[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING LOBSANG LHALUNGPA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, Lobsang Lhalungpa was born on 
the other side of the world from New Mexico, but we considered him one 
of our own.
  When he died in April, the state lost, as one resident put it, a 
``teacher with a capital T.'' For decades, Lhalungpa was a great 
promoter of communication. As a translator and adviser for the Dalai 
Lama, he brought the ideas and the struggles of the Tibetan people to 
American audiences. As an exile and activist, he linked Tibetan 
communities from India and the United States to their troubled homeland 
and their brothers and sisters around the world. As a spiritual teacher 
in New Mexico, he introduced his neighbors to a history and a way of 
life that continues to provide comfort to those who knew him.
  Lhalungpa's family had developed a habit of being one step ahead of 
disaster. In 1910, his father recommended to the Dalai Lama that he 
leave Lhasa immediately after the Manchu General Chao Erh Feng decided 
to attack. The move may have saved the Lama's life, and it sealed his 
relationship with Lhalungpa's family. In 1947, Lhalungpa left Tibet for 
India, two years before China began its invasion. His escape allowed 
him to help establish the Tibetan government in exile and rally 
Tibetans in India around the cause of their homeland.
  Lhalungpa's life was cut short by a traffic accident, but he had 
already lived 84 years filled with action, reflection and joy. Friends 
claim that Lhalungpa would not want us to feel sorrow at his passing. 
As a teacher, he told his students that life is fleeting and death 
comes when we least expect it. Our responsibility is not to mourn death 
but to celebrate life.
  I rise today to celebrate the life of Lobsang Lhalungpa. Buddhism 
teaches that those who don't find teachers in this life will live in 
vain. Those who had the privilege to be taught by Lhalungpa have lived 
lives more linked to their communities and more touched by the divine. 
He lives on in their hearts and in the memory of a grateful community.

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