The Sakyong and Semo Tseyang offering khatas during the civil marriage.
Immediately following the civil marriage.
Leaving the Courthouse.
Front row (left to right): Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham, Semo Tseyang. Back row (left to right): Semo Sonam, Alan Goldstein, Semo Pede, Semo Palmo.
Front row (left to right): Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham, Semo Tseyang, Lady Diana Mukpo. Back row (left to right): Semo Sonam, Anna Mukpo, Alan Goldstein, Gesar Mukpo, Semo Pede, Semo Palmo, Acharya Levy, Chandali Mukpo
Semo Tseyang is a leading member of the sacred Gesar dance ensemble established and trained by her father, Namkha Drimed Rinpoche. She is seen here performing with the ensemble at Namdroling Monastery in southern India in February this year.
After meeting briefly during the Gesar dances in India, the Sakyong and Semo Tseyang agreed to see each other again in April, this time at the home of her sister Semo Palmo in Westchester, New York. There the couple were photographed together on their first walk together.
On his arrival at the Westchester home, the Sakyong was offered tea as part of the welcome for him and the other guests travelling with him. Semo Tseyang and the Sakyong are seen here during the formal greeting.
Semo Tseyang's father is His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche who received empowerments from the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche while both were still in Tibet. During the family meeting in April, the Sakyong formally asked Semo Tseyang to marry him and sought her father's permission.
Semo Tseyang sits beside the Sakyong during the private meeting at her sister's home. Born in Orissa in Eastern India and fluent in five languages, she is known for having been greatly influenced and inspired by the rituals and practices of her father's Gesar of Ling terma.
Semo Tseyang.
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Biography of His Eminence Tertön Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche (contributed by Mr Alan Goldstein of Ripa Ladrang, the mandala His Eminence established in the west)
His Eminence Tertön Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche is the supreme head of the Ripa lineage of Nyingma Vajrayana Buddhism and a living Tertön who has discovered many volumes of hidden teachings. The practices of the Ripa lineage are based on Taksham Samten Lingpašs vast Terma cycle of revealed teachings which also includes the most elaborate account of the life of Yeshe Tsogyal. Rinpoche is also the revealer of the complete cycle of teachings on the life of Gesar of Ling, the enlightened warrior-king of Tibet.
Born in Tibet in 1938, Rinpoche was raised by his father Ripa Jigme Tsewang Chodrup, as spiritual and family heir to the Ripa Lineage. At the invitation of Yak Tulku, Namkha Rinpoche received the Rinchen Terdzo Wang (Treasury of Hidden Treasure Teachings) from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche at the Yak Gonpa in Kham, Tibet. Besides his father, his heart teachers also include His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, among others. He left Tibet in 1959, and settled with his family in Orissa, India, where he re-established his community and built a monastery and retreat center.
Under his vision and guidance, an extensive new monastic complex is nearing completion in Pharping, Nepal, close to the spot where Padmasambhava achieved enlightenment. Named after the original Ripa lineage seat in Tibet founded in the 16th century, the Rigon Tashi Choeling Monastery contains the first temple devoted to King Gesar of Ling in the Himalayan region. The grand opening will take place on the 11th day of November 2005. A week-long celebration of traditional ceremonies, cultural programs, sacred dances and visits to holy places is planned.
Namkha Rinpoche and his wife Sangyum Chime Dolkar have two sons, Jigme Rinpoche, heir to the Ripa lineage, and Lhunpo Tulku Rinpoche; and four daughters, Semo Sonam, Semo Pede, Semo Palmo and Semo Tseyang. He travels widely and teaches throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Namkha Rinpoche is renowned for his Gesar of Ling arrow divinations. His extraordinary power of realization, direct flow of blessings, authentic presence and legendary patience continue to touch and transform sentient beings.
Semo Tseyang Palmo (contributed by Alan Goldstein of Ripa Ladrang)
Semo Tseyang was born in Orissa, India, the youngest daughter of His Eminence Terton Namkha Drimed Rinpoche and his wife Sangyum Chime Dolkar. She has two brothers, Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche, heir to the Ripa lineage, and Lhunpo Tulku Rinpoche; and three sisters, Semo Sonam, Semo Pede, and Semo Palmo.
Many years ago in Tibet, the famous visionary mirror-reader (Pra) of Kham, Katsa Tr-pa, who lived till the age of 90, revealed that Semo Tseyang bore the unmistakable signs and characteristics of Dakini. From a tender age, she was taught to read Dharma texts and write Tibetan calligraphy by her grandmother, Mayum Palden Tsomo, a highly accomplished yogin and the granddaughter of Tibet's celebrated Yogi Saint, Drubwang Shakya Shri. Semo Tseyang was deeply influenced by her grandmother's tutelage in the living tradition of the Ripa Ladrang family and its roles and responsibilities in the spiritual and temporal fields. The Ripa Ladrang is responsible for large monastic institutions and communities in Tibet, Nepal and India.
