30 Years of Creation and Development

Tomorrow, June 20, the monastic sangha and Buddhists of Kalmykia will mark the 30th anniversary of the election of Telo Tulku Rinpoche to the post of Shajin Lama of Kalmykia. This fateful decision was made at the II Extraordinary Conference of the Buddhists of Kalmykia and Astrakhan Region.

The appearance at that time of such a personality as Telo Tulku Rinpoche - a Kalmyk, recognized at the age of 6 as the new reincarnation of the great Indian saint Tilopa, and presented to the people of Kalmykia by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama during his first visit in 1991 - determined the path of the further development of Buddhism in the republic.

At the age of 20, Telo Tulku Rinpoche led the process of the spiritual revival of the steppe republic and took upon himself the burden of making decisions on difficult problems: the lack of personnel, khuruls, Buddhist literature, and ritual implements. In those difficult years he laid the foundations for turning the Republic of Kalmykia into a major center of Russian Buddhism.

Today Telo Tulku Rinpoche is not only the head of the Buddhists of Kalmykia, but also the Honorary Representative of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia and the CIS countries. He has carried out this honorable mission since 2015, for 7 years now.
He is also the chairman of the Tilopa Buddhist Center in Mongolia, the spiritual director of the “Save Tibet” foundation in Moscow, the chairman of the “Save Tibet” society in Riga, and the spiritual director of the “Tilopa” center in Elista.

We congratulate our Shajin Lama on this glorious date - the 30th anniversary of his work in the post of Supreme Lama of Kalmykia, and we wish him steadfastness, sound health, and success in the cause of developing Buddhism in Russia and abroad! Tomorrow a solemn prayer service will be held in his honor. It begins at 9.00.