Current Lifetime
The Story of Lagon Rinpoche
When I was born, my family was very poor. We did not own a house; we rented a small room in Swayambhu, Kathmandu, Nepal.
I was not born in a hospital. I was born at home. After I was born, my mother herself cut the umbilical cord—the connection between her and her newborn baby.
When I look back at that moment today, I think about how brave my mother was. She was a poor woman, living in very difficult circumstances, yet she faced my birth with courage and strength. That is something I will always remember and respect about her.
My Birth in 1981
My mother told me that her pregnancy lasted almost twelve months, rather than the usual nine. At that time, medical technology in Nepal was very different from today.
When the doctor examined my mother, her stomach was unusually large. According to my mother, the doctor told her that the baby appeared to have two heads. They did not tell her whether the baby was a boy or a girl. They simply told her what they believed they had seen.
My mother was extremely worried. She couldn’t understand how this could happen or how she would care for a baby like that. She kept much of this information within the family.
Then something happened that my mother has remembered all these years.
Near the place where I was born, close to my mother’s parents’ home, there is an ancient Vajrayogini Temple in Bijeshwori, in the Swayambhu area.
One morning, my mother went out to buy vegetables. On the way, she saw a man selling flowers and lotus flowers. She asked him for a flower, and he gave her a lotus.
She took that lotus to Vajrayogini Temple.
My mother prayed that whatever happened, the baby would be born safely and that the child’s life would be successful.
The priest at the temple gave her another flower and placed tika on her forehead.
My mother came home feeling peaceful.
That night, I was born.
It was nighttime. My mother was in tremendous pain, and my grandmother and my aunt were there around the birth.
According to my mother, when the baby was born, she herself cut the umbilical cord.
Then they noticed something unusual.
Behind the newborn baby’s neck, my mother says there was a small white object resembling a seashell or little white conch shell. She says that others present also saw it.
But after some time, it disappeared.
And there is one more detail that has stayed with my family.
My mother remembers that immediately after I was born, the baby said:
“Amma.”
My aunt remembers it differently. She says the baby said:
“Appa.”
Amma means mother. Appa means father.
My Father's Dream
When I was born in 1981, my dad had a dream about a place that he had never visited before.
In his dream, he saw seven elephants coming down from behind the mountains, one after another. Behind them were also seven mules, coming down in a line. In front of the mountain, he saw a monastery.
Many years later, when I showed my dad a picture of my monastery in Tibet, he immediately said, “That is the place I saw in my dream.” What makes it particularly interesting is that my dad had never been to that part of Tibet. He was from a completely different region.
Lagon's monastery in Tibet
According to my dad, in the dream he saw my previous place, which is connected with the story of my previous life, Lagon.
In front of the monastery there was a traditional Tibetan tent made from yak hair. We call this type of tent “ba” in Tibetan. The seven elephants and seven mules came down towards the tent and then went around it. They did not enter the tent at first.
The elephants were behaving very happily and playfully. My dad described them almost like children—playing, moving around, even lying down and enjoying themselves. It felt as though they were showing a very joyful and positive energy.
Then, when they entered the tent, there was a very large throne in the centre.
Even when I was very young, I always had a strong feeling that I wanted to become a monk.
I remember that I had an uncle who would sometimes come to our home. When he went to take a shower, I would immediately take his monk’s robe, put it on myself and walk around wearing it. I was fascinated by the robes even when I was a little child.
My parents and neighbours often said that I was very different from other children and that I behaved in unusual ways. They felt that there was something unique about me.
I also used to have recurring dreams about a very beautiful woman dressed in white. At the time, I didn’t understand who she was. But looking back now, and when I visualize the image during meditation, I feel that she may have been White Tara.
My Childhood
The Rinpoche in Boudha
Eventually, my parents took me to the Boudha area in Nepal, to Sakya Tarig Monastery. There was a Rinpoche (Tharig Rinpoche) there at that time who has since passed away.
My parents showed me to him and explained that I was behaving differently and that there seemed to be various signs around me.
The Rinpoche told my parents something very interesting. He said, in essence, “Keep him well and take care of him. Perhaps someone will come in the future to search for him. If nobody comes, I will keep him.”
He also gave me another name, Jamyang Tenzin.
My birth name, which my father gave me, was Tenzin Dorje. So from that time I had the name Tenzin Dorje, and the Rinpoche gave me the name Jamyang Tenzin.
He also told my parents to let me continue going to school and not to worry.
The Search and Recognition of My Current Life
There were predictions and references connected with the previous Lagon Tulku, Nyagnyon, about where his future rebirths would appear. As I understand the tradition, the predictions indicated that he would be born in Nepal two times and in India one time. There were also signs connected with the birth, including other specific signs.
