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Khenchen Munsel Rinpoche (1916-1994) of Wangchen Topa, Golok; was a highly accomplished and respected Dzogchen Master and scholar who in turn instructed some of the greatest living and present-day Lamas. A student of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, he was imprisoned by the Chinese for many years, during which he taught the Dzogchen teachings, including Yeshe Lama (ye shes bla ma), Choying Dzo (chos dbyings mdzod) and the Nyingtik/Men-ngak Nyengyud Chenmo (snying tig snyan brgyud chen mo/man ngag snyan brgyud chen mo) to other lamas in the prison, including Adeu Rinpoche and Garchen Rinpoche. *Source: [http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Khenpo_Munsel Rywiki]) +
Khenpo Dr Ngawang Jorden was born in 1956 and grew up in Sikkim. He lived at Lachung, Sikkim until he was 12 then moved to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim where he began formal studies at Enchey School. At age 14 he joined Sa-Ngor-Choe-Tshok Monastery in Gangtok. After completing his monastic studies such as rituals, he then studied Buddhist Philosophy with the late Khenpo Lodro Zangpo.
In 1975 he went to Sakya College, Dehradun, India, where he studied the five branches of Buddhist philosophy under the late Khenchen Appey Rinpoche. He obtained the degree of Kachupa (equivalent to B.A.) and Loppon (equivalent to M.A.) in Buddhist Studies. Khenpo Jorden later taught at Sakya College before going to America to study at Harvard University where he completed his M.A. and then Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies.
His Holiness the Sakya Trizin and Khenchen Appey Rinpoche invited Khenpo Jorden to take up the position of Principal of IBA in Kathmandu and so he left his teaching post at the University of Chicago and joined IBA in 2009. As Principal of IBA he oversees the many projects IBA is involved in, teaches the Dharma to students from across the globe and engages in translation work. He also travels extensively to countries such as Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe to give teachings.
IBA has around 40 monastic scholars undertaking the five-year monastic leadership program and each year offers a summer program in Buddhist studies and practice to overseas students. IBA also has an active translation program, the Chödung Karmo Translation Group, with scholars and translators from many countries. Khenpo Jorden is currently managing a rebuilding program at IBA after significant damage to campus buildings in the earthquakes. ([http://internationalbuddhistacademy.org/about-us/khenpo-ngawang-jorden/ Source Accessed July 22, 2020])] +
Born in Phadru Lhok village in the Lato Dingri region, he joined school for about four years. Then, he left Tibet and joined Mindrolling Monastery in Dehradun, India. For three years, he learned monastic rituals and language. He got his novice ordination from H.H. Trulzhik Rinpoche and his full monastic ordination from H.H. Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche. He entered the monastic college in Mindrolling to undertake the nine-year program of studying the 13 great treatises. Even before completing his study, he served as an assistant lecturer, and in 2014, he completed his higher Buddhist education and became a lecturer in the same college for four years and the chief of examination for one year. In 2018, he was awarded the Khenpo title by Mindrolling Monastery. He taught in the Mindrolling college for three years and also worked for four months in the project of creating an extensive catalogue of the Kangyur canon under the aegis of H.H. Darthang Rinpoche. He participated in the Nyingma conferences at Namdrolling twice and currently serves as a teacher at Zhelpa Monastery in Kathmandu. +
He was born in Drukrephud village in Latolho in the Tsang region. From seven to eight, he went to local school, and in 2005 he joined Dongachodzong Monastery in Shar Khambu. In 2007, he joined Sakya College and studied the eighteen great treatises and other sciences for 10 years. In 2015, he obtained the Kachupa degree, in 2017 the Lopen title, and he was conferred the Khenpo title in 2022. After serving as assistant lecturer at Sakya College for two years, he was appointed in 2017 as lecturer for the Sakya tradition at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, where he currently works. +
Dharmachakra Translation Committee +
Khenpo Pema became a monk at the age of seven and later attended the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Benares, receiving his Acharya degree from Sanskrit University in 1980.
