Letter from Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche

Dear Friends,

Since the very tragic death of my brother, Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, we have been overwhelmed by messages of sympathy and condolence. To those of you we have been unable to answer personally, I want to let you know how deeply grateful I am for your kind words of support.

I feel the reason you all have felt so connected to my brother is that for his entire life he did nothing but follow the path of loving kindness and compassion. Always engaging in a simple and humble lifestyle - many of you will have seen him doing anything from digging trenches covered in mud or cleaning drains to sitting on a throne giving empowerments - he made his time available to us all in whatever way was necessary.

With absolute clarity in his mind and only £50 to his name, with the help of many dedicated people he built Samye Temple. Now with more resources and people we finally realised the entire Samye College. Having started with nothing he is responsible for having created this inspiring and beautiful place of practice and study. His exceptionally high standards have meant that he has always ensured that only the highest quality of pure, authentic teachings are given at Samye Ling, bringing some of the world’s greatest Buddhist teachers to teach here. Like Samye Monastery in Tibet, there is a prophecy that Samye Ling will become the root of Buddhism in the West. I wish to dedicate this entire project to Akong Tulku Rinpoche's courage and wisdom.

Out of his deep understanding of the many different ways of working with the mind, Rinpoche developed Tara Therapy, a vision which has quickly grown to become a very successful form of therapy which has benefited many people around the world.

Due to his great compassion, he established the ROKPA charity. He started feeding poor and homeless people, setting up soup kitchens in places like Glasgow, London, Antwerp, Johannesburg and Kathmandu.

He managed to set up a vast number of humanitarian aid projects covering many regions of the Tibetan areas of China. He started with orphans and then developed educational facilities and medical projects, giving hope to people from the poorest backgrounds who otherwise would have no future. Many of those he helped in this way now hold professional positions in medicine and education. He also saw a need for the preservation of Tibetan culture and tradition, and this forms the heart of many of the projects. All of this work has been achieved through ROKPA INTERNATIONAL.

He made great efforts to visit and support his projects – sometimes encountering harsh and difficult conditions. Everything he has done has always been with the sincere wish to help others, without any thought of his own comfort and safety. He managed to reach many parts of the world, from Glasgow to Zimbabwe to the highest regions of the Tibetan plateau, with great success, transforming the lives of so many people.

As far as I am concerned I am no match to my brother, in wisdom or ability, but the responsibility for his many projects now falls on my shoulders, so at the very least I have the courage and determination to do my absolute best to fulfil his wishes - but I will need all the help I can get!

I ask all of you who care about Akong Rinpoche’s vision to join and help me continue his work and to ensure that we bring the Third Akong Tulku Rinpoche to his throne as quickly as possible so he can continue his bodhisattva activities.

With every good wish and many thanks,