Erdne Ombadykow

Erdne Ombadykow, also known as Telo Tulku Rinpoche, is the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader of the Kalmyk people. He received his formal training as a Buddhist monk in India and was recognized by the Dalai Lama as the current reincarnation of a Buddhist saint. Since 1992, he has served as the sprititual head of the Buddhists in Kalmykia. He divides his time between Kalmykia and his family in Erie, Colorado.

Early life and career

Erdne Ombadykow was born on October 27, 1972 in Philadelphia, PA to working class, immigrant parents of Kalmyk origin. As a child, Erdne determined that he wanted to be a Buddhist monk, the way other boys want to be policemen or firemen. By the age of seven, Erdne's parents permitted him to move to India where he would study Buddhism at a monastery until 1992. While studying at the monastery, Erdne Ombadykow was recognized as the current reincarnation of Telo Telku Rinpoche, a revered Buddhist saint.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, Erdne joined the Dalai Lama on his first visit to Kalmykia, a region whose once-rich Buddhist heritage was destroyed in the 1930s by the dual Soviet policies of collectivization and atheism. Upon arrival, the Dalai Lama named Erdne as the Šajin (Supreme) Lama of the Kalmyk people. As the spiritual leader, Erdne's role was to lead a Buddhist revival among the approximately 160,000 Kalmyks who live in Kalmykia.

Departure from the Gelug Order

As the only Kalmyk person with proper Buddhist training, Erdne soon determined that his responsibility as the Šajin Lama was too great a burden for he himself to bear as a 22-year old. Moreover, he found that his formal monastic training did not prepare him for the role he was assigned. For instance, he did not speak the Kalmyk language; Nor was he familiar with the popular culture, including the entrenched communist mentality of the people and the government.

His frustrations led him to leave the Gelug Order and return to the United States in late 1994, where he married in 1995. But after a self-imposed two-year exile, Erdne re-embraced his mission and returned to Kalmykia.

Return to Kalmykia

Since his return to Kalmykia, Erdne has successfully led the revival of Buddhism. For example, as the Šajin Lama, Erdne now administers 27 newly-constructed temples and prayer houses and oversees the work of seven Tibetan lamas. He also has dispatched dozens of young Kalmyk men to India for formal monastic training. Finally, he has learned to speak Kalmyk and Russian.

Erdne spends six months of the year in Elista and the remainder with his wife and son in the United States.

ee also

* Buddhism in Kalmykia

References

* An Ex-Telemarketer's Other Life as a Buddhist Saint. "The New York Times", 12 June 2004
* [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2004-07-22/naked.shtml From Kalmykia With Love] . "Philadelphia City Paper", 22 July 2004