Semo Tseyang and her sisters attended a British school in Darjeeling India, where they also spent time under the kind care of her grand uncle, the late Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche, founder of Druk Sanga Choling Monastery, the main seat of Drukpa Kagyu in India. Since childhood she participated and has been greatly influenced and inspired by the rituals and practices of the Nyingmapa and Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Semo Tseyang in particular received teachings, and practiced under the guidance of late Drubwang Anzin Rinpoche, her uncle and the elder brother of Terton Namkha Rinpoche. Under his supervision she completed the Ripa Ngondro (preliminary practice). Semo Tseyang also received the precious Rinchen Terzod Initiations, The Gesar of Ling cycle of New Treasures teachings and empowerments, and many other precious teachings from her father. She continues to engage in the regular practice of meditation and sadhana.
Semo Tseyang and her sisters attended Anzin Rinpoche and saw to his health care, public engagements, and travels until his Paranirvana some years back. Since then she has traveled widely in support of the activities of her father and the Ripa masters. Semo Tseyang and her sisters assist with communications, appointments, event organization, personal translations, and so on. They are also active in attending to the sick and needy of their community in Nepal and Orissa, India.
As a principle dancer and singer in the Lingdro Association of India, she regularly performs the dances of Gesar of Ling. The sacred Lingdro dances first came into existence during the time of Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche in Tibet. The dances and accompanying music were created as an expression of his detailed, luminous visions of the extraordinary life of King Gesar of Ling. Discontinued when the Chinese invaded Tibet, the Lingdro dances were re-established in Orissa under the guidance of Terton Namkha Drimed Rinpoche with the help of the visionary dancer Pa Norzang and his daughter, Aja Yangzom.
Semo Tseyang is fluent in Tibetan, English, Hindi, Bhutanese and Nepali. Her modern education, traditional upbringing, grace, humility and spiritual maturity are some of the qualities that make her unique and special. She lives with her family at their homes in Nepal and India.
A tapestry of families, cultures and lineages (compiled from reports by Josh Silberstein, Mitchell Levy and others)
When he left Halifax for India in February this year, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche knew he was heading to Namdroling Monastery in Southern India to receive Mipham empowerments from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche -- who had recognized him ten years previously as the reincarnation of Mipham the Great.
When the Sakyong and his party arrived at Namdroling on 24 February, however, the monastery courtyard was filled with a 60-member sacred dance troupe. They were performing the complete cycle of Gesar dances, "The Wheel of Auspiciousness", composed by Mipham the Great. The dances continued over two nights, with the entire monastery and local community forming a huge audience.
On the second evening of the cycle, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche invited the Sakyong to sit beside him to watch the spectacle. As the Sakyong observed the pageant he noticed one dancer who seemed distinct from the others. At first there was some confusion as to who she was since the performers wore heavy make-up and ornate costumes with elaborate headdresses. Then he learned she was Semo Tseyang Palmo, the youngest daughter of His Eminence Tertön Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche of the Ripa family.
That night the Sakyong asked his small travelling party to invite the members of the Ripa family to an informal tea that he would like to offer them in his quarters.
Five members of the Ripa family were there. Leading the dancers was Dungsay Karma Shedrub, the brother of His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche. Also on the tour were Ashe Tsering Paldon, His Eminence's sister, and three of his daughters -- Semo Sonam, Semo Pede and Semo Tseyang -- all referred to with the honorific "Semo", noble sister.
Tea was a relaxed, yet formal occasion. Everyone remarked on the auspiciousness of meeting in such unexpected circumstances. The Sakyong and Semo Tseyang, the youngest of the sisters, did not have an opportunity to talk directly to each other. But that evening the Sakyong asked Lama Pegyal, who was accompanying him, to make inquiries about her, abiding by the Tibetan tradition.
While the story of how the couple came together is a completely contemporary tale, it is also a weaving together of traditions, families and lineages that stretch back over generations.
More than half a century ago when the Sakyong's mother, Lady Konchok, was living in Tsa-Pasho, Tibet, her father was the head or local lord of Tashi-gon. A day's horse ride away was the ancestral home of His Eminence Tertön Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche's family, a vast region called Ripa-gon. The monastery and region were under the direct supervision of His Eminence, the supreme head of the Ripa lineage. The Ripa family lineage (Dunjud) stretches back more than nineteen generations. It traces its descent to one of the twenty five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Many of its lineage practices are from the Nyingma lineage of Taksham, one of the hundred tertons supplicated in the world of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as His Eminence's other terma.
His Eminence Tertön Namkha Drimed Rinpoche is one of the great living tertons and has revealed terma of the complete Cycle of Gesar of Ling, among others. He received the Rinchen Terdzo Wang (Treasury of Hidden Treasure Teachings) from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche during their time together in Tibet, as well as a Gesar sadhana written specifically for him.
