The Prajnopaya Instiute of Buddhist Studies

“…genuine happiness consists in those spiritual qualities of love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness and so on. For it is these which provide both for our happiness and others’ happiness”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is distinguished as a leading proponent of human rights and world peace. As the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, his efforts to end the suffering of the Tibetan people have earned him international respect. In 1989, His Holiness accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on the behalf of oppressed everywhere and all those who struggle for freedom and work for world peace and the people of Tibet. In his remarks he said, "The prize reaffirms our conviction that with truth, courage and determination as our weapons, Tibet will be liberated. Our struggle must remain nonviolent and free of hatred."

In 1981, His Holiness expressed his appreciation of diversity at the World Congress of Faiths, "I always believe that it is much better to have a variety of religions, a variety of philosophies, rather than one single religion or philosophy. This is necessary because of the different mental dispositions of each human being. Each religion has certain unique ideas or techniques, and learning about them can only enrich one's own faith."

His Holiness was born in 1935, in northeastern Tibet. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be the manifestations of the Bodhisattva (Buddha) of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve all beings.

When not traveling and teaching, he follows the life of Buddhist monk, living in a small cottage in Dharamsala, he rises before dawn to meditate, pursues an ongoing schedule of administrative meetings, private audiences and religious teachings and ceremonies.

Courtesy: http://www.tibet.com

Patrons:

His Holiness Sakya Trizin

His Holiness Sakya Trizin, born in 1945 in the Sakya Palace at Tsedong, is the head of the Sakya Lineage. His childhood name was Ayu Vajra. In 1951 he formally received the title of Sakya Trizin from the Dalai Lama - thus becoming the forty-first holder of this position.

In 1964 His Holiness undertook the task of re-establishing the main seat of the Sakya Order at Rajpur, near Dehra Dun in the Indian state of Uttaranchal.
It was here that he founded The Sakya Centre for the training of young monks in ritual. In 1972, Sakya College was established at Rajpur at the request of his Holiness. Through this particular initiative he played a major part in the revitalization of traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and in ensuring the supply of a new generation of well trained teachers. Meanwhile larger permanent premises for Sakya College have been built at Rajpur.

When not engaged on his many commitments, His Holiness lives at the Dolma Phodrang in Rajpur, Northern India together with his wife and two sons , this in the interests of preserving unbroken the traditions of the Khön Lineage which has a long history extending back to pre-Buddhist Tibet.

Courtesy: http://www.sakyatemple.org/

His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche the 37th Drikung Kyabgon

His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche the 37th Drikung Kyabgon is the head of the Drikung Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism. He resides at JangChub Ling in Dehra Dun, Northern India. In 1985 Drikung Kyabgon founded the Drikung Kagyu Institute, an education center, which emphasizes both traditional monastic education and contemporary training. The Institute has started a research project collecting all the Drikung Kagyu texts and the latest project is a Computer Library, where documentation materials on the ways of living, philosophy and religious thought of the peoples of the Himalayas are to be centrally registered. There is also a meditation retreat center nearby.

His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche was born in 1947 in Lhasa. In 1969, he was a student in Chinese schools and later worked in communes in Central Tibet. The latter became an invaluable experience for learning about the Tibetan spiritual and temporal condition in a changed society.

In 1992, His Holiness oversaw the official opening of the principle monastery of the Drikung Kagyu outside of Tibet. The guest of honor was His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Courtesy: http://www.drikung.org/

His Eminence Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche is grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, a unique Buddhist meditation master and the most eminent modern day proponent of the non-sectarian or Rimed tradition. His Excellency maintains the authentic Tibetan Buddhist tradition as taught to him by his grandfather in combination with a modern interest in the needs of the community and its individuals. Rabjam Rinpoche has taken the responsibility of transmitting Khyentse Rinpoche's teachings and is bringing his vision for the preservation of Tibetan Buddhist teaching and culture to fruition.

He traveled throughout the world with Khyentse Rinpoche and first visited the West in 1976. In the early 1980’s Khyentse Rinpoche built Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal and established HE Rabjam Rinpoche as its abbot. The Monastery is one of the largest and most beautiful outside of Tibet.

