Losang Thonden
Losang Thonden was a Tibetan government official, scholar, calligrapher, and author.
Early life and education
Losang Thonden was born on 23 May 1942, in Lhasa, Tibet, the son of Pasang Tsering Khangsar and Kungchok Dolma. From 1946 to 1957, Thonden attended Jarpakhang High School in Lhasa. His family hired an officer named Darma Bhabu from the Nepalese embassy in Lhasa to teach Thonden English and Nepali, as well as mathematics. He graduated high school at the age of 15. He was then selected among few other students in all of Lhasa by the Tibetan Central Government in conjunction with Beijing government as an elite student ambassador to study at the Beijing University to promote bilateral cultural brotherhood. However, his family, particularly his mother who was a strong Tibetan nationalist, refused that her son to be sent to Communist China. Thonden was disappointed by the objections of his mother and decided that he would go on his own.Soon after, Thonden's uncle Lobsang Tenzin, the executor of the Ladang Estate, requested that his sister send Thonden to Dakyap JangshupLing Ladang, part of Sera Mey Monastery. Wangdue Khangsar family had been the patron of Sera Mey Monastery for many generations, so Thonden was accepted right away. Dakyap Ladang was north of Lhasa in Penpo region of Tibet. There, he studied under the tutelage of his uncle Dakyap Nawang Losang Yeshi Rinpoche, who was the direct lineage of Ka-dam Geshe Potowa Rinchen Sal.
Later, Thonden attended the non-monastic Sera University to study Tibetan Buddhism, language, and calligraphy under Geshe Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen. In 1959, he escaped from Tibet, after the invasion along with the 14th Dalai Lama. He was separated from his parents and other siblings until they reunited back in India in 1962.
Losang Thonden and his cousin Phunrab Lobsang Dhargyal Drache, both relatives of Dakyap Rinpoche, helped him and his steward Lobsang Khyenrab after they escaped in India in 1959.
When Losang Thonden arrived in India, he was very keen on improving his English language skills, and, with the help of his cousin sister, he began learning English and later he studied English under a retired British officer, Major Ken in Kalimpong India.
Life and career
1975–1992: Tibetan language scholar
When newly established Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala was formed, they had a dire need of a Tibetan language scholar, and in 1974, Thonden was requested to join as the resident Tibetan Language and Cultural Research Scholar by his then brother-in-law Gyatsho Tshering. Tshering expressed his wishes to the Dalai Lama that Thonden would have far better implementing on academia in promoting and preservation of Tibetan Language and Literature internationally well as towards upcoming younger Tibetan generations and he could fully exercise his Tibetan Language Mastery. In late 1975, the Dalai Lama accepted Thonden's leave from Tibetan Government Administrations.Thonden was one of the first Tibetan scholars who worked with international language professors and scholars from around the world in bringing standardized Tibetan phonetics in all major European languages. He also helped Professor Ngawang Dhondup Narkyi, Father of the Tibetan Typewriter, to improve the Tibetan Remington Rand typewriter, later manufactured in Kolkata, India. He was an instrumental member in standardizing and implementing the early versions of modern computerized Tibetan Language Unicode for Microsoft Word.
Calligraphy
Thonden is considered by the Central Tibetan Government one of the few surviving Tibetan language scholars and calligraphers outside of Tibet who is versed in all the Tibetan forms of calligraphy: Uchen, Umi, Druktsa, Horyig, Tsukthun, Yigchun, TsomaQu, and Quk. His calligraphy can be seen in official Tibetan government letterheads, offices, and major libraries in India and New York City.Publications
Thonden is an author of several Tibetan Language books. He has translated over 80 western articles and journals for subjects including law, health, and medicine for both the Council for Tibetan Education and the Tibetan Department of Home Affairs. Modern Tibetan Language Hardcover, Vol. I, published by LTWA Modern Tibetan Language Hardcover, Vol. II, published by LTWA Modern Tibetan Language Audio, Vol. II, published by LTWA Tibetan Ceremonial Scarf, published by Council for Tibetan EducationLearning English Language, Vol. I, published by LTWA Learning English Language, Vol. II, published by LTWA Tibetan Calligraphy and Letter Writing, self-publishedTalk Tibetan Today, self-publishedTibetan Proverbs, self-publishedOrdinary Wisdom, co-authored with John Davenport and published by Wisdom PublicationsHe had been working on his memoir: a perspective as young Tibetan growing up in Tibet and perspective of Tibetans up till 1959, Tibetan songs and poems, and a Calligraphy book with new Calligraphy designs. Sadly we will never see these books come to fruition.
1992–2018: Emigration to the United States and Hollywood appearances
In 1992, Thonden immigrated to the United States, where he lived in Seattle, Washington with his wife Dekyi Thonden Gyalkhang.As Thonden was exploring new creative avenues, he was introduced to Hollywood in 1995. He was cast in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Seven Years in Tibet and starred as a principal cast in the 20th Century Fox production The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with actor and director Ben Stiller.
He appeared in the documentary film Ten Yaks and Twenty Horns and also acted in a few short films directed by his son .