The Gyalwang Drukpa

I was thinking of keeping this news until very much closer to the First ADC but then I thought it would be very difficult for the organising committee to remake the schedule of programs, if I don't say something now.

For those of you who have been following the news and also reading The Dragon magazine or watching our DVDs, or those who are doing  your Ngondro practice and the lineage prayer of Sengey Tsewa, you must be knowing that Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoche is one of the most important lineage masters of the Drukpa Lineage. The First Yongdzin Lhatsewa Ngawang Zangpo was a great and enlightened disciple of the Fourth Drukpa Pema Karpo. Then later the Second Yongdzin Kunga Lhundrub became the beloved guru of the Fifth Dalai Lama who offered him a huge property, on which the Second Yongdzin founded one of the most important monastic centres for our lineage, Dechen Choekhor Ling Monastery. The Drukpa Yongdzins and Drukpa Choegons have always enjoyed a very close guru-disciple relationship over the past few centuries.

As you know we have two Choegon Rinpoches and two Yongdzin Rinpoches. We also have two Dechen Choekhor Ling in India, one in Dehra Dun, established in 1966, and one in Kullu, established in 1996. Both are actively managed by our beloved and most respected Drukpa Choegon Rinpoches who are living examples of our yogi lineage masters, dedicating their entire life for the sake of all sentient beings through spreading the teachings of our enlightened masters of the Dragon Lineage.

We are also very proud that we have all these great masters who are helping each other and supporting each other harmoniously and sincerely through all the different ways and gestures, which are really inspiring for not only masters and followers in our lineage but also those in other Buddhist lineages and other spiritual traditions. This is truly a yogi spirit that is beyond dualism. I am so proud to be their colleague.

Similarly, we have two Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoches. One of them presently lives in America, and the other one passed away in 1995 sadly in a car accident on the Indo-Nepal border. I recently discovered his reincarnation and he is now staying at my monastery. He would be enthroned as the Ninth Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoche during the First ADC.

I am so relieved having found him, because so many people who loved and were devoted to his previous life have been requesting me to look for him. He was also a very dear friend of mine and I can still remember how badly his death affected me. We grew up together at Druk Sangag Choling Monastery in Darjeeling. Compared to the Ninth Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoche, I was so ignorant and extremely dumb. He was such a fast learner and he was such an amazing person. He went for only a few karate classes with Lodo Gyatso, and he could break many layers of wood at one go. He could learn foreign languages within a short time and he was constantly encouraging me, giving me moral support in whatever things I was doing. So, when he left us, I was so sad. It's no wonder I felt that way, if you believe in karmic connection, we have actually known each other for a few hundred years at least.

The Eighth Drukpa Yongdzin, born in 1960, was recognised very precisely by the Eighth Drukpa Choegon and the Sixteenth Karmapa. Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche performed a divination in front of a Guru Rinpoche statue, which was a treasure revealed by Terton Zhigpo Lingpa, and he reached definite conclusion. The Eighth Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche immediately sent monks from Kinnaur to Kalimpong to invite the young reincarnate and enthronement ceremony was performed at Khampaghar, the seat of Khamtrul Rinpoche in Tashi Jong. Later he was taken to Lippa and stayed at Rarang and other parts of Kinnaur. He received all the empowerments, transmissions and teachings of the Drukpa Lineage mainly from the late Ga Rinpoche Shedrub Choekyi Nyima. He learned the ritual practices from Rigzin Chodar, ex-teacher of Dechen Chokhor Monastery. He also received lessons in literature from the late Trijang Rinpoche. He received teachings on the philosophical view as expounded by Kunkhyen Pema Karpo, the Fourth Drukpa, from the great abbot Khenpo Noryang at Druk Sangag Choling monastery in Darjeeling together with myself. He studied Buddhist dialectics at Sera Monastery in South India. He later took Khandro Dekyi, daughter of Terchen Chogyur Lingpa, as his consort. As mentioned, he died in a car accident on the Indo-Nepal border in 1995. This is a short biography of the Ninth Drukpa Yongdzin Rinpoche, my old friend and one of my best friends.