Dorje Pakmo - Twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo

Twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo

The twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo was very young at the time of the Chinese occupation, but her exact date of birth is contested, some people claiming she was born a year before the death of the previous incarnation (and therefore cannot be the true reincarnation).

However, she was recognised by the present 14th Dalai Lama as a true incarnation and served as a vice president of the Buddhist Association in 1956 while he was president, and the 10th Panchen Lama also a vice president. She went to Lhasa in 1958 and received the empowerment of Yamantaka from the Dalai Lama and the empowerment of Vajrayogini from the Dalai Lama's tutor, Trijang Rinpoche.

She was trained in the Bodongpa tradition but remains the head of the Samding Monastery while also holding the post of a high government cadre in the Tibet Autonomous Region. She has, as a result, been accused by many of "collaborating" with the Chinese.

After the 2008 Tibetan unrest and prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Xinhua, the Chinese official government news agency, said that the twelfth Samding Dorje Phagmo, who is also the vice-chairwoman of the standing committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional People's Congress, was quoted saying that, "The sins of the Dalai Lama and his followers seriously violate the basic teachings and precepts of Buddhism and seriously damage traditional Tibetan Buddhism's normal order and good reputation." She reportedly told Xinhua that, "Old Tibet was dark and cruel, the serfs lived worse than horses and cattle."

According to Diemberger there also is a Dorje Phagmo line in Bhutan. She writes: Currently there is a Dorje Phagmo Tulku in Bhutan who was recognized by the Sakya Lama Rikey Jatrel, considered an incarnation of Thangtong Gyalpo (1385–1464 or 1361–1485). The Dorje Phagmo is currently a member of the monastic community of the Thangtong Dewachen nunnery at Zilingkha in Thimphu, which follows the Nyingma and the Shangpa Kagyu tradition.,