Kyabje Rizong Rinpoche
Born in Ladakh in the early 1930s, Kyabje Rizong Rinpoche was recognized and enthroned as a child as the reincarnation of the founder of the illustrious Rizong Hermitage.
In the mid-1940s Rinpoche joined Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa for his higher training, remaining until the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. He then joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile community in India. He was appointed by His Holiness as Abbot both of Gyumed Tantric Monastery and of Drepung Loseling, two of the greatest seats of Tibetan spiritual knowledge. At present Rinpoche carries the title Jangtse Choje, or “Dharma Master of the Northern Peak,” one of the three highest spiritual positions in the Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Rinpoche has made the practice of meditation his principal focus in life, and has conducted numerous extensive retreats, including a three-year tantric retreat on the Yamantaka mandala in a remote hermitage in Ladakh. Through his achievements in practice and scholarship, he represents the pinnacle of the Sutra and Tantra traditions.
Rinpoche is renowned for his Tantric powers, and is frequently called upon by H.H. the Dalai Lama to lead ceremonies for healing and other similar purposes.
