In the service of the 13th and 14th Dalai Lama - Choegyal Nyima Lhundrup Kashopa - Untold stories of Tibet

Acknowledgements

It would be impossible to acknowledge adequately all the assistance I have received in presenting my Pala dampa Kashopa’s biography. I began only after I had been assured by Dr Robert Barnett that my standard of English had attained a level where I could write the biography in this, my third language. In the task of presenting Kashopa’s story, with its historical context, and in a truthful and honest way, Their Eminences the late Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, the current 102nd Gaden Tripa Rizong Sras Rinpoche, and Dagyab Kyabgon Rinpoche; Her Highness the Gyalyum Chenmo; the Venerable Champa Thegchok, the former Abbot of Sera Jey Monastery; and Kusho Palden Gyatso (a former prisoner of the Chinese who spent 33 years in jail), all provided me with important corroboration to fulfil this obligation. I thank them with all my heart for providing me with irrefutable evidence for Kashopa’s story.

I have drafted and redrafted my manuscript again and again under the guidance of the prominent Tibetan historian Mr Tashi Tsering, who kindly helped me obtain Kashopa’s memoirs from India; and with the help of Mr Rick O’Sullivan, Ms Kate Saunders and Mrs Barbara Barnett who sacrificed their precious time and energy for me. Kungo Rabgang Sonam Paljor also encouraged and assisted me in telling my Pala dampa’s story. I wholeheartedly thank each of these five people for their great contribution in helping me develop an accurate basis for this biography.

Then Rick and Barbara suggested that I should find a professional editor but, as I couldn’t afford to pay someone, I asked Kate, as a long-term colleague and a very talented lady, to be my editor and she agreed wholeheartedly. Kate asked Mr Ben Carrdus to initially assist her in editing my manuscript and planned to do the final editing work herself. Even though at that point most of Ben’s time should have been spent looking after his newborn daughter, he told me he would do his best, and edited both the manuscript and its glossary with great sincerity and effort. I was very touched by his remarkable achievement, his zeal and commitment, and I appreciate it very much.

Following Ben’s input, I made some additions and deletions and sent the manuscript to a small circle of knowledgeable people to seek their advice. Luckily I received positive feedback, in particular from Mr Tsering Gonkatsang at Oxford University, who, to my pleasant surprise, had actually reedited the manuscript without knowing Kate’s original plan, as he wanted to do justice to Kashopa’s story out of his strong sense of fair play. He wrote to me: “…the majority of the people will have a changed and positive view of your late Pala and the honour and respect he deserves for his many contributions to the Gaden Phodrang Government.” Thereupon he also re-edited the manuscript’s glossary and translated much of the Tibetan material. Later, after Kate still offered her excellent editing skills as planned, he once more refined the manuscript while translating His Eminence Dagyab Kyabgon Rinpoche’s personal account of Kashopa. I thank him for his great sense of justice and his contribution to this work. And Kate, as well as editing, was also the one who encouraged and enthusiastically supported my book since its inception. In addition, I was deeply impressed by her act of writing a fact-based article to commemorate my late son Jamphun’s brave deeds for his country. And I must say such noble act towards a deceased person is truly admirable.

During the later stages, I spent some time adding my finishing touches to the manuscript to produce a definitive version ready to be published. Then, as I was about to hand it to the publisher, to my great joy, Dr Robert Barnett offered his help in the final edit of my manuscript. I really felt lucky to receive this respected Tibetologist and humanitarian’s help since my very first day in London following my escape in 1991. As I expected, he did a marvellous job in editing the book and checking its glossary—a reflection of his encyclopaedic knowledge of Tibetan history and culture, and I’m very grateful for his friendship and help in so many ways for more than two decades.

Words fail to convey my grateful feelings to Dr Tsering Shakya and to Dr Robert Barnett for providing a foreword and an introduction; and to Mr Jamyang Norbu and Ms Tsering Woeser for the blurbs they wrote. These highly esteemed scholars’ invaluable support and comments, and their kindness and expertise were an exceptional contribution to my book.