In 1982 he was sent by His Holiness Sakya Trizin to teach in New York City, becoming the first of the younger generation of Tibetan teachers from the Sakya School to settle in the United States.
He founded the Vikramasila Foundation in 1989 to support educational initiatives both in the United States and abroad. The foundation now encompasses the Palden Sakya Centers for Tibetan Buddhist studies and mediation in New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, and Ohio; the Pema Ts'al School in Mundgod, India, for Tibetan lay children; Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute in Pokhara, Nepal; and Pema Ts'al School in New York City, whose curriculum is modeled on that of Sakya College in India.
In addition to these institutional projects, Khenpo Pema has a special interest in Tibetan language pedagogy and is the creator of a form of Tibetan Braille known as Bur Yig.
He received the title of Khenpo from His Holiness Sakya Trizin in 2007. In recognition of his humanitarian work around the world, Khenpo Pema was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2009. He is the first Tibetan to receive this honor. +
Publisher of Tibetan books at [[Shri Gautam Buddha Vihara]]. Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, along with its extensive library, the Library Dedicated to the Flourishing of the Wondrous Lineage of the Drukpa Kagyu, was built by Tharchen Dorje Lingpa Rinpoche (Lama Thinley Namgyal Rinpoche) in Swayambhu, Nepal. +
Born in Nyeshang Drakar, as a young boy he joined Trangu Tashiling monastery near Bouddha and became a monk. For four years, he learnt prayers, rituals, making of tormas and butter sculpture, and playing musical instruments. In 1996, he joined the Trangu Monastic College in Namo Buddha started by HH Trangu Rinpoche and studied Buddhist texts including the five great treatises, and language and grammar under Khenpo Karma Tashi, Lobzang Tenzin and Jigme. He served as Assistant Lecturer for three years and in 2003 was conferred the Khenpo title. He studied under HH Trangu Rinpoche as the main teacher receiving monastic, Bodhisattva and tantric vows and numerous instructions from him. For 15 years, he served as a lecturer at the Trangu Monastic College and from 2016 for over four years, he undertook retreat in order to carry out meditation at Sekhar Retreat Centre according to the Kamtshang tradition. He currently serves as a lecturer/teacher at Trangu Monastic College and has authored many works including commentaries and synopses on the Middle Way, Perfection of Wisdom, monastic discipline, brief biographies of 17 Karmapa lamas, brief biographies of the founding fathers of Kagyu, and works on Kālacakra and Sarvavid. +
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo began his studies in Tibet with the famed master Petsé Rinpoche, with whom he studied for over twenty years. He became a monk at the age of seven at Gyalwa Phukhang Monastery, a branch of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s Sechen Monastery. Under Petsé Rinpoche's guidance, he first studied Tibetan Buddhist ritual, eventually becoming one of the monastery's ritual leaders and chant masters. Even at a young age, he was renowned for his ability to memorize the vast number of texts used at the monastery and his command of Tibetan Buddhist ritual.
[Presently,] Khenpo Sherab Sangpo is the Spiritual Director of Bodhicitta Sangha, Heart of Enlightenment Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khenpo_Sherab_Sangpo Source Accessed Oct 7, 2020])
For a complete biography [https://www.bodhicittasangha.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Biography-of-Khenpo-Sherab-Sangpo.pdf click here] +
Khenpo Shonri (Shonu Dondrup, gzhon nu don grub, 1938-2015) of Juniong Monastery was a disciple of Khenpo Thubga (Khenpo Thubten Chophel) and a custodian of many of Lama Mipham Rinpoche's and Patrul Rinpoche's relics. (Source: Enlightened Vagabond) +
After being ordained at Larung Gar Serthar Buddhist Institute in 1985, Khenpo Sodargye relied on Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche as his root guru.
After intensive study of the five principle treatises on Madhyamaka, Prajnaparamita, Abhidharma, Vinaya, and Buddhist logic, Khenpo received direct transmissions of tantric teachings such as the Dzogchen, Kalachakra, and the Web of Magical Illusion from Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and gained unshakable faith in the Omniscient Longchenpa and Mipham Rinpoche. Through his practice, he obtained supreme realization of these teachings.
