Kyabje Nawang Gehlek Rimpoche () was a

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

born in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

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, ...

on October 26, 1939. His personal name was Gelek; ''kyabje'' and ''

rimpoche Rinpoche, also spelled Rimboche and Rinboku (), is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language. It literally means "precious one", and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words "gem" or "jewel" (Sanskrit: ''Ratna''). The word con ...

'' are titles meaning "teacher" (lit., "lord of refuge") and "precious," respectively; he is known to Tibetans as Nyakre Khentrul Rinpoche. He was a

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 ...

, an incarnate lama of Drepung Monastic University, where he received the highest scholastic degree of

Geshe Lharampa Geshe (Tib. ''dge bshes'', short for ''dge-ba'i bshes-gnyen'', "virtuous friend"; translation of Skt. ''kalyāņamitra'') or geshema is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks and nuns. The degree is emphasized primarily by the Gelug lineage, ...

, equivalent to a PhD, at the exceptionally young age of 20. His father was the 10th Demo Rinpoche and his uncle was the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He was educated alongside the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso who said "he completed his traditional Buddhist training as a monk in Tibet prior to the Chinese Takeover." Rimpoche was tutored by many of Tibet's greatest teachers including the 14th Dalai Lama's senior and junior tutors, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, who sent him to the West to teach, and

Denma Locho Rinpoche Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche (1928 Kham, Tibet - 23 October 2014, MacLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India) also known as Lobsang Oser Choying Gyatso, was a Tibetan incarnate lama, or tulku, of the Loseling College of Drepung Monastery. An expert on Yamanta ...

and Song Rinpoche. According to

Thupten Jinpa Thupten Jinpa Langri (born 1958) is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, former monk and an academic of religious studies and both Eastern and Western philosophy. He has been the principal English translator to the Dalai Lama since 1985. He has translated ...

, principal English translator to the Dalai Lama, he is considered In 1959, ten days after the Dalai Lama fled to India, Gelek Rimpoche led a large group of Tibetans from

into exile in India. He then settled at a temporary camp with other lamas and monks in

Buxa Buxa is a village in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal within Buxa Tiger Reserve. It is located from Alipurduar, the nearest town. It is known for the Buxa Fort Buxa Fort is located at an altitude of in the Buxa Tiger Reserve, in the K ...

, India, where his education continued, although "there were no books, and classes had to be taught from memory only." He was one of the first students of the

Young Lamas Home School The Young Lamas Home School was a school established by the 14th Dalai Lama and Freda Bedi in 1960. Its funding was provided by Christopher Hills and its early abbot was Karma Thinley Rinpoche. Freda Bedi asked Chogyam Trungpa to train young Tibet ...

and later gave up monastic life. He was named director of

Tibet House Tibet House is an international, loosely affiliated group of nonprofit, cultural preservation organizations founded at the request of the Dalai Lama, to preserve, present, and protect Tibet's ancient traditions of philosophy, mind science, art, ...

in New Delhi, India in 1965. In the 1970s he served as head of Tibetan services and as a radio host at

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

. He preserved over 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts that would have otherwise been lost and conducted over 1000 interviews, compiling an oral history of the fall of Tibet to Communist China that are in the US

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

's Tibetan Oral History Archive Project. In 1964 he was an exchange student at Cornell University. Rimpoche moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1987 to teach Buddhism. In 1988 he founded and was president o
Jewel Heart
a nonprofit "spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian organization that translates the ancient wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism into contemporary life." in Ann Arbor, which has expanded to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Chicago, Cleveland, Nebraska, New York, Malaysia and The Netherlands. Beat-poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

was among the more prominent of Jewel Heart's members. Ginsberg met with Gelek Rinpoche through the modern composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

in 1989. Allen and Philip jointly staged benefits for the Jewel Heart organization. Professor

Robert Thurman Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 3, 1941) is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at ...