I would like to attribute the completion of Kashopa’s biography to all the people mentioned above and, also to the support, encouragement and invaluable feedback from Lhacham Kelsang Takla, Kungo Tsetashi, Mr and Mrs Tsewang Pemba, Dr Lama Jabb and Mr Tenzin Gelek. In particular, I am indebted to the Tibetologist Mr Matthew Akester for acknowledging an account of Kashopa’s effort to save Tibetan honorific language; and to Mr Sonam Tsering for his great sense of justice and honesty on the Gedun Choephel issue to provide an accurate historical account for the next Tibetan generation. At the same time, I will always remember his kindness for nursing me for two weeks in my flat after my liver transplant surgery.

I was profoundly moved and humbled by Mr Jigme Ngapo, the former director of Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan department, for writing these kind words: “…More importantly, you have the courage to tell your story and actually publish a book! Future generations of Tibetan will thank you for this.”

I’m deeply grateful to Mr Sonam Dugdak for inserting all the pictures and Tibetan characters into the manuscript, for his great contribution to my book by sorting out, with skill and wisdom, all the problems related to my computer and to my daily life. When I had a liver transplant, he nursed me for two weeks at my home; and when I had my kidney surgery in 2014, he once again nursed me for eighteen days at home. I could not possibly have been able to write this book without the help that he and Rick have given me in my everyday life.

I wholeheartedly thank Kusho Geshe Tashi Tsering for giving me private tuition in Buddhist studies and, for bringing me directly the precious blessings and invaluable gifts from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I also thank him for organising special prayers and presiding over the funeral of my late son, which involved going through all of the relevant religious rituals for the deceased.

Suffice to say, how could I ever forget the great kindnesses of the following people that enabled me to escape and survive in Great Britain, as I have described in the book: HE Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche and his secretary Lama Ngodup, the X Rinpoche near London, Lhacham Kelsang Takla, Dr Robert Barnett, the late Mr David Burgess, the late Venerable Dungkar Rinpoche, Kusho Palden Gyatso, Mr & Mrs Anthony Aris, Mr Palden Langdun and Mr Jigme Langdun, Dr Gyurme Dorje and the late Rigzinla, Mr & Mrs Ngawang Dagpa and their daughter Dickeyla, the late Mr Dakar and his wife Yudonla, the late Mrs Rinchen Dolma Taring, the late Lord David Ennals, the directors of Oakenden Venture Ms Alisa Moore, Mr Losang Yeshi and his wife Ngawang Yangchenla. Also I will always remember with gratitude, how Mr Thierry Dodin did me a great honour on a particular occasion in London. Thus, owing to these good people, and by the blessings of the Three Precious Jewels, I was able to escape and survive.

From the bottom of my heart, I must thank Ms Rigzin Drokar in Canada, and a number of other old colleagues from Tibet who are now living in the West. They have always been kind and supportive. Although I can’t write their names here, they are indelibly printed in my heart. I am deeply touched by their help and great affection toward me in many ways.

I can find no words to express the depth of my gratitude to my versatile cousin Phuntsok Tsering for always being there whenever needed. In particular, his contribution to Kashopa’s biography is invaluable. Recently, some Tibetan intellectuals expressed their pleasure at being able to read the Tibetan transcript of my interview with Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Department on the issue of “The Kashopa family’s relationship with Gedun Choephel”, and this was all due to his efforts. Despite many claims on his time as the managing director of Tibet House in Germany, Phuntsok still spared no pains in contributing his beautiful calligraphy and other excellent artistic skills to this book. I’m not only grateful for his support but also proud of his wisdom and exceptional talent.

Last but not least, Ms Jane O’Sullivan and her brother Rick must be thanked from the depths of my heart for their long-lasting friendship, and for helping me deal with my everyday life since 1992, particularly during my early, difficult times in London. My English was rusty when I first met them because I had been forced to neglect it for many years, but I’m now able to write this book, and one of the reasons was their help with my English studies. For example, Rick would constantly correct my English, and Jane helped me enrol at Goldsmiths College to take an English course. I’m very much obliged to them. I also thank Jane and Rick for always looking after me whenever I have been hospitalised. For example, it was Jane who led me by my hand to my home from the hospital after my eye surgery, and it was Rick who drove every day between the...