December 8, 2017
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu
It has been a joyous day. First of all, I recovered [applause]. Now I am truly recovered, so this is a very good thing in order to go ahead. In fact, you know very well that when we say ‘celebrate a birthday’ this means getting older and not getting younger. But I feel almost rejuvinated, my health is better than the last year, for example, so this is a very good thing.
Also you have come from all over and I want to thank you and I am really glad for your participation. This is very important not only for my birthday, but in general for the Dzogchen Community. For the future, the participation and the collaboration of all people are fundamental.
You know very well how many crisis and problems we have in the world, but we are Dzogchen practitioners, we know their cause and we know how to work with the cause. So we try to do our best not only for ourselves, but for all. The teaching – not only the Dzogchen teaching, but all the teachings, starting from the Hinayana – is for all sentient beings, not only for a group of practitioners. Therefore it must function. The Dzogchen teaching is really one of the best because it allows us to integrate and to live according to the circumstance. We have learned this, we are applying this and we are bringing the teaching forward collaborating all together. Therefore I am very glad, thank you all.
Tomorrow many of you will leave. I want to wish you a safe journey back and we will see each other soon.
I also want to inform you that there were 1415 webcast contacts in the world.
Ok, thank you all.
Lobsang Delek
I am sorry, but my English is not very good. I spent some years in European countries where the English language is not used so much, so I forgot a little.
I think today a dream came true. For a long time I really wanted to meet Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, because I am a person who wants to study Tibetan history and Tibetan culture. I studied it in a college for high Tibetan studies in Sarah, near Dharamsala, so I heard about Rinpoche so many times. Now, thanks to a good connection, my songs are danced here in the International Dzogchen Community. Khaita songs are very popular, they have become widely known on Facebook and many Tibetan fans of mine called me and said, “Oh, Westerners are dancing your songs!” My fans are shocked on one side, and on another side they feel encouraged. So I am very happy to meet all you guys and especially Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and I am very, very happy today to have joined with you all to celebrate Rinpoche’s birthday.
I would like to say thank you so much to the people who put an effort to invite me here, the Dzogchen Community and the Shang Shung Foundation. I want to say “Buena noche a todos, bonsoir a tout le monde!”
So today I am going to sing a couple of my songs that you are dancing. It would be a very nice offering to Rinpoche with some other smart dances of your Community. I will also sing a song that I heard Rinpoche likes called Penchent by the singer Yardung. It is not one of my songs, but it is a popular Tibetan song, so I will try my best. Then we can all join to dance Phuyana.
Thank you, you guys dance really well; I really appreciate this from the bottom of my heart. I truly want to stay here with you to dance and relax, because in Paris everyone is very busy, it is a little crazy. Here I feel relaxed and I wish I could stay a bit longer, but on December 16th I have a concert, so I cannot spend much time here with you. But I am very happy to have been here and especially to have met Rinpoche. Thank you so much.
Transcription and translation by Rita Bizzotto
Biography of Lobsang Delek
Lobsang Delek is a young multi-talented, charismatic Tibetan singer with a music style of his own. He was born in Tehor Karze, one of the great regions of the Dokham Chushi Gangdruk (Four Rivers and Six Ranges) of Tibet. His biggest inspiration for music were his parents.
Lobsang went to India in 1997 and he completed his undergraduate in TCV Gopalpur School. His first album, Cuckoo, was released and distributed in 2007 while he was studying in the College for Higher Tibetan Studies at Sarah in India. Since then, he received positive acclaim from Tibetans both in and outside Tibet. The popular songs are: Beloved Tenzin Dolma, and one about the motherland called Chung Ya Ri Lo. Later Lobsang released a second album called Tenzin Dolma Returns during his final year in the Sarah College; the number one hit was Tendel Sangpo or Do La Tra Mo.
Lobsang has won huge love and respect from the Tibetan people and has become a most admired young singer. His songs became hits and celebrated in all the regions of Tibet and even many prominent artists such as Sherten and Tsewang Lhamo use his songs. His songs were also shown in XZTV and Sichung Khampa TV and he was interviewed in many prominent media like VOA, RFA, Tibet Express, and Soyala.
His latest release, bhoed La Dro, meaning Let’s go to Tibet, his first music video album, was released in Bodhgaya, India in 2012. The album was named to represent the spirit and inner voice of Tibetan brothers and sisters who live outside of Tibet. bhoed La Dro was a hit in Tibet , India, Bhutan and Nepal and loved by the Himalayan people. Particularly Zalhu one of his love song music videos became an immediate smash hit and a song on everyone’s lips. Thus, he was officially invited for some Himalayan Festivals organized by the government of India and has performed as a representative artist of Tibet with other Indian Bollywood artists.
Lobsang has given concerts in many different states and several countries both East and West, and many of his songs are also liked by many foreigners in the West, especially the devotional and folk songs like Puuyana, Kongshey and bhoed La Dro. These are sung and danced in many Buddhist Institutes in Europe and Russia. Dzamling Gar, the main seat of the international Dzogchen Community, uses these songs and dances for Khaita (Harmony in Space). Lobsang’s songs are generally based on spirituality, love, patriotism, traditional pop, and social orientation. Currently Lobsang lives in Paris and is performing!
