Watch the 2017 Documentary Film The Buxa Lama on YouTube About the Early Days in Exile in India

The Buxa Lama, YouTube.

The Central Tibetan Administration has published a series of short documentary films on the Tibet TV YouTube channel as part of the Tibetan government in exile's initiative dedicating 2020 as the Year of Gratitude to His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama.

The third film they shared is The Buxa Lama. It was commissioned by Tibet TV, the official TV station of the Central Tibetan Administration, and produced by Red Robes Films in 2017.

The Buxa Lama was directed by Geleck Palsang, a Tibetan director born in Ladakh. Watch more of Geleck Palsang's work on the geleck palsang Vimeo channel.

The Buxa Lama is a beautiful 45 minute film that contains interviews with lamas who escaped Tibet, lived in Buxa Chogar refugee camp, and then helped re-establish Drepung and Ganden Monasteries in South India with their own hands.

The Buxa Lama

The Buxa Lama YouTube description says, "This documentary is about those 1500 Tibetan Monks from Drepung Monastery who escaped from Tibet from the Chinese occupation and their initial struggle to reestablish the monastic institutes and learning centers during the early days of exile at a place called Buxa Fort, on the grounds of the jungle-bound former prison camp located in West Bengal near Bhutan."

Watch "སྦག་ས་བླ་མ། དངོས་འབྱུང་གློག་བརྙན། The Buxa Lama - Documentary Film" on the TibetTV YouTube channel.

Drepung Loseling Monastery, Karnataka, India.

My Life in Brief - Ven. Khensur Pema Gyaltsen

The monks interviewed in The Buxa Lama spoke so beautifully of Khensur Phara Pema Gyaltsen, abbot of Drepung Monastery who passed away on June 30, 1984. Not being familiar with him, I searched the internet and found a 42 minute documentary by Meridian Trust, My Life in Brief - Ven. Khensur Pema Gyaltsen.

WorldCat provides a synopsis of the film, "This documentary filmed Apr. 4, 1984 was taken from a compilation of filming during the former Abbot of Drepung Monastery, the late Pema Gyaltsen Rinpoche's visits to Great Britain in 1983-1984, recounts events in his life, including his classical Buddhist education in Tibet, his escape into exile and subsequent responsibilities as the Abbot and main spiritual teacher of Drepung, formerly one of the largest monasteries in Tibet."

Khensur Phara Pema Gyaltsen became Abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery in Tibet in 1954 and held this responsibility until 1970.

If you watch The Buxa Lama then I recommend watching this film too.

Khensur Phara Pema Gyaltsen, HH The Dalai Lama's Kalob on Ven. Khensur Rinpoche Gen Pema Gyaltsen.

Watch the 1984 film for free on the Meridian Trust website.

His student Geshe Namgyal Wangchen translates for him in the film. Geshe Namgyal Wangchen was one of Geshe Dorji Damdul's teachers and it was wonderful to get to see him in this film.

I also found a 10 minute YouTube video of His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking about Khensur Phara Pema Gyaltsen and his reincarnation (in Tibetan) "HH The Dalai Lama's Kalob (speech) on Ven. Khensur Rinpoche Gen Pema Gyaltsen" which was nice to watch.