The Story of Lobsang Phuntsok
“We all have within us the seeds of compassion to heal ourselves and the world around us. With right nurturance and right environment, these seeds will take root and flourish within us.” – Lobsang Phuntsok
Gen Lobsang Phuntsok la’s* personal journey is one of deep transformation—from being abandoned at birth, to being sent far away to a monastery in South India as a young boy, who struggled to find his place there, to returning to his native region to create a children’s community based on the universal principles of love and compassion to save children from facing similar childhood traumas as his own.
* Gen la (pronounced with a soft g) is a title of respect in the Monpa and Tibetan cultures.
Although Lobsang Phuntsok’s date of birth is unknown, according to his family he was born in 1971 in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the remote Indian Himalayas. He often shares his own challenges from childhood with the children at Jhamtse Gatsal so they can know that his experiences were similar to theirs. He encourages the children to believe any kind adversity in childhood can be positive and a resource for self-transformation.
Written by Lobsang Phuntsok:
While it is not easy for me to share the story of my early childhood years, they are a part of my life and play an important role in making me the person I am today. When my mother got pregnant, she was unmarried and still young, so my birth was seen as a disgrace in the village. She gave birth to me in secret in our family toilet, where she left me covered in the dried leaves used to cover human waste. My grandparents heard a sound of someone crying and thought a goat had entered their fields and was eating their crops. My grandmother went out to check, saw something moving under the dried leaves and found a baby, which was me. I had turned a shade of greenish-purple—I nearly died.
Normally, when you have a new baby, the family, friends, and neighbours celebrate. But my birth wasn’t something to celebrate. I brought a lot of pain and embarrassment to my family. That’s why when I was younger, I was called “an uninvited guest of this universe.” During my early childhood years, people didn’t like me in my village. I created problems; I broke people’s windows, hurt their animals and destroyed their prayer flags. I particularly remember someone telling me, “You are not going to change. You are not going to get better.” I don’t know why that really stuck in my mind. Today, I can still see that place and feel it. A couple of times I remember thinking it was better to end my life.
Before I was seven years old, I considered ending my life. Luckily, my grandparents loved me even when I was not lovable. They saw something inside me, a potential that I could change. So, at age seven, they sent me to study at Sera Je monastery near Mysore, Karnataka in South India. I liken it to being sent to a mental hospital -- they were sending me there asking for help, to free me from all the disturbing emotions I was going through. I believe it is because of their kindness that I am alive.
My grandparents didn’t have much, but the day before I left for the monastery in South India, my grandfather stitched a sack out of a pair of his trousers and put most of the money he had saved in it with my name on it. “Keep this always,” he said. “Never use it unless you really need it.” It was only later that I was able to understand how much he loved and trusted me. I was 7 when my grandparents sent me away to the Sera Je monastery in southern India where I intensely studied Buddhist philosophy and practice, social and political science, Hindi, Sanskrit and Tibetan languages, and Tibetan culture. The monastery had a very rigid schedule and very strict discipline.
My early years as a monk were challenging too also. I had bad attitude, but my gurus never gave up on me. I had to follow schedules, policies, discipline, activities, and things that we were doing in the monastery. It took me a while to get better. Over time, I started thinking positively, growing in confidence, and believing that I could become a better human being. My mind was engaged, and I had time to reflect.
My grandparents gave me the encouragement and opportunity to become a human being and my gurus gave me the opportunity to find my life’s purpose. My gurus always said me: “Use your pain, your challenges, your suffering and what is lacking in your life as your resource and try to give to others what you have lost. This way, you can get back everything you lost.” This didn’t make sense to me then, but when I look back today, I understand the progression of the gifts that my grandparents and my gurus gave me. First, I had to become a human being; find the human inside me and my monastic life gave me this. Second, my gurus took me beyond just being human. They helped me find the purpose of my life. I realize I am still on the journey of becoming a human being.
Another teaching I received from my gurus was: “You are a tiny, tiny part of the larger family in this universe. You are only one person amid billions of human beings and other sentient beings—creatures, animals, bugs, and birds”. This helped me connect to other sentient beings through my own challenges and difficulties. And when I did that, naturally, the focus began to change. Instead of complaining, I asked myself, “How can I contribute to my family—my larger family—to relieve them of their challenges?”
In 1996, I was selected by my monastery as one of ten people to undertake intensive English translation training courses on Buddhist philosophy held by the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India.
After the completion of my studies in 1998, I began teaching Buddhist philosophy in English within India, and subsequently in the United States and Canada.
While in the United States, I often visited public and private schools to talk to children about love and compassion, believing that if seeds of compassion are sown early in children, they have an opportunity to flourish in adulthood. I often met with children struggling with depression and abuse, and through encouragement and counsel, I worked to help them overcome their limitations and blossom into their true nature.
After the completion of my studies in 1998, I began teaching Buddhist philosophy in English within India, and subsequently in the United States and Canada.
While in the United States, I often visited public and private schools to talk to children about love and compassion, believing that if seeds of compassion are sown early in children, they have an opportunity to flourish in adulthood. I often met with children struggling with depression and abuse, and through encouragement and counsel, I worked to help them overcome their limitations and blossom into their true nature.
When you see generosity as fixing, you see life as broken.
When you see generosity as healing, you see life as weak.
When you see generosity as service, you see life as whole.
He encourages everyone at Jhamtse Gatsal to live a life of service towards others. Gen Lobsang la is vision inspired and mission driven to provide children from backgrounds of trauma and adversity with an opportunity to heal themselves and the world. He believes that Jhamtse (love and compassion) can rekindle our human spirit and rebuild our human community. He envisions that one day the world will live as one Jhamtse community. What is needed is courage to take bold steps to revolutionize the way we raise and educate our children. This is what he strives for at Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community.
In a short amount of time, the outreach of the Community is uplifting the remote Mon region (on the borders of Tibet and Bhutan) in Arunachal Pradesh, India, while its influence on educational systems throughout India and the world continues to grow. For example, Kelsang who is a 2018 graduate of Jhamtse Gatsal, is now in her second year of law school. She is studying to be a human rights attorney to be in service to India’s poorest communities who don’t have access to quality education. In Kelsang’s own words:
“I have noticed many children in my village not going to school, though they have a right to education mentioned in the law and constitution! In my village, services provided by the government never reach to the villagers. This made me curious to learn about the laws in India. I want to find out the solutions to solve such issues.
I wish to protect the rights of the people living in my village. For thousands of years, the lack of modern education and modern law has made it hard for them to fight for their rights. Through the values of love, compassion and wisdom, I want to fight for the rights of the Monpa people or people in need”.
Gen Lobsang Phuntsok la (The Compassion Gardener) is leading a Jhamtse movement to “rekindle the human spirit and rebuild the human community” by raising the next generation of compassion gardeners who will continue to sow seeds of compassion wherever they may live in the world.
Lobsang Phuntsok
“I cannot undo my life and go back to my childhood…but I can give these children their childhood. We have 85 children and I am lucky that I missed only one childhood; I get the opportunity to live 85 childhoods.”
From the Emmy award-winning documentary Tashi and the Monk,
The film has been translated into 11 languages in appreciation of its timeless and global message around Gen Lobsang la’s work.