After engaging in classic Tibetan Buddhist debate and undergoing oral and written examination, he obtained his khenpo degree. Khenpo Sodargye was then placed in charge of the institute by Kyabje Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and became Kyabje’s chief translator for Chinese disciples. +
Sonam Phuntsho is one of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's senior monks. He studied classical Buddhist philosophy at Dzongsar Institute for nine years, and he received his Khenpo degree from Rinpoche in 2013. He has also completed a traditional 3-year meditation retreat in Bhutan. He has worked on many translation projects under Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, including the Vimai Ladrub sadhana with Steve Cline as well as being on the translation team for the Chime Phagme Nyingthik sadhana. He also translated the Ushnishavijaya sadhana text into English with Janine Schulz and he was involved in the translation of Khyentse Chokyi Lodro's biography by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; the English version is projected to come out next year. Khenpo currently resides in New Delhi. ([https://www.siddharthasintent.org/about-us-2/news/2014-2/khenpo-sonam-phuntsho-to-be-lama-in-residence-around-the-globe-2014-2015/ Source Accessed Oct 5, 2021]) +
Khenpo Sonam Tsewang is a khenpo at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the advanced center of philosophical study at Namdroling Monastery, Bylakkuppe. He has completed and graduated his studies in Buddhism from Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Varanasi and also from Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, Namdroling. He was enthroned as a Khenpo at Namdroling Monastery in 2011 by His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche. Khenpo will be providing expert advice for the project on complex translation points, especially for texts from the Nyingma tradition.
Khenpo has been serving Namdroling Monastery for numerous years. He served in the Rigzod Editorial Committee as an editor and translator for over 7 years. Subsequently he founded the Padma Mani Translation Committee of Ngagyur Nyingma Institute with the guidance of Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche where Khenpo Sonam taught translation, administered and supervised for 6 years. He was also one of the founding members of Ngagyur Nyingma Research Centre (NNRC) and worked for the committee for 5 years. Beside this, he has represented Namdroling Monastery in various platforms such as national and international seminars and conferences for Buddhism. Presently he was a lecturer on Mahayana at Abiding Heart Education, Nepal.
Khenpo had also served for the late His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and Namdroling monastery’s most senior khenpo, Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche to translate their teachings from Tibetan to English in order for the non-Tibetan speakers to understand the teachings. He has translated and published English books including How to Follow a Spiritual Master, The All-Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder: The Outer Liberation Story of Terton Migyur Dorje, Drops of Nectar, and Lamp on the Path. He also travels extensively with his teacher Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche, for teaching tours mainly in Europe and Asia during which he has the privilege to receive countless precious and sacred teachings and empowerments from Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche. He also receives personal guidance and spiritual instructions from him. (Source: [https://www.khyentsevision.org/team/khenpo-sonam-tsewang/ Khyentse Vision])
Khenpo Könchog Tamphel was born in 1975 in Ladakh. At the age of nine, he became a novice at Lamayuru Monastery, where he received a basic Dharma education for several years. There he also studied and practiced some of the Drikung Kagyü rituals. In 1987 he joined the Drikung Kagyu Institute in Dehra Dun, India for advanced Buddhist studies. There he spent nine years studying the twelve main commentaries of the Masters of Nalanda and the Drikung Kagyu treatises such as the Gong Chig, 'The Heart of the Mahayana Sutras', etc., under the skillful guidance of Khenpo Togdol Rinpoche, Khenpo Könchog Mönlam, Khenpo Könchog Tashi, and Khenchen Könchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche. After completing his studies in 1996, he traveled to Europe and Southeast Asia as a translator for SH Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. He also taught at Drikung Kagyü Centers in Malaysia, Singapore, North America, Estonia, and Latvia.
