. He faced both political and economic hardship in building the temple and rest house in Delhi but soon he was able to point out to the Prime Minister of India the need for such a project. Pandit Nehru was deeply influenced by his arguments and gave his sanction to the project. The Ladakh Buddhist Vihara was constructed on the bank of the river Jamuna. The Vihara was inaugurated by Nehruji himself on 24^th February 1963.⁶

The Rinpoche did not confine his efforts only in building temples in Delhi, he also dreamt of establishing there a modern educational institution to impart secular and scientific teaching to young Ladakhis. With this objective, the Ladakh Institute of Higher Studies was established in Delhi and students from many Himalayan regions such as Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh took admission in the institution. Though the original aim of the institution was to impart Buddhist education with Tibetan and Sanskrit as compulsory subjects for the students but ultimately it was not fulfilled. Though the institution is still active it imparts solely secular education. In 1968 the Rinpoche was elected uncontested by the people of Ladakh to represent them in the national Parliament in New Delhi. At that time there was a widespread dissatisfaction in Ladakh owing to the discriminatory attitude of the Jammu and Kashmir Government regarding employment and admission to technical education. Besides, the problem was aggravated by Buddhist girls adopting non Buddhist faith through marriage. The settlement of Tibetan refugees was still a burning issue at that time. During this period Ladakh was without a representative in the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet and this contributed to the further worsening of the situation. In 1969 an agitation was led by the Rinpoche and he was arrested by the police. This agitation continued for two months and served in the unification of the community.

Koushok Bakula Rinpoche was a staunch leader of the Ladakhis and he never compromised with the Government the rights of the Ladakhi people. In the year 1952 when the Jammu Kashmir Government presented its annual budget found that there was no mention of Ladakh in the entire budget speech. He felt that it was his duty to speak for his people and though he was a member of the treasury bench he pointed out in his speech that the people of Ladakh had feeling the weight of their shackles. He reminded the Assembly that there was no mention of the Ladakh region in the budget and Ladakh was apparently being held as a part of the state merely as a conquered territory. In protest he decided to resign from his post of deputy Minister but the Government of Jammu and Kashmir realized the gravity of the situation and conceded some powers to him regarding the matter of Ladakh.. But no power was given to him for effecting changes in the administration or creation of posts or allocation of funds.

In the year 1964, he met Lal Bahadur Sastri in New Delhi and discussed with him the situation in Ladakh. He pointed out that the public in Ladakh were dissatisfied and this may someday burst into a disaster and so he said that the intervention of the central Government was necessary in the matter. The Rinpoche felt a strong need for an alternate road link in addition to the Srinagar-Leh road, in view of the intrusion of Pak raiders in 1947 in Ladakh. But he was surprised by the short-sightedness towards its own defence needs and preparedness of the Government of India towards it own defence needs. He believed that the road was going to be the life line for Ladakh. But after initial delay and hesitation the road was finally constructed and brought Ladakh nearer to the Indian mainland. In 1969 trouble erupted in Ladakh when the Buddhist flag was desecrated by some Muslims that hurt the sentiments of the Buddhists at Ladakh.  On May 1969 the Rinpoche addressed a public meeting and demanded that Ladakh should be made a centrally administered area. Then in the year 1990 he addressed a letter to V. P. Singh the then Prime Minister of India requesting him to concede the demand of Ladakh Buddhist Association for an autonomous District Council and sought for his immediate intervention. Later the successive Prime Ministers like Chandrasekhar and P.V. Narashima Rao received the same request.

 Sought his immediate and for this reason he had a strained relationship with successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time he also tried his best for the rehabilitation of the Tibetan refugees. 

However the matter was brought to an amicable   solution and the agitation finally came to an end. The arrested Buddhist leaders were freed and the Government dropped cases against them. According to the deal Ladakh/Bodhi teachers were appointed to all primary, middle and high schools in Ladakh the Tibetan refugees were granted land on both sides of the Abby canal in Chogmolsar.⁷ The Ladakhis were very sincere in their efforts to help the Tibetan refugees because the considered Tibet as their moral and spiritual guide. 

Again the Ladakhi Buddhists wanted to invite His Holiness Dalai Lama in their native land and the Rinpoche took great pains to fulfil the wish of his countrymen. At that time he was a minister in the Glulam Mohammed Sadiq led government but he did not hesitate to confront the Chief Minister himself on that issue. It was a troubled time for Ladakh, but still the Rinpoche arranged the visit of The Holiness in Ladakh. But at that time both air and road traffic in Ladakh Wasin the hands of the army and so The Dalai lama had to travel in a plane of the Indian Army. 

