Columbia Heights, Minnesota
By Gabe Hewitt, iLander Student Editor
I never thought meeting a five-year-old boy could be one of the biggest moments of my life so far.
If you didn't know, Columbia Heights is home to a reincarnated Buddhist lama (holy figure). In the Buddhist religion it is believed that when you die, your soul is reincarnated into a new body. They call them "tulkus" and Jalue Dorjee is the first Minnesota-born tulku.
I took Heights Herald photographer Shelly Wagner with me one freezing afternoon after school over to Jalue's house to interview him and his father. Lendup Tshering, a high school student and a friend of Jalue's family, agreed to translate for Jalue's father, Tsegyal, when I interviewed him.
Tsegyal opened the door with a very inviting and hospitable smile. As soon as I walked into the house, I smelled something immediately. Lendup told me that it was Tibetan incense. I heard Jalue playing with his friend in the basement as I sat down at Tsegyal's kitchen table with Shelly and Lendup. Jalue's mother, Dechen Wangmo, was at work and couldn't be there for the interview. Tsegyal offered us a pop and I gladly took a Coke. When Tsegyal sat down, I gladly told him that I was thankful for letting me interview him and his son. He gave me a delighted smile.
Tsegyal moved from Tibet ten years ago. He chose to live in Minnesota because of its high Tibetan population, which is second highest in the country. When Tsegyal's wife was pregnant with Jalue, he says she had an easy pregnancy. He then explains that he and his wife had very vivid and symbolic dreams. When a respected lama came to visit the Twin Cities community in 2006, the couple told the lama about their dreams and he said that they were not your ordinary dreams.
The couple then asked the lama to perform a process called "divination," which is a ritual, depending on the culture, used to give insight to the future. This certain divination used involved two arrows and a prayer. Weeks later, the couple received a letter in the mail from that lama which said that their unborn son was the reincarnation of a Buddhist spiritual master. Tsegyal wanted to find out more, so he had another lama perform divination. That second lama would later send a letter in the mail that said, "Your son is lucky to be a reincarnate of body, speech and mind of Taksham Nueden Dorjee."
Many thoughts started to enter Tsegyal’s and Dechen's minds. They knew the lives that lamas lived, which included living in a monastery in Asia. The thought of being separated from their son started to grow in the back of their minds.
"I feel like I will eventually get used to the thought of him leaving," Tsegyal said.
After Jalue was born, his parents had another visiting lama perform a third and final divination. This lama also concluded that Jalue was indeed a tulku. He told Tsegyal that he should inform other lamas of this news and that's what Tsegyal did. He would then receive several more letters declaring his son's status. In 2009, a letter from the Dalai Lama, the leader of Buddhism, arrived at the family's home recognizing Jalue as the reincarnation of Taksham Nueden Dorjee.
In 2010, when Jalue was four-years-old, his parents took him to see the Dalai Lama, who was visiting in Wisconsin at the time.
"Meeting the Dalai Lama was truly an honor," Tsegyal said. "It's rare to see him in person, but it's very rare to meet him face-to-face."
The Dalai Lama advised Tsegyal to give his son an American education until he turns 10. When that time comes, he should then send him to a monastery in India, where he would live his life as a lama. And so Tsegyal would take his words to heart.
Jalue attends preschool every three days a week at the Family Center in Columbia Heights. Tsegyal said his son is a very good learner and absorbs knowledge well. He studies well and can read, write and speak Englsih well. Tsegyal told me a story about Jalue coughing one morning and then crying when he told him he could not go to school. This made Tsegyal very grateful for his son's education.
After I was done interviewing Tsegyal, I asked if I could interview his son. He nodded with a smile and called for him. Jalue came running up the stairs from his basement. Lendup took Jalue onto his lap and I could now fully see the lama reincarnate. His red GAP outfit made him stand out. Jalue was very shy and he reminded me of myself when I was younger. In the short interview I had with Jalue, I learned that he likes to play Wii and his favorite television shows are Curious George and Power Rangers Samurai.
I followed Jalue to his basement, where I watched him play basketball on Wii Sports Resort. Whenever he made a basket, he'd turn around and look at me with a toothy smile.
After that, Tsegyal invited me to watch him and his son in a room designated as a "prayer room." When Tsegyal is off work, he'll spend time in this room with his reading scriptures, reciting prayers and participating in other Buddhist practices.
I got a chance to actually see Jalue, dressed in his traditional lama robes, recite a prayer with his father. It was definitely something to see. We then had a conversation where we both agreed that Jayden was the coolest Power Ranger.
I took a few things away from my experience with Jalue. I learned that he's just like every other kid his age. He looks forward to going to school and answering questions in class correctly. When he gets home, he just wants to relax and play Wii.
But what is perhaps most interesting is that Jalue doesn't even know he's a lama. Tsegyal told me that tulkus find out who they really are by themselves. I didn't expect a five-year-old to understand that he'd have to leave his parents in five years to live in India. Tsegyal is undecided whether he will go with his son when that time comes. He says his financial situation will factor into his decision.
"I've had a lot on my mind since my son's birth," he said. "In the end, I'll be proud of him when he grows up. I hope he can teach people about life in the future."
(Photo: Jalue Dorjee is a reincarnation of a Buddhist holy figure. Photo by Shelly Wagner.)