Tulku Rinpoche, Family and Individuality and other musings....
Tulku means reborn or reincarnated one of a previous lama of a specific inner and outer lineage. There are four main methods that create Rinpoches. Some Rinpoches today are not tulkus but are blessed into the memories of a previous lama by a realized lama that knew the previous one. This is not an authentic tulku arisal but is still quite unusual these days. There are those who are given a special mind transmission of another lama and then told they are such and such a name but there is actually not any connection between the child and the previous. This is also not a tulku. There are others who are little more than strategic political appointees. Perhaps the parents are wealthy and can support the monastery or are wishing to have status as parents of a Rinpoche. There are many political type appointees. An authentic arisal comes from interior lineage of a particular lama, from the actual abode of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas connected to that previous. These tulkus can arise in