In those days the Buddhists of Ladakh were facing another serious problem. An ever increasing Muslim population was threatening to outnumber the Buddhists and the outcome of such a situation was clear to the educated and enlightened Buddhists. In 1969 an organization was established by some Ladakhi youths to eradicate the existing social evils such as polyandry. The aim of the organization was to attain their objective by the spreading of education. This society was supported by the Rinpoche and the Dalai Lama.

The Rinpoche became a member of the first Commission on Minorities that was constituted by the Government of India and served in that commission till December 1989. The he was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Mongolia. Soon after the Rinpoche became the Ambassador Mongolia, he made arrangements to enable the young lamas of that country to come to India and study Buddhist scriptures there. They were admitted in Dharamsala. Later the Rinpoche created The Government of India’s scholarship programmes to Varanasi and Tibetan learning centres in South India.

In recognition of his service to the people of Ladakh the Rinpoche was awarded the prestigious award Padmabhusan by the Government of India in 1986.

The Rinpoche was eager to spread higher education among the Ladakhis and for that reason even during the last years of his life he remained active. This great man passed away in Delhi on 4^th November 2003.

His passing away was a great loss to the nation and to the world of the Buddhist community. The Prime Minister of India Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Jammu Kashmir House and placed a wreath. He offered his condolence saying, “In the death of noble Lama Koushok Bakula, we have lost a great saint, guide and inspiring personality of the Buddhist world. It is difficult to imagine Ladakh without him.” Mr Vajpayee renamed the airport of Leh as Kousak Bakula Rinpoche Airport. As a Buddhist leader he guided his followers through his personal example of humble life as a celibate monk. He dedicated his life to the core principles of Buddhist teaching by caring for others, especially for those who were less fortunate and in great need.  His support enthusiasm and determination played an important role in helping the Ladakhi people sustain their ancient Buddhist religion in the controversial political environment of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. As a man with great sense of practical reality, he was guiding spirit for Ladakhi people to develop their way of life through a combination of traditional and modern education. He realized that education is one of the empowering tools that can change the fortune of people and that are why he stressed on education. His role in changing Ladakh’s picture is eminent, especially for social upliftment and education. Being a man of vision, his focus was always on promoting and reviving Buddhist tradition in the countries where political systems had denied it to the people.   This won him the title of “As an Indian Buddhist leader.” And He is a great revivalist of Buddhism, and he is a simple monk but versatile figure. He was a remarkable person because his life presented a harmonious balance between highest spiritual purposes with the exercise of considerable political influence. The contributions of Bakula Rinpoche should not only be remembered but those principles should be applied to the life of the people of Ladakh. In the coming year Ladakh will be what Kousak Bakula dreamt of and will be an example to the whole world. Today Ladakh is known for tolerance, brotherhood, peace and communal harmony in the national and international level. And this is the ultimate contribution of The Rinpoche to the people of Ladakh. He always emphasized the co-existence as well as development of all communities in a society and country for entire peace and prosperity of the state.  He was not only a good leader and but also a good writer. He wrote his Autobiography entitled ‘Rang nam Padmakarpey Thringwa’ in Bhoti/Tibetan language in English My Life, My time.  I personally offer my tribute to him from the core of my heart consciousness.

NOTES:

1.      Ganhar and Ganhar, 1956, see also, Shakspo, Nawang, Tserin, A cultural History of Ladakh, Centre for Research on Ladakh, The olitarian, Sabu-Leh, 2010, p.84.

2.      Ibid.

3.      Gergan 1978, see also, Shakspo, Nawang, Tserin, A cultural History of Ladakh, Centre for Research on Ladakh, The solitarian, Sabu-Leh, 2010, p.85.

4.      Ganhar and Ganhar, 1956, see also, Shakspo, Nawang, Tserin, A cultural History of ladakh, Centre for Research on Ladakh, The solitarian, Sabu-Leh, 2010, p.86.

5.      Information supplied by ShriSonamStobden, Secretary of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, see also, Shakspo, Nawang, Tserin, A cultural History of Ladakh, Centre forResearch on Ladakh, The solitarian, Sabu-Leh, 2010, p.86.

6.      Information supplied by Bakula Rinpoche, see also, Shakspo, Nawang, Tserin, A cultural History of Ladakh, Centre for Research on Ladakh, The solitarian, Sabu-Leh, 2010, p.90.

7.      Kak, B.L., Chasing Shadows in Ladakh, see also, Shakspo, Nawang, Tserin, A cultural History of Ladakh, Centre for Research on Ladakh, The solitarian, Sabu-Leh, 2010, p.90.

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