The Eighth Garchen Rinpoche (Tib. མགར་ཆེན་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, ), also called Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche (Tib. མགར་ཆེན་ཁྲི་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, ), is 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 ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

in the

Drikung Kagyu Drikung Kagyü or Drigung Kagyü ( Wylie: 'bri-gung bka'-brgyud) is one of the eight "minor" lineages of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. "Major" here refers to those Kagyü lineages founded by the immediate disciples of Gampopa (1079-1153) w ...

lineage. Born April 1936 in Nangchen,

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 ...

, he is believed to be an incarnation of Siddha Gar Chodingpa, a heart-disciple of Jigten Sumgön, founder of the

lineage in the thirteenth century CE. He is also believed to have incarnated as Mahasiddha

Aryadeva Āryadeva (fl. 3rd century CE) (; , Chinese: ''Tipo pusa'' ��婆菩薩 = Deva Bodhisattva, was a Mahayana Buddhist monk, a disciple of Nagarjuna and a Madhyamaka philosopher.Silk, Jonathan A. (ed.) (2019). ''Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhi ...

in ancient India - the lotus-born disciple of

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

himself. He was known as Lonpo Gar, the minister of Tibetan

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

king

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepa ...

in the seventh century CE.

Biography

Garchen Rinpoche was seven years old when he was brought to Lho Miyal Monastery and given the ordination name of Könchok Gyaltsen (Tib. དཀོན་མཆོག་རྒྱལ་མཚན་, ). There he was recognized by Drikung Kyabgon Zhiwe Lodro, the 36th throne holder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage, where he was instructed by Siddha Chime Dorje and other high lamas of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage. At the age of 19, Garchen Rinpoche entered into a three year retreat which was interrupted after two and a half years due to the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

in China. When he was 22 he was imprisoned by the Chinese for 20 years and put in a labor camp. During that time he met with Khenpo Munsel who became his root guru. Khenpo Munsel was a

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 trans ...

master who taught him during the whole 20 years of his imprisonment. During that time, while enduring the labor camp hardships, Garchen Rinpoche kept on practicing in secret, according to his

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

's instructions until he achieved the wisdom-mind which Khenpo Musel called "an emanation of a

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

". Garchen Rinpoche was released from prison in 1979. As soon as he was released, he took it upon himself to rebuild the

monasteries, reestablish the Buddhist teachings, and build two boarding schools for local children in eastern Tibet. Garchen Rinpoche first came to North America in 1997, teaching in Canada and the United States.

Current activities and expertise

Garchen Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of the Garchen Buddhist Institute in

Chino Valley, Arizona Chino Valley is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,817. Geography Chino Valley is located at (34.758381, -112.449758). The town is located adjacent the southeast ter ...

, the Drikung Mahayana Center in North Potomac, Maryland and Gar Drolma Choling in Dayton, Ohio. Rinpoche is also the spiritual director of many other Dharma centers and teaches throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Starting in 2020, because of his age, Rinpoche stopped traveling to different Dharma centers all over the world, and retired at his main seat, the Garchen Buddhist Institute. He has been giving teachings and holding Dharma events there since then, including online streaming for these. Rinpoche is a master of , the fivefold practice

Mahamudra Mahāmudrā ( Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmud ...

, the

Six Yogas of Naropa The Six Dharmas of Nāropa (, Skt. ''ṣaḍdharma'', "Naro's six doctrines" or "six teachings"), are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016-1100 CE) and passed on to th ...

, and the preliminary practices (Tib. ). He widely promotes Thogme Zangpo's ''Thirty-Seven Practices of a

'' and White Tara practice.

References

External links

Garchen Buddhist Institute

Gar Drolma Buddhist Center

Garchen Rinpoche Documentary Film: Blu-ray / DVD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garchen Rinpoche 1936 births Living people Buddhist monks from Tibet Drikung Kagyu lamas Drikung Kagyu tulkus Lamas from Tibet Rinpoches Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teachers