Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov

Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, also transcribed at Etigelov or Itigelov, (13 May 1852 – 15 June 1927) was a Russian Buddhist lama of Buryat origin and the 12th Pandito Khambo Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

After Itigilov's death in 1927, his body was exhumed and reburied in 1955 and again in 1972, showing an intact body. In 2002, the body was exhumed for a final time, receiving scientific and media attention for its well preserved state. Itigilov's body is currently kept in a glass case in a temple at the Ivolginsky datsan in Buryatia, 23 km from Ulan-Ude, where it has become a place of pilgrimage.

Early life Itigilov was born near the village of Orongoi in Buryatia, Russia and orphaned at a young age. Despite this, due to his intellectual promise, he enrolled in the Anninsky datsan, where he began his education and studied to pass Buddhist academic exams. He studied for almost twenty years. In 1895, Itigilov moved to the Tamchinsky datsan, where he received medical training.

War efforts Because of his Cossack heritage, Itigilov was supposed to complete a term of military service, but, thanks to a request from the leader of the Anninsky datsan where Itigilov was conducting his work and studies, he was excused from military service by the indemnities paid by four villages over the course of twenty years. However, when the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, Itigilov felt motivated to provide his own abilities to aid in the war effort—performing Buddhist rites for deceased soldiers and soldiers deploying to the front.

In 1915, during World War I, Pandito Khambo Lama Itigilov and Damby Heshektuev traveled to various datsans in Siberia, collecting funds to contribute to the war. They were able to buy clothing, towels, tobacco products, berries, sugar, and other necessary products to send to the front line and hospitals in need. Since 1764, the Pandito Khambo Lama was recognized by the state as the leader of Eastern Siberian (predominantly Buryat and Evenki) Buddhists. This title originates from the Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

During the Tsarist period of Buryat Buddhism, the Khambo Lambo was not just a religious leader, but also performed official political and state duties.

In regards to his political role in Buryatia, Itigilov was selected to be the chairman of the 2nd All-Buryat Congress held in Chita, Buryatia in July 1917 in the Tamchinsky datsan.

In a letter to the governor of Irkutsk, Itigilov wrote the following:Bandido Khambo, February 6, 1913. No 8.

To the Irkutsk governor-general.

Every year, subjects of China, Tibet, and Mongolia visit Transbaikal and give themselves the title of khubilgans, i. e. divine reincarnations, supplied with permits granted by our diplomatic representatives within the aforementioned countries and often with additional documents from border commissars indicating that they are of high religious rank and their titles have a long historical lineage and so forth; […] In my opinion, foreign lamas caught in the act of attending to religious needs among the populace without written permission of the Bandido Khambo should be immediately escorted back abroad in the custody of local police. I humbly ask that you honor me by following up on this matter.

Bandido Khambo, signed by Itigelov ( Perepiska 1912: pp 1-3) He also completed a volume called Zhor, a text on Tibetan pharmacology influenced by his own medical training.

Shortly before his death in 1927, Itigilov wrote his final text. This final work was kept in the Barga region of Mongolian China from the 1930s until 1966, when it was returned to the Ivolginsky datsan by Galeg Balbar-lama. The text reflects on the status of life and death through the lens of Buddhist philosophy. A fragment can be seen below, translated into Russian by Hambo Lama Ayusheyev:Во время одинокого ухода в следующий мир,

Все твое богатство, родные, близкие,

Оставшись на родной стороне, не последуют за тобой.

Эти богатства безумно собранные и накопленные,

Превратятся в особый яд и станут бесполезными,

Так учили все предыдущие Будды.

Бесстрастно изучив земную жизнь, начинайте с сегодняшнего дня

Практику Десяти Благих Деяний – незамедлительно!!!

Больше особо сказанного нет в моем окончательном послании,

Когда пребываю в данной жизни.

(Translated into Russian by Hambo Lama Ayusheyev)

Death A commonly told story from the end of Itigilov's life recounts his meeting with Lama Agvan Dorzhiev, who had just returned to the Soviet Union from Mongolia in 1921. Itigelov tells him: “You have come back here in vain. It would have been better to stay abroad. I assure you that very soon the arrests of Lamas will begin. If you fall into the hands of the Chekists, they will not let you live!” Dorzhiev asks him: “Why don't you go abroad?”. Itigilov replies: “They will not have time to take me.” In the lotus position vajra, his left hand remained opened while the right hand symbolized his preaching of sutra. He was buried while still on the lotus position, and his last request to his fellow monks was to exhume him from the ground after 30 years.

Exhumations Itigilov's body was first exhumed in 1955, but without publicity because of fear of persecution from Soviet authorities. Itigilov's body was reburied in a wooden coffin packed with salt, and exhumed and then reburied again in 1972.

In 2002, Itigilov appeared in a dream to a young lama at the Ivolginsky monastery and announced that it was the time for his return. Scientists offered theories about how the body was so naturally well preserved. A scientist at the Center for Biomedical Technologies in Moscow, Vladislav L. Kozeltsev, commentated that the salt that was packed into Itigilov's coffin might have slowed the decay of the body but did not fully explain Itigilov's preservation. In the work, Itigilov recounts his previous life as the first Khambo Lama Zaiaev. In this previous life, he met with the Dalai and Panchen Lama, to whom he gave gifts and received information about his other lives. The document also offers as list of these former lives, which include “five Indian, five Tibetan, and two Buryat incarnations.” The wooden cabin where the Khambo Lama lived during the later years of his life was also moved to the Ivolginsky datsan. That building is alleged to have been constructed by Itigelov himself when he worked as a leader at the monastery.

The rediscovery of the body of Itigilov is also connected to a revival of Buryat Buddhism which can be seen in the “construction of a new cult of Pandito Khambo Lama Itigelov which is actively supported in the media and social networks.” On the social media platform VKontakte, based out of Saint Petersburg, there is a community group “Khambo Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov” where online members discuss Itigilov's life and teachings, showing the influence of Buddhist social media communities.