Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khenpo
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Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche | |
|---|---|
 Pictured is Lama Surya Das (left) and Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche (right) | |
| Title | Khenpo |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 13 July 1932 Dergé region of Kham |
| Died | 27 August 1999 (aged 67) |
| Nationality | Tibetan |
| Other names | Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Nyingma |
| Senior posting | |
| Teacher | Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, 2nd Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa |
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"Buddha-nature, the essence of awakened enlightenment itself, is present in everyone. Its essence is forever pure, unalloyed, and flawless. It is beyond increase or decrease. It is neither improved by remaining in nirvana nor degenerated by straying into samsara. Its fundamental essence is forever perfect, unobscured, quiescent, and unchanging. Its expressions are myriad." (04/26/2022)
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Nyoshül Khenpo Rinpoche (13 July 1932 – 27 August 1999), more fully Nyoshül Khenpo Jamyang Dorje (Tibetan: སྨྱོ་ཤུལ་མཁན་པོ་འཇམ་དབྱངས་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wylie: smyo shul mkhan po 'jam dbyangs rdo rje), was a Tibetan lama born in the Derge region of Kham.[1][2]
Biography
Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche was born in 1932 in the Derge region of Kham, Tibet.[3] At the age of five, Rinpoche was taken to a Sakya monastery where he had his hair cut and was given a refuge name.[4] At age eight, he was enrolled in the monastery and began his Buddhist studies.[4] At age eighteen, he studied Longchen Nyingthig teachings[5] and Dzogchen[2] at the Nyoshul monastery.[1] At the time of 1959 Tibetan uprising, when he was twenty-seven, under fire from the Chinese, he fled to India with 70 people, but only 5 arrived.[1][6]
In India, Rinpoche studied under the second Dudjom Rinpoche (Jigdral Yeshe Dorje),[6] Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche,[6] and the sixteenth Karmapa (Rangjung Rigpe Dorje).[1]
He was asked to teach by the leaders of the religious communities in exile, including the aforementioned Rinpoches, and Tashi Peljor and the Third Penor, Lekshe Chokyi Drayang. It is said that there are few contemporary lamas who did not receive Dzogchen teaching from Nyoshul Khenpo. Among the many young lamas that he mentored and instructed are the Third Dzongsar Khyentse, Khyentse Norbu; the Seventh Shechen Rabjam, Jigme Chokyi Sengge; the Third Jamgon Kongtrul, Lodro Chokyi Sengge, and many others.[7]
Some of Rinpoche's other students include Surya Das[8] and Sogyal Rinpoche.[9]
He fell seriously ill in 1999 in Bhutan. His followers insisted that he be taken to one of the best hospitals in Bangkok and then to France, where he was cared for by the family of Tulku Pema Wangyel, the son of Kangyur Rinpoche. He died there in 1999, close to Dilgo Khyentse and Dudjom Rinpoche's centers in Dordogne.[7]
After Rinpoche's passing, the fifth Kathok Drimed Zhingchong, Jigme Trinley Gonpo and the second Khenpo Ngakchung Lekshey Chökyi Nyima had numerous dreams and visions that clearly indicated of a reincarnation. In 2004 the reincarnation of Nyoshul Khenpo was identified in Kham, Nyoshul Khen yangsi jamyang Dzhopa, who was subsequently enthroned at Katok Monastery.
Bibliography
- Natural Great Perfection. With Surya Das (1st USA ed.). Snow Lion Publications. 1995. ISBN 1-55939-049-2.
- A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage. Padma Publishing. 2005. ISBN 1-881847-41-1.
- The Fearless Lion's Roar. Snow Lion Publications. 2015. ISBN 978-1-55939-431-4.
References
- "Tribute to Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje". Archived from the original on 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- The Dzogchen Lineage of Nyoshul Khenpo Archived 2010-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Natural Great Perfection. With Surya Das (1st USA ed.). Snow Lion Publications. 1995. p. 13. ISBN 1-55939-049-2.
- Natural Great Perfection. With Surya Das (1st USA ed.). Snow Lion Publications. 1995. p. 14. ISBN 1-55939-049-2.
- Natural Great Perfection. With Surya Das (1st USA ed.). Snow Lion Publications. 1995. p. 17. ISBN 1-55939-049-2.