The two families have kept in touch over the intervening decades. In the 1970's, at the request of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, His Eminence's older brother, Ritul Rigzin Chogyal Rinpoche, who was also known as Drubwang Anzin Rinpoche, served as the representative of all the Nyingma schools to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India. During this time he met Lady Konchok several times and was a close friend of her family. As a result of their long-standing connection there was talk in those years about how joyful it would be if the two families could join together in an auspicious union.
Two decades later, the Sakyong was undertaking periods of study at Namdroling Monastery in southern India with His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. During his 1996 retreat the Sakyong wished to thank the monastery's General Secretary, Kunsung Lama, for his kindness, and presented him with a print of the Yeshe Tsogyal thangka painted by his father, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. When Kunsung Lama received this gift he understood it to symbolize the Sakyong's wish to continue the family lineage of the Mukpos.
Kunsung Lama consulted His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and other senior lamas. Their divinations repeatedly pointed in the direction of the family of His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche, held in high regard as part of Tibet's nobility.
Various attempts were made to bring the two families together, as Lady Konchok well remembers, but that auspicious occasion never arose -- until the evening in Namdroling this February when the Sakyong, seated beside His Holiness, looked out over the Gesar dancers, saw one whom he described as "distinct in form and elegance", and decided to invite her and her family to tea.
Later, Semo Tseyang and her sisters would tell the Sakyong they were so moved as they took tea with him that they felt an immediate depth of connection that lasted long afterwards.
While still at Namdroling Monastery for the Mipham empowerments that took place a few days later, Lama Pegyal consulted an oracle who advised that lungta flags must be flown and specific sutras chanted, after which everyone's wishes would be accomplished "just like the sun coming out in a clear sky".
His Holiness Penor Rinpoche was also asked about a possible union between the Sakyong and Semo Tseyang. He replied that it would be "a mixing of two great dharma lineages and families". "But", His Holiness added, "whatever happens will be up to these two individuals, Semo Tseyang and the Sakyong". With these blessings and advice the Sakyong and his party left southern India, making sure that while in Sikkim, the next stop on their travels, the lungta flags were raised and the sutras chanted.
Two weeks later, while the Sakyong was in Taiwan on his South East Asia book tour, several phone calls took place between the two families. After an encouraging conversation between the Sakyong and Semo Tseyang's older sister, Semo Palmo, the couple finally spoke together. That phone call turned out to be the first of many. Over the ensuing weeks, the couple talked frequently as the Sakyong travelled through Taiwan and Hong Kong, and Semo Tseyang made her way through France and Spain, accompanying her brother, Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche on his most recent European teaching tour.
They decided to meet again, this time at the Westchester home of Semo Palmo, and her husband Alan Goldstein. At that time, Semo Tseyang would be accompanying and supporting her father on a teaching tour across the United States. They settled on a date: 11 April. It would finally give them a chance to talk face-to-face.
The Sakyong was greeted at the family home by her father, Namkha Rinpoche, her mother, Sangyum Chime Dolkar, and older sister, Semo Pede, along with Semo Palmo and her husband Alan and their children. Accompanying the Sakyong were Lama Pegyal, Acharya Mitchell Levy, Mistress of the Court Sharon Hoagland, mutual friends Deborah Garrett and Arbie Thalacker, kusung Nick Trautz and attaché Josh Silberstein.
The Sakyong's party recall the clear sky and bright sun that day. The family made a point of telling everyone that the magnolia in front of the house had just blossomed in the morning. Everyone was introduced at a family tea, during which the Sakyong presented a gift of two snow lion statues to His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche and bright yellow flowers and a khata to Semo Tseyang.
Finally the couple were able to step outside and walk together for several hours. Both knew the strength of their karmic connection and could feel their affection for each other deepening. It was clear they had made their decision. That same afternoon, the Sakyong formally proposed. Semo Tseyang accepted and they went together to her parents so that the Sakyong could seek formal permission to marry. His Eminence gave his blessing and what was clearly an extraordinary day for both families culminated in a festive family meal that evening.
The next step was for the Sakyong to introduce his bride-to-be to the rest of the close Mukpo family, Lady Diana Mukpo and his mother, Lady Konchok. A formal engagement and announcement was planned to take place during a private court gathering at the Rhode Island home of Lady Diana and her husband Mitchell Levy on 10 May. The following day the couple would fly to Boulder to visit Lady Konchok at Marpa House.
Both families are a mix of the ancient and the contemporary. Both want to honour the traditions of the different cultures in which they live and travel. There will be a quiet civil service in North America this summer, to be followed by religious ceremonies and celebrations to take place first in Nova Scotia and then in India during the course of next year.
