The Trungpa tülkus are a line of incarnate

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

lama Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...

s who traditionally head Surmang monastery complex in

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

, now

Surmang Surmang (or Zurmang) refers to a vast alpine nomadic and farming region, historically a duchy under the King of Nangqên, Nangchen, with vast land holdings spreading over what is today the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province. In Tibetan ...

. There have been twelve such Trungpa

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is an individual recognized as the reincarnation of a previous spiritual master (lama), and expected to be reincarnated, in turn, after death. The tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibet ...

s. They are members of 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, M ...

tradition as well as the

Nyingma Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...

tradition.

Line of the Trungpa tulkus

# Künga Gyaltsen (15th century), student of Trungmase # Künga Sangpo (born 1464) # Künga Öser (15th and 16th centuries) # Künga Namgyal (1567–1629) # Tenpa Namgyal (1633–1712) # Tendzin Chökyi Gyatso (1715–1761) # Jampal Chökyi Gyatso (1763–1768) # Gyurme Thenphel (born 1771) # Tenpa Rabgye (19th century) # Chökyi Nyinche (1879–1939) #

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa (Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987), formally named the 11th Zurmang Trungpa, Chokyi Gyatso, was a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist master and holder of both Kagyu and Nyingm ...

(Chökyi Gyamtso, 1940–1987) was one of the most influential teachers of

Buddhism in the West Buddhism in the West (or more narrowly Western Buddhism) broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia, in the Western world. Occasional intersections between Western world, Western civilization and the Buddhist wor ...

. He founded

Shambhala Buddhism Shambhala Training is a secular approach to meditation and a new religious movement developed by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his students. It is based on what Trungpa calls Shambhala Vision, which sees enlightened soci ...

. #

Choseng Trungpa Choseng Trungpa Rinpoche, formally the 12th Zurmang Trungpa, Chokyi Sengye, is the 12th and current Trungpa lineage holder. He was born on February 6, 1989, in Pawo village, in Derge, eastern Tibet. He was recognized by the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoc ...

(Chökyi Sengye, born February 6, 1989) is the present Trungpa tülku.

Chökyi Nyinche

According to Fabrice Midal, the tenth Trungpa tulku rejected his role as fundraiser for the Surmang monasteries and preferred to live as a disciplined meditation practitioner. At one point, to escape his duties as the figurehead of the monastery complex, he ran away on foot to study with

Jamgon Kongtrul Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (, 1813–1899), also known as Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, poet, artist, physician, tertön and polymath. He is credited as one of the founders of the Rimé movement (non-sectarian ...

. He studied with Kongtrul Rinpoche for many years before returning to Surmang, and at that point had the reputation of a realized teacher.

Dilgo Khyentse Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tashi Paljor () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, Terton, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism ...

and the second Jamgon Kongtrul of Sechen studied with him. They later became the direct teachers of the eleventh Trungpa tulku.

References

Works cited

* {{Buddhism topics Lamas Tulkus Religious leadership roles