Drikung Kagyu Religious Society Introduction of the Retreat Masters Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche Konchok Gyaltsen Return to:

Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche Konchok Gyaltsen

The most Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche Konchok Gyaltsen was born in 1946 in the village of Tsari - one of Milarepa's holy places in Tibet. In 1959, Kenchen Rinpoche fled to India with his family and completed his secondary education in Darjeeling. Khenchen Rinpoche traveled to Varanasi in October 1967 to begin a nine-year course of study at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. In early 1968, he took full monastic ordination from the great Venerable Kalu Rinpoche and shortly after graduating from the Institute, he received teachings from His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa on the "The Eight Treasures of Mahamudra Songs" by the Indian Mahasiddhas. Khenchen Rinpoche also received teachings and instructions from many great Buddhist masters. One of these great masters was the Venerable Khunu Lama Rinpoche, with whom Khenchen studied two works of Lord Gampop - "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation" and "The Precious Garland of the Excellent path". Rinpoche's studies with the Venerable Khunu Lama also included the study of Mahamudra and a collection of dharma songs by Milarepa. In 1978, Khenchen Rinpoche began a three-year retreat at the Lamayuru Retreat Center in Ladakh under the guidance of the enlightened master Khyungka Rinpoche of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage. During this time he was able to deepen and enhance his understanding of the "Five-Fold path of Mahamudra" and the profound "Gong Chik" text of Lord Jigten Sumgon. In 1982, Khenchen Rinpoche was invited to give teachings in America and over there, he also undertook the task of translating various Tibetan texts. In 1985, Khenchen Rinpoche traveled to the Drikung Thil Monastery in Tibet. Over there he was able to receive personal blessings, as well as instructions and transmissions of Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa, from the enlightened master Venerable Drubwang Pachung Rinpoche. In recent years, Khenchen Rinpoche has been traveling around the world tirelessly to give the teachings of Mahamudra to karmic-linked sentient beings.

May all mother sentient beings, boundless as the sky, have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May they be liberated from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May they never be separated from the happiness which is free from sorrow.
May they rest in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.

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