Reincarnated lama and teacher in Buddhist philosophy, asserts that the position of women in Buddhism is changing. Little by little, they gain access to education and to statuses hitherto denied. She was fortunate to be born into a lineage of more egalitarian tradition: lama women like her are few
SONIA SÁNCHEZ
UPDATED ON 06/09/2016
Khandro Rinpoche was invited to Barcelona by the Casa del Tibet to give a conference entitled Ethics and Happiness. / LAURA GOMEZ
As a good Buddhist teacher, Khandro Rinpoche says the secret to happiness is "a sense of humor and not taking yourself too seriously". Maybe that's why she lavishes herself in simplicity, despite the protocol surrounding a rinpoche, honorific title of reincarnated lamas. After exchanging white khatag -handkerchief symbol of respect and good omens- amb Thubten Wangchen, director of the House of Tibet in Barcelona, takes a moment to sweetly pet a dog, shortly before giving the Ethics and Happiness conference. Khandro is the reincarnation of another Buddhist teacher and one of the few female lamas in the world. He is very aware of it.
There are very few women who are Buddhist teachers. Because?
There are several reasons. Buddhism was born and transmitted under a patriarchal situation. Besides, the social structure does not give women many opportunities to receive a good education. But the good part is that there are, of teachers, although most opt for a low public profile. You don't have to be a rinpoche to be a good teacher. And luckily all that is changing now, opportunities are opening up for more and more female teachers, monges i fins i tot rinpoches.
He sees changes?
Yeah. I am very optimistic. Until the years 80, this was a major problem, but from the 90 and especially in the last ones 15 years there have been big changes. Many people have expressed concern about the few opportunities for women and now most teachers are more open-minded. Most Buddhist lineages already have monasteries of monks and nuns, and schools and higher education educate both men and women.
Even the Dalai Lama said in an interview that his next reincarnation may be a woman.
[Riu.] Yeah, I heard it and it's wonderful. But I think that is not the purpose of the Dalai Lama. He will have to manifest himself in the form that is most useful, and not to satisfy gender issues.
As a Buddhist teacher, ¿she has encountered more obstacles because of being a woman?
Challenges are always there. I grew up at a time when there were no schools for women, like now. But I was lucky to grow up in a very open family, with a very understanding father, who gave me all the support in whatever I wanted to do.
If 10 months already pointed to her as the reincarnation of the Dakini of Tsurphu. ¿How do you live childhood with this pressure?
I didn't feel the pressure, they gave me a lot of freedom. Mother was a very strong woman in a Buddhist society where everything was male. She was a great supporter of education and the right to make your own decisions. And father always told me to learn and then decide. He could have decided something else: my mother wanted me to be a doctor.
In fact, received western education. He felt the culture shock?
An absolute. I went to very strict Catholic schools. But the nuns at school knew my circumstances. I was a curious case, obviously. I went to the nuns' school from seven in the morning to one in the afternoon and then I went back to the Buddhist monastery until nine in the evening.
School of monks?
Yeah, I was a good Catholic! [Riu.] I learned a lot about the Catholic Church, and the nuns who ran the convent and the school were wonderful people. I came from a monastery where my mother, my sister and I were the only three women among 600 homes. However, in the Catholic convent it was all nuns, so for me it was a good balance. I never felt different because of being a woman. But obviously you always find people in life who disagree with that: some teachers who told me “You can't do this” or “You can't learn this” for being a woman. But having a family like mine meant I never felt different.
When she decided to become a Buddhist teacher, ¿the fact of being a woman weighed on her?
For the nuns who encouraged me, it was important that I was a woman. But for me it was a natural progression. He alternated between studying medicine and Buddhist philosophy. My father always told me to learn to help people and now I think being a Buddhist teacher is even more of a responsibility: you can't kill a person physically but you work with minds and you can have a big impact.
And she decided to be a Buddhist teacher but not a low profile one, Sino Rinpoche .
This took me more than 10 years. You have to make decisions little by little so as not to disappoint the expectations of the people close to you. Little by little I decided on Buddhist philosophy, but the big problem was the hair. My lineage doesn't shave, so I started by cutting them shorter and shorter and one day I came back from the barber all shaved and blamed it on him, I said it was a mistake [riu]. It had 19 years, and since then I haven't stopped shaving my hair.
¿The fight for Tibet is also one of his missions?
I try not to mix politics and dharma. But whenever I can I champion the cause because I belong to the first generation of Tibetans who have never been to Tibet. We were born as refugees in India and it is a very emotional topic for us.
