Lama Jigme Rinpoche (born 1949,

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...

) is an author and teacher in the

Karma Kagyu Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mon ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism 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 ...

. Born into the family of

Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (; August 14, 1924 – November 5, 1981) was the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Followers believed him to be part of the oldest line of reincarnate lamas in Vajra ...

, he is the brother of the late 14th Shamar Rinpoche, Mipham Chokyi Lodro. The 16th Karmapa appointed Lama Jigme Rinpoche as his European representative. He asked him to oversee the development of a

shedra Shedra is a Tibetan word () meaning "place of teaching" but specifically refers to the educational program in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries. It is usually attended by monks and nuns between their early teen years and early twenties. N ...

(university), library, retreat center, and monastery at Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

, France, where Jigme Rinpoche is currently the main representative of

Trinley Thaye Dorje Trinley Thaye Dorje () (born 6 May 1983 in Lhasa) is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa. The Karmapa is head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Thaye Dorje are the persisting ...

and head of the monastery.

History

On March 13, 1959, Lama Jigme Rinpoche fled the Chinese invasion of

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, ...

, together with the 16th Karmapa and other high lamas. They left Tsurphu through the border of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

on foot and by horse. The Karmapa rebuilt

Rumtek Monastery Rumtek Monastery (), also called the Dharma Chakra Centre, is a gompa located in the Indian state of Sikkim near the capital Gangtok. It is the seat-in-exile of the Gyalwang Karmapa, inaugurated in 1966 by the 16th Karmapa. It is also a focal p ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

in order to preserve the teachings. It was there that Jigme Rinpoche received all the transmissions directly from the Karmapa, alongside the

lineage holders. From 1961 to 1970, Jigme Rinpoche was the Karmapa's assistant at

. Jigme Rinpoche accompanied the 16th Karmapa on his journey from Rumtek to Europe in 1974. They offered Buddhist teachings and meditation practices to Westerners. During this visit, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje designated a property donated to him by

Bernard Benson Bernard S. Benson (28 January 1922 – 15 May 1996) was a British inventor and author. Biography Benson was a fighter pilot during World War II, and later worked on the design of early British missiles. He emigrated to the United States whe ...

in Dordogne as his central seat of activity. He asked Jigme Rinpoche to live there, and oversee construction and spiritual development. He also asked Gendün Rinpoche and Pawo Rinpoche to move to the property. When the 16th Karmapa appointed Lama Jigme Rinpoche as director of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling he said, "In the person of Lama Jigme Rinpoche, I leave you my heart". Jigme Rinpoche acted as the representative of Rumtek in several European countries (the seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage in India after leaving Tibet) starting in 1980. In 1977 the 16th Karmapa made a second journey to the West. The donation of the property in France was finalized. Karmapa blessed the site and gave the center its final name of "Dhagpo Kagyu Ling", named after the site where the historic lineage holder Gampopa taught. He became a French citizen.

Activity

Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa with Pope Paul VI

Lama Jigme Rinpoche played a significant role in ushering in Tibetan Buddhism in the West through the establishment of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in France, which has been called the "mother centre" of Buddhism in France, and which receives visitors interested in learning about Buddhism from all over France throughout the year. In addition, Dhagpo Kagyu Ling has acted as a repository for Buddhist teachings, with 20–30,000

microfiche Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. F ...

texts stored in its libraries. Jigme Rinpoche also travels regularly throughout France to provide Buddhist teachings. He is the author of four books about Buddhism: ''The Manual of Ordinary Heroes''; ''The Bodhisattavas' Way'', ''A Path of Wisdom'', and ''Working with Emotions''. Excerpts of Jigme Rinpoche's public lectures about various Buddhist subjects, including accomplishing benefit or merit, the Karma Kagyu transmission, guru yoga meditation, the 16th Karmapa and Karma Kagyu Buddhism in the West, his experiences with the 16th Karmapa, and working with emotions have been translated and published in English in the periodical ''Buddhism Today.'' Jigme Rinpoche received all the significant

empowerments In Vajrayāna Buddhism, esoteric transmission is the transmission of certain teachings directly from teacher to student during an empowerment (''abhiṣeka'') in a ritual space containing the mandala of the deity. Many techniques are also commonly ...

and teachings from the 16th Karmapa, and was able to pass them on to his close students. Jigme Rinpoche was close with Gendün Rinpoche, Pawo Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse. He received empowerments and teachings from them as well as numerous empowerments and teachings from important

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 ...

lamas including Dudjom Rinpoche. By 1998, Frédéric Lenoir organized a dialogue between Lama Jigme Rinpoche and

Robert Le Gall Robert Jean Louis Le Gall O.S.B. (born 26 February 1946) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Toulouse from 2006 to 2021. He was previously the Bishop of Mende from 2001 to 2006. Biography Robert Jean Louis Le Gall w ...

that resulted in the publication of the book ''Le Moine et le lama'' () in 2000 at

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

. Michaël de Saint-Cheron published his own dialogue with Lama Jigmé Rinpoche in his book ''La condition humaine et le temps'' (). The book describes Jigme Rinpoche as one of the great thinkers of our time, and in it he gives a Buddhist spiritual perspective on the idea of time, aging and death.

Selected works

* ''A Path of Wisdom''. Rabsel Publications (2019). * ''The Handbook of Ordinary Heroes: The Bodhisattvas' Way". Rabsel Publications (2019) * ''The Monk and the Lama: The Heart of Buddhist Meditation''. Fayard (2013). * ''Working with the Emotions (Bodhi Path Buddhist Teachings)''. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2004).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jigme Rinpoche, Lama 1949 births Karma Kagyu lamas Rinpoches Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Living people Lamas from Tibet Buddhist monks from Tibet French people of Tibetan descent 20th-century lamas 21st-century lamas