Ven. Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche
Rinpoche
is a Nyingma Vajrayana master and the spiritual director of Ogyan chokhor
ling, the European Sangha of his personal students. He is an inspiring
teacher with extraordinary gifts of communication and a rare subtelty
of expression in English which allows fine detail of meaning to be nailed
with great simplicty. He is a Ngakpa and is keen to see this Tantric ordination
flourish in the West as it has for over a thousand years in the Himalayas
and Tibet.
He is also the founder and director of the Lhundrup Topgye Ling School which provides the only education available to a group of villages in the remote Arunachal Pradesh region of the North East of India. It is a traditional ‘drat-sang’ committed to the continuation into future generations of the spiritual, academic, artistic and cultural treasures of the Tibetan people.
Rinpoche was born into a family of ngakpas with an unbroken lineage of inherited spiritual gifts and accomplishments descended from the Terton Pema Lingpa. He now lives in Arunachal Pradesh and Varanassi in India. He aims to visit and teach in the United Kingdom annually.
Rinpoche has studied with many of the greatest Lamas of his generation. His Root Lama is HH Dudjom Rinpoche. His retreat Master was Changchak Rinpoche. He holds the Nyingma lineages of Pema Lingpa, Chang Ter, Mindrol Ling, Dudjom Tersar and Longchen Nyingthig. He received initiations from Minling Trichen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, DoDrupchen Rinpoche, Padma Norbu Rinpoche, Khordong Tulku Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche and Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche. He holds Dung-se Thrin-le Norbu Rinpoche and Chatral Rinpoche as his highest living rôle models.
As well as being a realised practitioner and Lama, Rinpoche is a highly
respected academic with a teaching career of three decades in higher education.
Ven. Lopon P. Ogyan Rinpoche's academic qualifications include:
Sastri Pariksa (B.A.) 1975, Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi
Senior Diploma (M.A.) First Class, in Tibetan Language and Literature,
1977
Visva-bharati University Santiniketan, West Bengal
Acharya in Tibetan Nyingma Philosophy (Lopon - Special M.A.) 1979
International Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Preservation Society, Kalimpong
In addition to guiding and supporting his personal disciples and sangha,
Rinpoche has held a number of teaching posts in higher education:
Lecturer in Tibetan Language and Literature, Central Institute for Higher
Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, 1979-1994
Visiting Lecturer in Kelaniya University, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1999
Rinpoche is a founding member of the Nyingma Student's Welfare Committee,
Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi UP and
served as President several times between 1979-1994.
He was Founder and President of the Bodhicitta Centre in Sarnath, a social
welfare organization registered with the Indian Government.
He conducted Tibetan religious teachings and lectures in Belgium and Paris
(1993), Taiwan (1994, 1996,1999) and the United States (2000). H
Rinpoche first visited the United Kingdom during October 2004 to January 2005 to give extensive and intensive teachings and empowerments from the Dudjom Tersar to students from throughout Europe. He is concerned to ensure the students he is teaching in Europe receive continuity in their training and practice by maintaining a personal relationship with him and this sangha over time. Since then he has continued his commitment to Dudjom practitioners in Europe by teaching again in 2005 and 2006. This relationship continues with a full programme in the UK in 2007.
© Nyingma.com
2006