In the meantime, he took part in a one-year translation course English-Tibetan in Dharamsala and then spent a year studying works by Maitreya at the Dzongsar Institute. For several years he was the resident Khenpo in the Songtsen Library in Dehra Dun. In addition to his teachings in the library, he has translated some rare Drikung Kagyü texts into English and has published some English-language books. Since 2015 he lives in Vienna and works at the University of Vienna. Incidentally, he continues to translate texts from Tibetan into English. ([https://drikung.de/die-drikung-kagyue-linie/biographien/khenpo-koenchog-tamphel/ Source Accessed Sept 23, 2020]) +
He was born in Adrong in the Gojo region of Kham and became a monk at young age at Goego Monastery, where he studied prayers and rituals. In 2004, he arrived in South India via Nepal and joined Namdrolling Monastery, where he began his study in grammar and language. In 2005, he joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute and finished the nine-year program of study in general sciences and sūtra and tantric forms of Buddhism. Since the eighth grade, he served as assistant lecturer and manager of the summer retreat. He finished his education in 2015 and served as lecturer for eight years until 2022 and also as the treasurer for the Institute. He was conferred the title of Khenpo in 2023 by Karma Kuchen Rinpoche during the enthronement of the 8th cohort of Khenpos in Ngagyur Nyingma Institute. Currently, he is teaching at Tshogyal Shedrupling Nunnery. +
Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche was born in Bhutan in 1965. He became a senior colleague at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the prestigious Buddhist studies and research center, at Namdroling Monastery in Mysore. At the Institute he studied under Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Namdrol Tsering, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso, and other visiting professors, including Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Pema Tsewang from Tibet. He completed the Shedra program in 1995 and joined the Institute staff, teaching there for three years. He was formally enthroned as Khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in 1998 and was assigned by His Holiness to teach at the Buddhist college at Palyul monastery in Tibet. He is now the main resident master at [http://www.palyulnyc.org/npdc/ Palyul Dharma Center] in the New York City metropolitan area.
Official Bio from Palyul Dharma Center:
Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche was born in the Tashigang District of Bhutan in 1965. After completing Jigme Sherubling High School in 1986, he joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the prestigious Buddhist studies and research center, at Namdroling Monastery in Mysore. At the Institute he studied under Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Namdrol Tsering and Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso and other visiting professors, including Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Pema Tsewang from Tibet.
He completed the Shedra program at the Institute in 1995 and joined the Institute staff, teaching there for three years. He was formally enthroned as Khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in 1998 and was assigned by His Holiness to teach at the Buddhist college at Palyul monastery in Tibet.
He has received all the major empowerments of the Rinchen Terzod, Nam Cho, Nyingthik Yabshi and Nyingma Kama from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche as well as the Mipham Kabum from His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
Because of his knowledge and experience, and fluent command of the English language, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche has assigned him to teach students in the United States in conjunction with the ongoing teaching programs offered by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche.([http://www.palyulnyc.org/npdc/about/our-teachers/venerable-khenpo-tenzin-norgay-rinpoche/ Source Accessed April 18, 2022])
Khenpo Tsering Gonpo (mkhan po tshe ring mgon po, b. ca. 1970) graduated from Larung Gar Philosophical College as a disciple of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok. He currently resides at Dzagyal Trama Lung hermitages in Upper Dzachukha. (Source: Enlightened Vagabond) +
Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche was born in the Dhoshul region of Kham in eastern Tibet on June 10, 1950. On that summer day in the family tent, Rinpoche’s birth caused his mother no pain. The next day, his mother, Pema Lhadze, moved the bed where she had given birth. Beneath it she found growing a beautiful and fragrant flower which she plucked and offered to Chenrezig on the family altar.
Soon after his birth three head lamas from Jadchag monastery came to his home and recognized him as the reincarnation of Khenpo Sherab Khyentse. Khenpo Sherab Khyentse, who had been the former head abbot lama at Gochen Monastery, was a renowned scholar and practitioner who lived much of his life in retreat.
Rinpoche’s first dharma teacher was his father, Lama Chimed Namgyal Rinpoche. Beginning his schooling at the age of five, he entered Gochen Monastery. His studies were interrupted by the Chinese invasion and his family's escape to India. In India his father and brother continued his education until he entered the Nyingmapa Monastic School of Northern India, where he studied until 1967.
