Gharwang

Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche
H.E. the 12th Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche
Tibetan name
Tibetan	ཟུར་མང་གར་དབང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་
Transcriptions Wylie zur mang gar dbang rin po che

Prior to his birth on 30 June 1965, Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཟུར་མང་གར་དབང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wylie: zur mang gar dbang rin po che) was recognized by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa as the twelfth incarnation of the Gharwang Tulkus and as an emanation of Tilopa. He is the supreme lineage holder of the Zurmang Ear Whispered Lineage (zur mang snyan rgyud).

The unbroken line of the Gharwang Tulkus begins in the 14th century with the siddha Trung Mase, the first Gharwang Tulku and founder of the Zurmang Kagyu tradition and Zurmang Monastery. He was identified by the Fifth Gyalwa Karmapa, Deshin Shegpa as the omniscient emanation of the Indian mahasiddha Tilopa. This was believed to be the fulfillment of Tilopa’s prediction made after he received teachings directly from Vajrayogini in the Western land of Uddiyana, in which he had pledged to return to spread these teachings widely, after they had been transmitted through thirteen successive lineage holders. Before Tilopa’s return this set of teachings was to be limited to a one-to-one transmission from each lineage holder to the next, and only upon Tilopa’s later emanation as the first Gharwang Tulku were they opened up to a larger audience. These teachings form the core of the Zurmang Ear Whispered Lineage (zur mang snyan rgyud) also known as the Dakini Ear Whispered Lineage (mkha’ ‘gro snyan rgyud).

Rinpoche was born a prince of the Sikkimese Royal Court. His uncle was then the reigning King of Sikkim. However, even before his birth the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa identified him as the 12th Zurmang Gharwang. The Karmapa, who had alluded to his attendants that the next incarnation of Zurmang Gharwang would soon occur, was attending a performance of traditional Tibetan drama on the forecourt of Rumtek Monastery. During the Tilopa dance, a Jewel offering was made to the Karmapa, and breaking with tradition, instead of accepting it himself he directed that the gift be given to the Gharwang Tulku. So saying, he pointed to the surprised mother-to-be and announced that she was carrying the 12th Gharwang Rinpoche.

A few months later, the Royal Princess delivered her predicted son at her residence in Gangtok. At dawn Rinpoche’s parents had dispatched a messenger to go to Rumtek 24km away to inform the Karmapa of the new arrival. However, before the messenger could leave the house, Saljay Rinpoche, the Karmapa’s emissary, with a party of monks was already at the door, bearing gifts and a letter containing the Karmapa’s blessings for the newborn child. At the time the new tulku was born, the mother of the previous Gharwang, living in Tibet, was heard joyously announcing that, "Rinpoche had returned. He is born in a warm country where fruits and flowers grow in abundance, and in the midst of bird song."