For the Karma Kagyu
tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the practices of Kalacakra are derived from the
Jonang tradition, in particular the writings of the great Jonang masters,
Dolpopa, Taranatha, and the more recent Banda Gelek.
Many in the Karma Kagyu tradition practise Kalacakra in one form or another,
but the chief Kalacakra lineage holder for the Karma Kagyu was Bokar Rinpoche.
He passed away on Tuesday 17th August 2004, on the way to hospital from his
monastery in Mirik.
He inherited the mantle of Kalacakra lineage holder from the previous Kalu
Rinpoche, who passed away in 1989.
The perfection process meditations of Kalacakra are known as the six yogas.
More widely known are the six dharmas (or, doctrines) of Naropa, sometimes
misleadingly called the six yogas of Naropa. The two systems are quite
different, but they are both sets of perfection process meditations. The six
dharmas of Naropa are based on the methods of the Cakrasamvara Tantra, and the
six yogas are based on the Kalacakra Tantra.
Largely because of the difficulty of finding the necessary texts, before he
passed away, Kalu Rinpoche was not able to pass the complete tradition of the
six yogas over to Bokar Rinpoche. Bokar Rinpoche therefore felt that the
tradition he held, although extensive, was to some extent incomplete. In
order to correct this, he recently invited from Dzamthang in Tibet, the Jonang
master Khenpo Kunga Sherab Rinpoche to pass on the full transmission of the
Jonang six yogas to Bokar Rinpoche himself, Khenpo Lodro Donyo, and some of
Bokar Rinpoche's monks. (I am told that H.H. Dalai Lama also recently requested
the same transmission because he felt that his lineage for the six yogas had
been broken.)
This took place over a period of ten days during April and May 2004. This was
just before the annual Kalacakra ceremonies (puja) at Bokar Monastery, Mirik,
in the Darjeeling district. Apart from the two at the top and the two at the
bottom, the photographs on this page were taken during this event. This
transmission was a very important event for Bokar Rinpoche, and for his plans
for the future of his monastery. These photographs are therefore placed here as
a small dedication to his memory, with the hope that his future plans will be
fulfilled.
A new main monastic building is in the process of being built at Mirik, and
Bokar Rinpoche spoke in April of his plans to build within this a temple
dedicated to Kalacakra. This will include a three dimensional representation of
the Kalacakra mandala palace. The photograph at the bottom of this page shows
one of the models for this structure, a similar palace built recently by Jonang
lamas in India.
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