Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche is a world-renowned Buddhist teacher and meditation master. He was born in Tibet in 1951 as the oldest son of his mother Kunsang Dechen, a devoted Buddhist practitioner, and his father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, an accomplished master of Buddhist meditation. As a young child, he was recognized as the seventh incarnation of the Tibetan meditation master Gar Drubchen and installed as the head lama of Drong Monastery in the Nakchukha region, north of the capital city, Lhasa.
In 1959, following the occupation of Tibet, Rinpoche fled with his family to India and Nepal where he spent his youth studying under some of Tibetan Buddhism’s most illustrious masters, including the Sixteenth Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. In 1976 he was enthroned as the abbot of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Kathmandu, which remains the heart of his ever-growing activity.
Today, more than 500 monks and nuns are under his care in this and other monasteries in Nepal. Drong Monastery, which was completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, has recently been rebuilt and is again home to a monastic community.
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual head of numerous centers for Buddhist study and meditation in Asia, Europe, and North America. In Nepal, he runs Rangjung Yeshe Institute, an international center of learning where students can obtain BA, MA, and PhD degrees in Buddhist Studies. For those who wish to study and practice from home, Rinpoche also offers an online meditation program, Tara’s Triple Excellence, that covers the entire Buddhist path. At home in Nepal, he is deeply involved in social work through his local charity organization, Shenpen.
~ Shambala Publications
Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche
Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche was born in 1924 in China near the Tibetan border. At the age of 7 he was recognized to be a tulku, or consciously reincarnated teacher, by the great meditation masters Chokyi Lodro and Tulku Natsog Rangdrol. Rinpoche was trained at Payul Dhomang Monastery in eastern Tibet by such adepts as Sangye Gon, Tulku Natsok Rangdrol, Payul Chogtrul Rinpoche, and Apkong Khenpo. Rinpoche spent many years in solitary retreat with his root guru Tulku Natsog, moving from one isolated location to another. In 1959, with the Communist invasion of Tibet, Rinpoche fled to India, where he lived for 12 years. Then, H.H. the Dalai Lama and H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche requested Gyatrul Rinpoche to move to the West to teach the Dharma. In 1976, Rinpoche was appointed as H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche’s spiritual representative in America.
Traveling to many countries over the past 30 years, Rinpoche has touched the hearts of thousands of people and founded many Buddhist centers. These include Tashi Choling, Orgyen Dorje Den in the San Francisco Bay area, Norbu Ling in Austin, Texas, Namdroling in Bozeman, Montana, and a center in Ensenada, Mexico.
The Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche is well-known for his wit and humor, his ceaseless compassion, his insight and genuine humility, and for presenting the traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings in a way that is accessible and contemporary yet true to the traditions he embodies and upholds. Through uniquely skillful teaching techniques he continues to bring students to the profound Vajrayana path and provide the sublime guidance that is indispensable to its practitioners.