He then entered the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, which was then a part of Sanskrit University in Varanasi, where he received his B.A. degree in 1975. He also attended Nyingmapa University in West Bengal, where he received another B.A. and an M.A. in 1977.
In 1978 Rinpoche was enthroned as the abbot of the Wish-fulfilling Nyingmapa Institute in Boudanath, Nepal by [[H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche]], and later became the abbot of the Department of Dharma Studies, where he taught poetry, grammar, philosophy and psychology. In 1981, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche appointed Rinpoche as the abbot of the Dorje Nyingpo Center in Paris, France. In 1982 he was asked to work with H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche at the Yeshe Nyingpo Center in New York. During the 1980s, until H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche’s mahaparinirvana in 1987, Rinpoche continued working closely with him, often traveling as his translator and attendant.
In 1988, Rinpoche and his brother founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center. Since that time he has served as a spiritual director at the various Padmasambhava centers throughout the world. He maintains an active traveling and teaching schedule with his brother, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche.
Khenpo Tsewang Rinpoche has authored two books of poetry on the life of Guru Rinpoche, including ''Praise to the Lotus Born: A Verse Garland of Waves of Devotion'', and a unique two-volume cultural and religious history of Tibet entitled ''The Six Sublime Pillars of the Nyingma School'', which details the historical bases of the dharma in Tibet from the sixth through ninth centuries. At present, this is one of the only books written that conveys the dharma activities of this historical period in such depth. Khenpo Rinpoche has also co-authored a number of books in English on dharma subjects with his brother Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, including ''Ceaseless Echoes of the Great Silence: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra''; ''Prajnaparamita: The Six Perfections''; ''Door to Inconceivable Wisdom and Compassion''; ''Lion's Gaze: A Commentary on the Tsig Sum Nedek''; and ''Opening Our Primordial Nature''. ([http://www.padmasambhava.org/teach/longkhenpo.html Source Accessed Jan 29, 2015])
Khenpo Tshewang Sonam is the Lama of Tharpaling Monastery, the most well-known center founded by Longchenpa in Bhutan. Prior to becoming the Lama of Tharpaling, he spent many years as a hermit in the mountains of Bhutan while also giving mass teachings on Amitabha and Sukhavati practice in many parts of Bhutan. At the turn of the century, he served as the head of Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Namdrolling, Mysore, India and as the head of Palyul Shedra, Sichuan in Tibet after he finished his Khenpo degree in Namdrolling in 1998. Khenpo Tshewang received his early education under Wangthang Rinpoche Yeshi Dorji, Lama Gyalwang Nyima, and Lopen Norbu Wangchuk before he moved to study in Namdrolling in Mysore. Since then, he trained under His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khenpo in India and Bhutan, and Khenpo Achoe and Trulku Thubzang in Tibet, receiving oral teachings on Dzogchen. He is the author of commentaries on ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' and ''Abhisamayālaṇkāra'' and many other minor writings. (Source: Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho) +
Born in Ura village, Bumthang, Bhutan, he joined Wangthang Temple as young boy to learn prayers and rituals in the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions under Wangthang Rinpoche Yeshi Dorje. He also learned language and grammar under Lama Gyalwang Nyima and astrology under Lopen Norbu Wangchuk. He joined Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Mysore and completed his education in 1996 while he also received training in meditation from Nyoshul Khenpo, Khenpo Akhyug, and Tulku Thubzang. In 1988, he served as a teacher at Tsangkha Monastic College, and from 1997, at the behest of H.H. Penor Rinpoche, he served as chief lecturer at Palyul Chokhorling in North India, Palyul Monastery in Tibet, and Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Mysore. He also taught a large public gathering in Bhutan and regularly gave teachings on national TV on a wide range of topics. After spending three years in retreat in solitude, he currently serves as the head of Tharpaling Monastery and has authored commentaries on ''Entering the Middle Way'', ''Ornament of Realization'', and many other works. +
