Ngawang Lekshey Gyaltso (born 1977 in

Kalimpong Kalimpong (Hindi: कलिम्पोंग) is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The re ...

, India) is the 15th in the lineage of

Changling Rinpoche The Changling Rinpoche are a Tibetan Buddhist lineage, founded by the Tibetan Rechungpa who lived in the eleventh century. Rechungpa himself was a student of Milarepa. Schools of Tibetan Buddhism {{Tibet-stub ...

s. His lineage was started by Rechung Dorje Drakpa, who lived in eleventh century

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Recognition

In 1985, Khabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Khabje

Penor Rinpoche Kyabjé Drubwang Padma Norbu Rinpoche (), 1932 – 27 March 2009, was the 11th throneholder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and said to be an incarnation of Vimalamitra. He was widely renowned in the Tibetan Bu ...

recognized Changling Rinpoche as the main

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

of Changchub Ling Monastery in the

Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo in the north-east, and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Geographically Ü-Tsang covere ...

region of Central Tibet. The news came to Rinpoche’s family in Kalimpong via a letter written by the Khabjes. Rinpoche’s grandmother, surprised by the news, took it upon herself to look into the situation. She traced the source to an old yogi, Lama Trakden, a student of the previous Changling Lingpa. Lama Trakden had gone to see Khyentse Rinpoche who was giving teachings in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

’s monastery and requested him to recognize the ''

'' of his root teacher. This is how it came about that both Khyentse Rinpoche and Penor Rinpoche made the recognition together.

Studies

As an 11-year-old boy, Rinpoche entered

Shechen Monastery Shechen Monastery () is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally located in Kham, Tibet, but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in Nepal in ...

and was enthroned by Khyentse Rinpoche and ordained by

Trulshik Rinpoche Trulshik Rinpoche Ngawang Chökyi Lodrö (''khrul zhig ngag dbang chos kyi blo gros'') (1 January 1923 – 2 September 2011) born in Yardrok Taklung, Central Tibet was one of the main teachers of the 14th Dalai Lama and of many of the younger gen ...

. In the first year Rinpoche learned how to read and write Tibetan. The following year Shechen opened its philosophical college and Khyentse Rinpoche put Changling Tulku into the program when he was twelve, an age considerably younger than usual. When Rinpoche was fifteen, his root teacher Khyentse Rinpoche died. At age sixteen Rinpoche began to give teachings to others students in college. At eighteen Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, abbot of Shechen Monastery, sent Changling Rinpoche to complete his studies of the Heart Sutra under the tutelage of the great khenpos of Penor Rinpoche’s college in Mysore. Rinpoche took full monk’s ordination at age twenty with Trulshik Rinpoche. Rinpoche graduated with a khenpo degree at the age of twenty-one.

Career

Since the death of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Rinpoche’s main tutors are Khabjes Trulshik Rinpoche, Dodrupchen Rinpoche,

, Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche and Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche. Rinpoche teaches the senior students at Shechen College and those in a traditional three-year retreat, and teaches ritual and

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

tantra to senior students. In previous years Changling Rinpoche was in charge of a section of the Shechen Monastery called '' dratsang'', "the collection of monks". He has been a director of Shechen Monastery. Currently he is devoting his time to writing commentaries on the works of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and searching out missing texts of the Northern Treasure Lineage. As the abbot of the Sechen Monastery ''shedra'' (monastic college), he holds a post previously held by such lamas as Mipham Rinpoche,

Shechen Gyaltsap Shechen Monastery () is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally located in Kham, Tibet, but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in Nepal in ...

and

Khenpo Gangshar Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo (b. 1925-?) was a highly respected lama in Eastern Tibet and one of the primary teachers of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (the 11th Trungpa tulku) and the 9th Thrangu Rinpoche. Khenpo Gangshar was trained in Shechen Monastery, a ...

Foreign travel

Rinpoche was warmly received when he began to travel and teach outside of Nepal, starting with Australia in 2002. His youthful enthusiasm combined with his knowledge of Buddhist doctrine and command of English language added to his appeal. He began to teach in Australia, in North America in 2004 and in Europe in 2005. His activities in CanadaChangling Rinpoche visits the Coast
/ref> are currently centered in Vancouver, Victoria, Sechelt and Vancouver Island in British Columbia. In the United States he has visited both coasts: Santa Cruz, California, and the New York area. In 2008 he also visited Halifax, Berkeley, Boston, and Atlanta. In 2010 the Canadian and United States organizations of the Northern Treasures lineage hosted a visit by the rebirth of his teacher, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

References

External links