Thrangu Rinpoche (
Tibetan: ཁྲ་འགུ་,
Wylie: Khra-'gu[ˈtʰran.ɡuˈrinpotʃe][need tone]) (1933 – 4 June 2023)[1] was born in
Kham,
Tibet.[1] He was deemed to be a prominent
tulku (reincarnate lama) in the
Kagyu school of
Tibetan Buddhism,[1] the ninth reincarnation in his particular line. His full name and title was the Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge. The academic title Khenchen denotes great scholarly accomplishment (English-language analogues include the titles
Distinguished Professor and Academic
Fellow), and the term Rinpoche ("Precious" or "Precious One") is a Tibetan devotional title which may be accorded to respected teachers and exemplars.
Biography
Early life and exile
Thrangu Rinpoche was installed at
Thrangu Monastery in
Kham (eastern Tibet) after his identification by the Sixteenth
Karmapa and the previous
Tai Situpa at age five. He was one of the principal lamas there, although
Traleg Rinpoche is the supreme abbot of the complex. He fled to India following the
Chinese invasion in 1959.
At the age of thirty-five Thrangu Rinpoche took the geshe examination in
Bengal and was awarded the degree of Geshe Lharampa, the highest degree conferred in the
Gelug transmission (it is not uncommon for monks of other lineage to pursue studies in that tradition). He was subsequently awarded the Khenchen degree of the
Kagyu tradition. He played a critical role in the recovery of important Buddhist texts that had been largely destroyed by the Chinese Communists. He was named Abbot of
Rumtek monastery, the home monastery in exile of the Karmapa, and also of the
Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies at Rumtek.
In 1976, after 15 years at Rumtek, Thrangu Rinpoche founded the
Thrangu Tashi Choling monastery in
Boudhanath,
Kathmandu, Nepal, and later also founded a retreat centre and college at
Namo Buddha;
Tara Abbey, which offers a full
dharma education for Tibetan nuns leading to a
khenpo degree; a school in Boudhanath for the general education of Tibetan children and young monks in Western subjects and Buddhist studies; and a free medical clinic in an impoverished area of
Nepal.
Thrangu Rinpoche recently completed a large monastery in
Sarnath,
India, overlooking the
deer park where the
Buddha gave his first teaching on the
Four Noble Truths. The monastery is named
Vajra Vidya in honor of the
Sixteenth Karmapa. It is now the seat of the major annual Kagyu conference.
On 25 July 2010,
Thrangu Monastery was opened by Thrangu Rinpoche in
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It is the first traditional Buddhist monastery in Canada. It contains a six-metre-tall (20 ft) gold-plated statue of
Shakyamuni Buddha, and the shrine hall can seat 500 people.[2]
Rinpoche died on 4 June 2023 at Thrangu Monastery.[3]
Bibliography
Aspirational Prayer for Mahamudra of Rangjung Dorje (1999), Namo Buddha Publications.
Buddha Nature (1988, 1993), Rangjung Yeshe Publications.
ISBN962-7341-17-7
Buddhist Conduct: The Ten Virtuous Actions (2001), Namo Buddha Publications.