Zong Rinpoche - His Death

His Death

In 1983, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche made his third trip to the West and embarked on a teaching tour that took him to England, Canada, the U.S., Switzerland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Austria. In June 1984, at age 80, he returned to his home at Ganden Monastery, by then reestablished in Mundgod in southern India. The following month, he gave instructions on the Hayagriva Tantra, followed by the Chittamani Tara initiation, and a long life empowerment for all the Tibetans in Mundgod's refugee community. Shortly after the last of these teachings, he arranged an elaborate offering ceremony for the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden. After a few days of rituals, the students at Zong Labrang, his residential compound, reported that he had fallen ill with a high fever. Although his doctors gave him the best medical care, his condition did not improve.

All the students at his residence and monastery offered numerous long life prayers. The Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden in particular requested him in the name of the Buddha's doctrine and all sentient beings to regain his health and live for many more years, or at least until the reincarnation of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche was legitimately determined. Delegates from Drepung and Sera monasteries, including representatives of the two Tantric colleges, Gyuto and Gyume, and all of the incarnate Lamas of the great Buddhist institutions, came to offer long life prayers. Four months later, at the beginning of November 1984, he declared, "I do not have any of my former illness." Once again, in apparently good health, he resumed his daily routine and presided over the ceremony to determine the new incarnation of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche.

Zong Rinpoche engaged in the self-empowerment rituals of Heruka Chakrasamvara, Vajrayogini, and Chittamani Tara over long periods of time, and his assistants observed him in "unusual states of absorption". Zong Rinpoche normally awoke at three o'clock in the morning and finished his daily meditation before dawn. Shortly after 9am on November 15, Buddha's Descent from Heaven Day, his assistant called a medical doctor from the Dueguling Tibetan Resettlement Hospital. Zong Rinpoche walked from his bedroom into his sitting room, saying that he would like to sit in an upright posture. When the students entered the room a few minutes later, Zong Rinpoche, still seated, had died. His students reported how his body remained as if in a deep sleep, without losing luster or color.

Zong Rinpoche's stupa (Tib: dung-ten) was completed in 1986 by members of Zong Labrang, where it is today. It stands five feet high, is covered with precious stones and metals, and is filled with relics and holy objects.