BIOGRAPHY

Tenzin Phuljung was born to a poor farming family on 28th July, 1989, in the Purung region of Ngari Province, Western Tibet. He is the second of four children. Following the Red Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet in the 1950s there were few opportunities to study or practice Buddhist philosophy. Freedom of speech came to an end.

At six-years-old Tenzin Phuljung left his family behind and made the arduous and dangerous journey to India. Walking at night across the Himalayas with fellow villagers, he reached Dharamsala, headquarters of the exile Tibetan community. Here, he and his group were blessed by an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Tenzin was enrolled in TCV school, a residential institute for newly arrived Tibetans founded by the Dalai Lama’s sister, Tsering Dolma, and funded by His Holiness along with Tibetan and foreign sponsors. During that time he won prizes for English elocution and drama. But, his schooldays ended when he was recognized as a Tulku (a reincarnate in a lineage of high lamas) by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is considered as the reincarnation of the Late monk Yeshi Chophel, who is well known for his practice of Lamrim; the great treatise on the stages of the path to enlightenment in the Western Tibet. Late monk Yeshi Chophel had studied at the Drepung Monastery in Tibet. He devoted his life for the preservation and promotion of Tibetan Buddhism in the Western Tibet. He passed away on his way to India near the border of Tibet and Nepal in late 60s when communist Chinese took away Tibet. And so, in July 2004 he became a monk and moved to Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India. There he studied Tibetan philosophy for almost six years before disrobing in 2010 and relocating to Dharamsala. Thanks to the care and generosity of Mrs. Darlene Streit, he is continuing his philosophy degree studies at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics.

Tenzin is interested in making film and he is looking for a scholarship to study on film one day. His dream film schools are Columbia, New York, Los Angeles and London. He works on his films during his very limited free time. His first creation, ‘Can Anyone Hear Me’, had its debut at the 2012 Tibetan Film Festival in Zurich and Dharamsala, where it won both the judges and audience prizes. Now he is working on his second film, ’Bringing A Smile’, a spiritually- inspired short movie.