- "Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche". Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- "Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje". The Treasury of Lives. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- Das, Surya (2009). Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment. Harmony/Rodale/Convergent. p. 145. ISBN 9780385530989.
- Lotsawa House: Sogyal Rinpoche
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“Rest in natural great peace
This exhausted mind,
Beaten relentlessly
By karma and neurotic thoughts,
Like the unceasing fury
of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in the natural great peace.”
—Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche (1932-1999) was a revered Tibetan meditation master, scholar, and poet, whose extraordinary presence and brilliant teaching style made a deep impact on the current generation of Tibetan lamas and on the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the West.
A principal lineage holder in the Rime (nonsectarian) movement of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyoshul Khenpo counted twenty-five teachers from all of the Tibetan lineages as his masters. Foremost, he was an authority on the teachings of the Nyingma master Longchenpa and the Longchen Nyingthig, a cycle of teachings that focus on revealing the mind’s fundamental nature of luminous purity. Rinpoche also mastered many of the highest practices of the other Tibetan lineages, including the Six Yogas of Naropa, Lamdre, Kalachakra, and Chod.
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche was born in 1932 in the Derge region of Kham in eastern Tibet. His father was a roaming bandit who abandoned his family when Rinpoche was very young. His mother and paternal grandmother prayed over his crib that Patrul Rinpoche’s heart-disciple, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, would come to teach and bless them.
Seeing that her young grandson was gentle and loving, his grandmother encouraged him to pursue the Dharma. At age five, his mother and grandmother took him to the nearby Sakyapa monastery, where he received his refuge name. Three years later, he officially enrolled there.
Demonstrating a serious commitment to the Dharma, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche left the monastery at age twelve to seek instruction from a great lama named Rigdzin Jampel Dorje. Under the guidance of this master, he performed the preliminary practices (Tib. ngöndro). He then went on to complete the rigorous twelve-year scholarly training for the khenpo degree while undertaking the associated Mahayana and Vajrayana practices and solitary retreats.
At age eighteen, while living at Nyoshul Gompa, Nyoshul Khenpo received the profound teachings of Longchen Nyingthig, including the Great Oral Lineage of Pith Instructions. Echoing the prayers of his mother and grandmother, these teachings were transmitted to him by Nyoshul Lungtok Shedrup Tenpai Nyima. In the course of these transmissions, Shedrup Tenpai Lama introduced Nyoshul Khenpo to the nature of mind and became his root guru and foremost teacher.
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche also received teachings from other great yogis, khenpos, and reincarnate lamas. He intensively pursued diverse practices such as Tummo, Rushen, the Six Yogas of Naropa, Mahamudra, and Kalachakra.
When the Chinese cemented their occupation of Tibet in 1959, the twenty-seven year old Nyoshul Khenpo crossed the Himalayas into exile. He spent the next 25 years in India, gathering a wide range of experiences, living sometimes as a beggar.
In India, he received teachings from exiled Tibetan masters such as Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. Later, these same lamas, as well as others (including Tai Situ Rinpoche, Pema Norbu Rinpoche, Sakya Trizin, and Dzogchen Rinpoche) invited him to teach at their monasteries.
In the early 1970s, Nyoshul Khenpo nearly died. His nervous system, severely affected by a stroke or possibly a poisoning, was so compromised that he became an invalid for several years. Advised by a Bhutanese master to take a wife and undertake longevity practice, he married Damchö Zangmo and the two made their home in Thimpu, Bhutan. There, he spent much of his time teaching, and co-authored Natural Great Perfection, a collection of inspiring Dzogchen teachings and spontaneous vajra songs.
In later years, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche traveled to Switzerland for medical treatments. He then spent eight years living in southwestern France, teaching students there, and also traveling occasionally to the United States, Germany, and Britain. He passed away in Dordogne, France, in August 1999.
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Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche Quotes
- "In this there is not a thing to be removed, nor anything that needs to be added. It is merely the immaculate looking naturally at itself."
These quotes reflect Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche's profound insights into the nature of mind and the path to spiritual awakening. His teachings continue to inspire and guide spiritual seekers around the world. - 2 Sources
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