Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
Early Life Through the Diaspora
Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche was born in the Dhoshul region of Kham in eastern Tibet on June 10, 1950. His birth was a painless one for his mother, Pema Lhadze, who found a beautiful and fragrant flower the following day growing beneath the bed where she had given birth. She plucked the flower and offered it to Buddha Chenrezig on the family altar.
Rinpoche was recognized soon after his birth as the reincarnation of Khenpo Sherab Khyentse by three head lamas from Jadchag monastery. The previous Khenpo Sherab Khyentse was head abbot at Gochen Monastery, and a renowned scholar and practitioner who lived much of his life in retreat.
Rinpoche’s first Dharma teacher was his father, Lama Chimed Namgyal. Rinpoche began his schooling at the age of five when he entered Gochen Monastery. His studies were interrupted by China's takeover of Tibet as his family had to escape to India. In India, he was taught by his father and brother until he entered the Nyingmapa Monastic School of Northern India, where he studied until 1967.
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
Higher Studies and Enthronement
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche attending His Holiness Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje
Rinpoche entered the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, India, where he received his B.A. degree in 1975. He also attended Nyingmapa University in West Bengal, where he received another B.A. and an M.A. in 1977.
In 1978, Rinpoche was enthroned as the abbot of the Wish-fulfilling Nyingmapa Institute in Boudanath, Nepal by His Holiness Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche, and later became the abbot of the Department of Dharma Studies, where he taught poetry, grammar, philosophy, and psychology.
In 1981, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche appointed him as abbot of the Dorje Nyingpo Center in Paris, France. In 1982, he was honored to be invited to work with H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche at the Yeshe Nyingpo Center in New York. During the 1980s, until H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche’s mahaparinirvana (passing) in 1987, Rinpoche continued working closely with him, often traveling as his translator and attendant.
Founding Padmasambhava Buddhist Center
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche and his brother, Venerable Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, in front of the PSL temple.
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche in meditation.
In 1988, Rinpoche and his brother founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center. Since that time he has served as a spiritual director at the various Padmasambhava Buddhist Centers throughout the world. He maintains an active traveling and teaching schedule.
Khenpo Tsewang Rinpoche has authored and co-authored over 25 books in English on Dharma subjects, including many with his brother Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche. Take a browse through the PBC Chiso Dharma Store to familiarize yourself with the many teaching resources he and his brother have authored.
Teachings and Dedication to the Dharma
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
Khenpo Rinpoche has served as the sole spiritual director of PBC since Khenchen Rinpoche’s mahaparinirvana in 2010. He maintains an active traveling and teaching schedule and has published over 30 books on the Dharma in Tibetan and English with Khenchen Rinpoche. He has also written a verse biography of Guru Padmasambhava and a biography of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche.
Khenpo Rinpoche embodies the qualities sought in a teacher and spiritual companion: immense compassion, profound wisdom and scholarship, sweet humility, gentle humor, and tremendous courage and commitment.
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche teaching sangha members to make the bultor torma.
