Yuthok, Lama Choedak

Full Name

Lama Choedak Yuthok

Tibetan:

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Wylie:

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Affiliation

Sakyapa - Chogye Trichen Rinpoche

Founder of Sakya Losal Choe Dzong, Rongton Buddhist Training College

Other Information

Lama Choedak Yuthok is the founder of Sakya Losal Choe Dzong, Rongton Buddhist Training College and heads many of the Sakya centres in Australia as well as New Zealand.

His profound explanation of meditation and it's everyday relevance is renowned for it's lucidity, authenticity and humour. His teachings are offered from the heart, spiced with the richness of his experience, dedication and realisation.

Born in Tibet, Rinpoche escaped with his parents in the early 1960s to Nepal where he completed his secondary education, being the first of the many Tibetan refugees to complete the Nepalese secondary schooling certificate.

He undertook 12 years rigorous training as a Sakya Tibetan Buddhist monk, several of those under the guidance of His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, one of the finest Tibetan teachers of this time (b 1920 - d 2007).

In 1980, sponsored by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Rinpoche completed a tradtional three-and-a-half year solitary Lamdre meditation retreat.

He has translated for some of the most important teachers of all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism including the late tutors of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Rinpoche is one of the few Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Masters living in Australia. He has been teaching meditation in the West for more than 25 years and has an excellent understanding of the western mind. His teachings are spiced with the richness of his experience and realisation. Offered from the heart, they are lucid, authentic, humorous and profound.

Most weekends Rinpoche travels interstate or to New Zealand teaching at one of the many centres that he heads, giving public talks, running weekend workshops and conducting residential retreats. Rinpoche is increasingly being sought after worldwide in recognition of his teachings acheivement including teaching alongside Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche during the ten-day retreat at IBA, Kathmandhu in June 2009.

Lama Choedak Rinpoche has dedicated much effort and committed his focus over many years on the fundamental authentic Buddhist practices that are most effective and relevant to the eager westerners that he teaches. The practice of Calm Abiding meditation has been one of the most popular meditation techniques and Rinpoche has taught this technique to thousands of people. Another practice that is strongly promoted by Rinpoche is the Ngondro preliminaries of Tibetan Buddhism. Drawing on the traditional scriptural teachings Rinpoche has sculptured courses and retreat programmes that are unique in their depth and lucidity. Newcomers to meditation find the instruction clear and meaningful while experienced practitioners discover tools for engaging with their meditation that they did not have before.

Rinpoche has published a number of books under the title Lama Choedak Yuthok including, at the request of His Holiness Sakya Trizin, "Triple Tantra", a translation of the Panchen Choedak's Lamdre Tsogshe commentary. "Healing Relationships" is written for a general audience based on a number of public talks by Rinpoche.

Rinpoche has a particular interest in the works of Rongton Sheja Kunrig. Founder of Nalendra Monastery in Phenpo, Tibet, Rongton was known for the vast breadth and quality of his commentarial literature covering Mahyanasturalankara, Perfection of Wisdom and Kamalashila's Stages of Meditation to mention a few. Lama Choedak has translated all three of these texts and they represent important publishing projects for the society.

In recognition of his propogation of the Buddhadharma in the west, and in particular the promotion of the Tsarpa tradition of the Sakya Lineage, His Eminence Chogye Trichen, in 2001, honoured Lama Choedak with the title Tsarpa Lochen Lama Choedak Rinpoche.

Rinpoche is based in Canberra and teaches Buddhist philosophy most Tuesday nights at the Evatt centre, as part of the Rongton Buddhist Training College programme.

Source (Accessed June 12, 2012)

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school.