Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 5: His Eminence Avikrita Vajra Rinpoche was formally enthroned as the 44th Sakya Trizin in Jaigaon, West Bengal, India, on Thursday at the newly inaugurated Sakya Thekchen Phuntsok Ling Monastery, marking a historic milestone as the first member of the Sakya Phuntsok Palace to assume the responsibility of leading the Sakya lineage in exile.
The enthronement ceremony was accompanied by a traditional long-life prayer offering (Tenshug) to the newly enthroned Sakya Trizin, presided over by His Holiness the Sakya Gongma Trichen, the 41st Sakya Trizin. Also in attendance were the 42nd Sakya Trizin, Ratna Vajra Rinpoche; the 43rd Sakya Trizin, Gyana Vajra Rinpoche; and Asanga Vajra Sakya Rinpoche.
Addressing the gathering during the long-life prayer ceremony, the 44th Sakya Trizin expressed his gratitude for the prayers and offerings made on the occasion. He said he wished, through the spiritual merit and blessings of the long-life prayer offerings, for all sentient beings to be safeguarded against untimely death. He particularly offered prayers for the long lives of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, His Holiness the Sakya Gongma Trichen, the two preceding Sakya Trizins and other eminent lineage masters who uphold the Buddhist teachings.
Acknowledging that he could not himself guarantee his own longevity, the newly enthroned Sakya Trizin expressed his aspiration to make his life meaningful through dedicated service to the preservation of the Dharma and the welfare of sentient beings.
The ceremony featured elaborate mandala offerings, ceremonial prayers and the presentation of sacred representations of the enlightened body, speech and mind. These offerings were made by eminent spiritual masters of the Khön lineage, representatives of the Gaden Phodrang and the two Sakya Palaces, various Labrangs (monastic estates), officials of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), monastic institutions and other organisations.
The enthronement follows a succession reform in the Sakya religious sect of Tibetan Buddhism, announced by His Holiness the Sakya Gongma Trichen in 2014 during the Sakya Monlam prayer festival in Lumbini, Nepal. Under the revised arrangement, the sons of the two Sakya Palaces — Phuntsok Phodrang and Dolma Phodrang — would alternate in assuming the position of Sakya Trizin according to seniority, provided they fulfilled the prescribed educational and qualification requirements. Each would serve a three-year term as the head of the Sakya lineage.
Under this arrangement, His Holiness the Sakya Gongma Trichen’s elder son, Ratna Vajra Rinpoche, was enthroned as the 42nd Sakya Trizin in 2017 at the main Sakya monastery in Puruwala, northern India.
The enthronement of the 43rd Sakya Trizin was subsequently delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2022, His Holiness’s younger son, Gyana Vajra Rinpoche, was enthroned as the 43rd Sakya Trizin.
Avikrita Vajra Rinpoche’s enthronement as the 44th Sakya Trizin now marks the first time that a member of the Sakya Phuntsok Palace has assumed the lineage’s highest institutional responsibility in exile, representing a significant development in the implementation of the Sakya succession system.
