In Praise of the Incarnation Line of the Kyabgon Taktsang Rinpoche: Documents Issued by the Dalai Lamas for the Kings of Ladakh
Résumé
A museum was created in Hemis Monastery, Ladakh, in 2007. In the midst of its stunning collection stands an extraordinary painted silk scroll document from 1943, which deals with the Sixth Taktsang Incarnate (1941-present). Hemis monks introduce that scroll as his official recognition by the 14th Dalai Lama, but this Tulku (sprul-sku, incarnate master), which they traditionally call Kyabgon (sKyab-mgon or “Protector and Refuge”), is yet an elusive figure. Forced to remain in Tibet since the Chinese crackdown of 1959 over 60 years ago, he is hardly known to the present generations of Ladakhis. The supreme significance of his successive incarnations is therefore fading in Ladakh, and has been little investigated by international scholars. This article is primarily a study of the Hemis silk scroll and the stories it tells, presented at the IALS Conference in Kargil in 2015. However, an earlier document from 1896, a copy of which is preserved in the British Library, appears to be very related. Both authored by the Dalai Lama of their time, these texts express retrospective praises of the incarnation line of Taktsang Repa and list special honorific titles and attributes bestowed to the living incarnation.