{"id":349854,"date":"2024-08-16T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T06:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=349854"},"modified":"2024-08-21T00:48:47","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T06:18:47","slug":"taken-away-a-lamas-journey-through-loss-and-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/taken-away-a-lamas-journey-through-loss-and-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Taken away\u2019: A lama\u2019s journey through loss and discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the book on the life and times of no ordinary man but that of Lama Doboom Tulku \u2026and the\u00a0 best part is the fact\u00a0 that he\u2019s written it himself together with the well -known New Delhi-based academic Sudhamahi Regunathan. And it\u2019s written in such an uncomplicated and simple way \u2026nudging one to read it all at one go. A book review by Humra Quraishi<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BOOK-REVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title \u2013 TAKEN AWAY –  THE  ORDINARY  LIFE  OF  A  LAMA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authors –  Doboom  Tulku with  Sudhamahi  Regunathan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher –  Bloomsbury<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Pages – 350<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price \u2013 Rs 599<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book  Review<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 By  Humra Quraishi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are wondering like I am why this title \u2018Taken Away\u2019 to the  memoirs of a Lama, then in the very  opening  page to this book, Lama Doboom Tulku explains it all in such a simple and uncomplicated way –  \u201cI did not  plan my  life. That is why I decided to title my memoirs Taken Away<\/em>. At a very young age, I was identified as a reincarnation and taken away from my home where I was born. And the rest of my life unfolded similarly. My monastery, my horse, my  country  \u2013  to  name just  a  few \u2013 were all taken away over  time\u2026Do I not  miss my country, I am  asked? Of course, I do. That was a sad separation. But life continued to be full of variety and showed me new things along the way.  I think, if I had not left when I did, I would now be a nomad perhaps, tending to animals \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, this is the book on the life and times of no ordinary man but that of Lama Doboom Tulku \u2026and the  best part is the fact  that he\u2019s written it himself together with the well -known New Delhi-based academic Sudhamahi Regunathan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s written in such an uncomplicated and simple way \u2026nudging one to read it all at one go \u2026absorb all the destined turns in the life of Lama Doboom Tulku. A huge range of turns! To quote from this book – \u201cVenerable Doboom Lobsang Tenzin Tulku was born in 1942 in Kham in eastern Tibet. At the age of two or three, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the second Doboom Tulku. In 1953, Doboom Tulku entered Drepung Monastry in Lhasa, where he studied Buddhist philosophy until the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959 forced him into exile in India at the age of seventeen\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter, he worked and studied and resided in the different cities in India \u2026He also served as director of the New Delhi-based Tibet House and he\u2019d also worked with the Dalai Lama\u2019s Private Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What seems unfortunate and tragic is the fact he passed away months before this book could be published. To quote Sudhamahi Regunathan on this, \u201cEven as the manuscript was being edited,  Rinpoche\u2019s health worsened. Is it poetic irony that he was taken away by his multiple illnesses before the book was published? Early on the morning of 29 January 2024, Rinpoche Lama Duboom Tulku breathed  his last. He  had spent  last six or  seven years trying  to convince me that  though a  monk, he was an  ordinary  person. He forgot to do so after 29  January when he lay in deep meditation or thukdam<\/em> for  a week after  his  last  breath. Thukdam is a Buddhist phenomenon where the realized monk\u2019s consciousness remains in the body even after his passing. So, the decomposition of the body does not begin. On 4 February, the last rites were held in the grounds of  Tehor Khangtsen, Mundgod, in a grand ceremony and the relics  taken to his residence in Drete Dhargyon, Mundgod,  Karnataka. \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the book on the life and times of no ordinary man but that of Lama Doboom Tulku \u2026and the\u00a0 best part is the fact\u00a0 that he\u2019s written it himself together with the well -known New Delhi-based academic Sudhamahi Regunathan. And it\u2019s written in such an uncomplicated and simple way \u2026nudging one to read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2205],"tags":[18471,17128,18469,17127,18470,18468],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349857,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349854\/revisions\/349857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/349855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}