Because of these predictions, when they were searching for the next Lagon Tulku, they looked in different Himalayan regions. They went to India, including Ladakh, and collected information about many children — hundreds of names, their birth details, and other signs. They brought these names and information to the Dalai Lama for examination, but he said that none of those children were the correct one.
Then they went to Nepal and continued the search. Again, they collected information about hundreds of children and presented the names and signs to the Dalai Lama, but again he said that none of them were the correct one.
Finally, in the last search, they had a list of about 80 children, with their names, birth information, signs, and the other signs they were looking for. From those 80 children, they eventually found me and identified me as the correct Lagon Tulku.
So the recognition was not simply that they found one child and immediately decided. According to what my family told me, there were several stages of searching in India and Nepal, with many children’s names and birth signs being checked before they finally found me among the last group of 80.
As the story has been passed down to me, I was also recognized in connection with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Two monks were sent from India to Nepal as part of the search for the reincarnation of Lagon.
Traditionally, when a great master passes away, the monks from his monastery and lineage begin looking for his reincarnation.They consult their senior teachers and, in this case, they also sought guidance from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
According to the account I was given, through his method of recognition, including his spiritual insight, it was indicated that Lagon had been reborn in Nepal.
The monks actually came to Nepal three times to search for me.
The first two times, they were unable to find me. Then, on their third visit, in 1993, they finally found me and the recognition process took place.
There is also another very important part of the recognition story.
In 1993, monks came from India searching for me as part of the recognition of my previous life. When they found me, two elder senior monks and other senior people met with my family and asked my grandparents and my father whether there had been any unusual signs or experiences around the time I was born.
My father then told them everything he remembered, including the dream he had in 1981 about the seven elephants, seven mules, the mountain, the monastery and the Tibetan yak-hair tent. He also told them about his spiritual practice connected with Palden Lhamo.
When my father shared his dream with the senior monks during their discussion in 1993, they immediately connected the details he described with the place associated with Lagon.
They showed him pictures of the monastery, the mountain behind it and the surrounding area, and according to my father, he recognized the place as the same place he had seen in his dream—even though he had never personally been there.
Meeting Buddha Maitreya
What is also very amazing to me is that, since 1993 until now, I have met and spoken with Jesus (Buddha Maitreya) many times. We have shared our thoughts with each other, and he is someone I have always really relied on. He has always been the kind of person who would simply say, “I know,” and somehow point things out before they happened. That has always been incredible to me.
Around that time, there was also a very brief but remarkable meeting between two monks at Swayambhunath. Their English conversation was not really translated, and the monks did not understand the language very well, but somehow they seemed to understand each other through their eyes and their connection.
Tsewang Dhubdup has shared this story with me many times. He told me that this was how he first met Buddha Maitreya. He said that Buddha Maitreya was saying something, and although there was no proper translation, somehow he understood what he meant. Tsewang said that he had come to Nepal searching for a tulku, and Buddha Maitreya told him something like:
“I know. I know you came to Nepal searching for a tulku.”
Then, just a few days later, Buddha Maitreya came to my monk robe ceremony in 1993.
I remember that he was seated on one side of the throne, while I was on the other side, and we had almost an hour of puja together. After the puja, the monks and other people came forward and offered khatas.
Looking back at these events, the timing and the way everything came together feels incredibly meaningful to me.
My Enthronement Ceremony
There is one more very important part that happened during the enthronement ceremony in 1993.
At that ceremony, I was formally placed on the throne and was given the monk’s robes. There were many senior monks and teachers present.
My teacher, Buddha Maitreya, Jesus was also there and attended the ceremony personally. During that time, he told me that he knew me from a very long time ago and that he knew I would be reborn.
He said words to the effect of:
“I know you. You are a Lama Tulku. I have known you from a long time ago, and I knew you would be reborn.”
Meeting the Dalai Lama
When I met the Dalai Lama, I remember he told me to “be a good boy, study hard, help others.”
But the most specific thing I remember is that he told me to recite the Manjushri mantra:
“Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhi.”
Manjushri is associated with wisdom, so the practice is traditionally connected with developing and sharpening the mind.
That is the part of our meeting that I remember most clearly.
There is also one more small detail I remembered from when I was very young, around four or five years old.
My mom has told me many times, and my sister also remembers this, that when I was a little child, I used to tell my mother:
“Someone will come and pick me up.”
At the time, my mom didn’t take it seriously because I was just a small child, and she thought it was simply something a child might say. But looking back now, I feel it is another interesting detail from my early childhood.
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