Anniversary of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1930-2002) was a renowned teacher of the Nyingma school. He was known and respected in the West for his teachings, and also for his melodic chanting voice, his artistry as a sculptor and painter, his limitless compassion, and his sense of humor. He was the source of treasured Nyingma lineage transmissions for the thousands of people whom he taught in North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

At three years old, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was recognized as the fourteenth Chagdud incarnation. As he recounts in his autobiography, The Lord Of The Dance:

For the next seven years, until I went into three-year retreat at the age of eleven, my life would alternate between periods of strict discipline in which my every move would be under the surveillance of my tutors and interludes in which my suppressed energies would explode. Throughout, I had many visions, many clairvoyant experiences, many extraordinary dreams, and within these, I sometimes had glimpses of absolute open awareness.

He received teachings and empowerments from some of the greatest masters of his time including, Shechen Kongtrul, the Sixth Shechen Rabjam, Bathur Khenpo Thubga, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Arik Rinpoche, Tromge Trungpa Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche who became one his main teachers. He also did many years of retreat.

He fled Tibet for India in 1959 when the Chinese invaded Tibet, together with his root teacher, Polu Khenpo Dorje.

In 1979, Rinpoche went to the US, where he taught throughout the 1980’s and established his main seat in the US, Chagdud Gonpa at Rigdzin Ling in Northern California, and a number of other centres.

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Trulshik Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khenpo in Maratika cave, Nepal 1991.

In 1992 he received an invitation to teach in Brazil, where he established his main seat at Khadro Ling. He passed away in Brazil in 2002.

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was known for stressing pure motivation, or the cultivation of bodhichitta, in doing spiritual practice. He once wrote:

In the course of my Buddhist training, I have received teachings on many philosophical topics and meditative methods. Of all teachings, I find none more important than pure motivation. If I had to leave only one legacy to my students, it would be the wisdom of pure motivation. If I were to be known by one title, it would be the 'motivation lama.’

Tsoknyi Rinpoche teaches at Lerab Ling

As the Three Year Retreat draws to a close, we were very excited to welcome Tsoknyi Rinpoche back to Lerab Ling.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche, one of the remarkable sons of the great Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, had visited Lerab Ling to teach and guide the Three Year Retreatants a number of times and it was wonderful to host him again.

He taught extensively and also advised some of the key holders of Rigpa's work.

His visit was the last visit by a lama during this Three Year Retreat, which ends on 21 November.

(Photos courtesy of Jurek Schreiner & Volker Dencks)

Photos of spectacular skies over Lerab Ling

The autumn foliage at Lerab Ling has been outdone this week by the spectacular sky.

All photos courtesy of Heinz Nowotny.

Photos of Lerab Ling in Autumn

Lerab Ling Temple

Stupa outside the temple

(Photos courtesy of Bart de Natris)

Anniversary of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa

(Photo courtesy of Kagyu Samye Ling)

Today is the anniversary of Karmapa Rangjung Rigpé Dorje, the sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa (1924-1981). Head of one of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Kagyü, the Karmapa was born in Denkhok of the Derge province in east Tibet.

He was enthroned at a young age at Tsurphu monastery, the main Karmapa seat in Tibet, by Tai Situ Rinpoche, one of his main teachers.

He left Tibet in 1959, establishing his main seat in exile at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.

Rinpoche taught at the Rigpa centre in London in November 1977, together with Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche.

The Karma Kagyü website has a full biography of the 16th Karmapa if you would like to know more.

Glimpse After Glimpse: Sogyal Rinpoche's Daily Reflections on Living and Dying

Here is today's Glimpse of the Day, from Sogyal Rinpoche's book, Glimpse After Glimpse - Daily Reflections on Living and Dying

It has often intrigued me how some Buddhist masters I know ask one simple question of people who approach them for teaching: "Do you believe in a life after this one?" They are not being asked whether they believe in it as a philosophical proposition but whether they feel it deeply in their hearts. The master knows that if a man believes in a life after this one, his whole outlook on life will be different, and he will have a distinct sense of personal responsibility and morality. What the masters must suspect is that there is a danger that people who have no strong belief in a life after this one will create a society fixated on short-term results, without much thought for the consequences of their actions.

Could this be the major reason why we have created a world like the one we are now living in, a world with hardly any real compassion?

Glimpse After Glimpse, by Sogyal Rinpoche, published by Harper San Francisco, offers daily inspirational readings based on The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Both books are available from the Zam Shop.

To receive a daily email of the Glimpse for each day of the year, sign up here.

(Photo courtesy of Jeroen Top)