Tulku Migme Dorje

 

Tulku Migme Dorje was born in 1953 in Kalimpong in India. He is the eldest son of Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche. Long before his birth, Tulku Tsorlo, Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche’s root guru, predicted that Rinpoche’s eldest son will be an incarnation and one day emissaries from Kham will come to take him to his monastery. If this happens, he will be killed by the Chinese. When Migme Dorje was four, a party looking for tulku of their monastery arrived to Kalimpong. They presented to Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche evidence that Migme is the child they were looking for. However, Migme’s mother strongly refused to give her son away, because her little sister and daughter already died from smallpox and she did not want to loose another child.

 

Migme Dorje was raised as an ordinary child. Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche tried to place him in Tibetan school, but he was persuaded by his friends that since Migme lives in India it is most crucial is to provide him with a good Indian education. Rinpoche was doing his best to teach Migme to speak fluent Tibetan language, but Migme had to learn few other languages first and there was not enough time for him to learn Tibetan in depth.   

 

While living in his father’s house, Tulku was meeting the highest lamas of Tibetan Buddhism every day. Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche was visited by such great masters as Dudjom Rinpoche, Dodrubchen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, 16th Karmapa, Kalu Rinpoche, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche and many more. That time they all were just unknown refugees and Rinpoche was helping them to find their way in their new homeland.

 

In 1973 Tulku Migme married an artist Sunrita Lama. In 1975 he left to Delhi
and begun his training as a pilot. He got his licence in 1977. Although he flew few passenger flights he was not able to get a permanent job, so he returned to Kalimpong. Soon after he moved back to Delhi in aim to enable his daughter study medicine.  

 

In 1978 he started working as a ship navigator. He dropped this role in 1985
on his daughter's request, and he started his own business. Tulku Migme has two children: a daughter Sonam Palmo Lhamo who works as a physician in US, and a son, Jigme Dorje, who was just awarded with PhD degree of the University of Visva Bharati in Philosophy.  

 

In 2005 Tulku La moved to Gangtok in Sikkim. In 1999 he accompanied his father in his journey to the UK and the US. Soon he visited also Poland. Since then,he annually visits Dropan Ling. On request of his father, he was leading the butter lamps offering practice for many years.

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Tulku Migme Dorje does not give formal teachings but his modesty, devotion
and dedication all set an example and inspire Khordong sangha. For many years he has been continuously demonstrating what is the meaning of Dharma practice in daily life.