, Joe Liozzo, and

Glenn Mullin Glenn H. Mullin (born Jun 22, 1949 in Quebec, Canada) is a Tibetologist, Buddhist writer, translator of classical Tibetan literature and teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation. Mullin has written over twenty-five books on Tibetan Buddhism. Many ...

are also Jewel Heart members and frequent lecturers. He became an American citizen in July 1994. Demo Rinpoche, Rimpoche's nephew, has served as Jewel Heart’s Resident Spiritual Director since 2018. Gelek Rinpoche died on February 15, 2017 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

after undergoing surgery the previous month. In 2021

Tibet House US Tibet House US (THUS) is a Tibetan cultural preservation and education 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1987 in New York City by a group of Westerners after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, expressed his wish to establish a cultural insti ...

in New York City partnered with the Allen Ginsberg estate and Jewel Heart International on "Transforming Minds: Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche and Friends," a gallery and eventually online exhibition of images of Rimpoche by Allen Ginsberg, with whom he had an “indissoluble bond.” "Fifty negatives guided by Allen’s extensive notes on the contact sheets and images he’d circled with the intention to print," featured images including Rimpoche "with other great Tibetan masters, including Ribur Rimpoche and Khylogla Rato Rimpoche, images we had not known about." Other images include Rimpoche with "monks, Tibetologists, friends, and students, including Philip Glass, artist

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various ar ...

, founder of Tibet House US, Robert Thurman, poet

Anne Waldman Anne Waldman (born April 2, 1945) is an American poet. Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activ ...

, and songwriter, singer, and poet,

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

Selected bibliography

*''Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation'', (foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama), Riverhead Books, 2001, *''The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing From the Female Buddha'' (with Brenda Rosen), New World Library, 2004, *''Essentials of Modern Literary Tibetan: A Reading Course and Reference Grammar'' (with Melvyn C. Goldstein, Lobsang Phuntshog), University of California Press, 1991, , *''A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 1 1913-1951'', (with Melvyn C Goldstein), University of California Press, 2008, , , , *''A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 2, The calm before the storm, 1951-1955'', (with Melvyn C Goldstein), University of California Press, 2009, , *''How the Mind Works'', Jewel Heart, 2016, *''Perfection of Wisdom: An Essential Explanation of the Mantra and the Five Paths'', 2014, *''The Three Principles of the Path: A Brief Explanation'', Jewel Heart, 2014, *''Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Chapter 3; Full Acceptance of the Awakening Mind'', Jewel Heart, 2013, *''37 Wings of Change'', Jewel Heart, 2012, *''Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Chapter 6; Patience'', Jewel Heart, 2010, *''The Four Mindfulnesses: On the Basis of a Poem by the Seventh Dalai Lama with Commentary by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche'', Jewel Heart, 2009, *''The Four Noble Truths'', Jewel Heart, 2009, *''Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Chapter 7; Enthusiasm'', Jewel Heart, 2008, *''GOM: A Course In Meditation'', Jewel Heart, 2005, *''Lam Rim: Foundations of the Path'', Jewel Heart, 2005, *''Transforming Negativities'', Jewel Heart, 2004, *'' Catalogue : first exhibition in new Tibet House,'' (with Gyaltsen Yeshey, Nicholas Ribush, Trisha Donnelly); Tibet House, New Delhi, India), 1979, OCLC Number: 37437276

References

External links

Biography of Gelek Rimpoche
from Jewel Heart
Remembering Gelek Rimpoche
from Jewel Heart
Gelek Rimpoche White Tara Guided Meditation
Gelek Rimpoche leads a guided meditation on the healing and compassionate activity of Tara.
''Enlightenment in Female Form''
by Gelek Rimpoche, Lion's Roar, February 17, 2017
Gelek Rimpoche author's page
Lion's Roar
Big Love: Gelek Rimpoche on Dharma in the West
1982 interview by Robyn Brentano, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, FPMT * *
''American Rimpoche''
documentary film about the life of Gelek Rimpoche
"Rubin Museum Show to Trace Francesco Clemente's Indian Inspirations"
New York Times article describes

's "series ''Clemente x 8'', a group of 90-minute discussions between Clemente and eight people he regards as masters in other fields: the musicians

and Nas; the chef

Eric Ripert The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

; the directors

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( , ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama ''A Little Princess (1995 film), A Little Princess'' (1995), the romantic drama ''Gre ...

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair lo ...

and

David Chase David Henry Chase (born August 22, 1945) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced the HBO drama ''The Sopranos'' which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for such shows as ''The Rockford Files ...

; the architect

Billie Tsien Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (also known as Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects , Partners) are a husband-and-wife architectural firm founded in 1986, based in New York. Williams and Tsien began working together in 1977. Their studio focu ...

; and Gelek Rimpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama to whom Mr. Clemente is particularly close." {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelek, Kyabje 1939 births 2017 deaths Lamas from Tibet Gelug Lamas Tibetan writers Tibetan Buddhism writers Gelug tulkus American people of Tibetan descent Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Rinpoches 20th-century lamas 21st-century lamas