During the last ten years, HE Rabjam Rinpoche increased the Monastery’s activities by establishing the Shechen Philosophical College and the Shechen Retreat Center. In response to the needs of women wanting to practice and study in this lineage, he has improved the facilities of the Sisinang Nunnery in Bhutan.

Due to his acute interest in humanitarian projects, Rabjam Rinpoche established the Shechen Medical Clinic in Nepal and the Shechen Mobile Clinic in India. Both projects serve medical needs of the local lay and monastic communities.

Rabjam Rinpoche was born in 1966 and at the age of three began taking teachings. At the present time, he is overseeing the education and upbringing of Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, the young incarnation of his honorable grandfather and teacher.

Courtesy: http://www.shechen.org

His Eminence Lopon Tenzin Namdak

His Eminence Lopon Tenzin Namdak is the most senior teacher of the Bonpo tradition. Rinpoche is part of an unbroken lineage of 33 generations through Nyambd Sherab Gyaltsen, the founder of Menri Monastery in Tibet. He was the teaching master there from 1953 to 1957, when he entered a long retreat until 1960.

In London (1961) under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation Visiting Scholar program, Lopon and Professor David Snellgrove collaborated to produce The Nine Ways of Bon, the first scholarly study of the Bon tradition to be made in the West.

Returning to India in 1964, Rinpoche founded Dolanji Settlement in Northern India, in order to give a home to the Bonpo people in exile.
He returned to Europe in 1969 as a visiting scholar at Munich University to collaborate on a Tibetan-German-English dictionary. From 1970 to 1979 Lopon Rinpoche taught the monks at the Bonpo Monastic Center and supervised the publishing of a many important Bonpo texts in New Delhi. By 1978 enough texts were published to organize a curriculum and a traditional dialectic school was established to preserve the Bonpo philosophical tradition where analysis and logic are applied to the teachings of the Sutras, the Tantras, and especially to the Dzogchen. In 1987 he founded Tritan Norbutse -his present place of residence- another Bonpo monastery and an International Education Center in Nepal.

The Venerable Lopon Tenzin Namdak, Rinpoche was born in 1926 in Southeastern Tibet and his two main masters were Bonruponlob Rinpoche and the Venerable Lopon Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche.

Courtesy: http://www.tibetanbon.com/

The Most Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche

The Most Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche is a Tibetan monk and renowned scholar. In 2001 he became the first elected Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, through a new voting system of election initiative of HH the Dalai Lama.

At the time elected, Samdhong Rinpoche had left public service and had decided to set out on "a reclusive life in order to begin my efforts for the cause of non-violence." After numerous requests from most of the exile Tibetan communities, he relinquished his personal desires and accepted the responsibilities of Prime Minister.

Rinpoche has said, "I believe we Tibetans need to establish a non-violent society to serve as a model for the rest of the world. In order to do this, we should first develop a culture of ahimsa [non-violence] in our exile communities. We can begin by designing projects for non-violent means of livelihood in the exile communities. Tibetan settlements in India are ideal places for undertaking this experiment. In short, I intend to promote the Gandhian concept of gram swaraj [village self-rule] in our settlements. Especially I intend to promote non-violent and eco-friendly agricultural and farming practices in our settlements… Yes, there are people who think that the only effective solution to any problem is through violence. This is because non-violent movements are unable to attract the attention of the world community. This is the biggest cause for continued violence and disturbance. There is, therefore, the need for solidarity and support to the principle of nonviolence and actions that flow from it.”

Samdhong Lobsang Tenzin, the 5th Samdhong Rinpoche, was born in 1939 in Eastern Tibet. At the age of five, he was recognized as the reincarnation of 4th Samdhong Rinpoche.

In 1960, he started his service to the Tibetan community as a teacher to monks of the Sera, Drepung, and Ganden Monasteries. From 1961, he performed as the religious teacher of the Tibetan School in Shimla and later became the acting Principal. From 1965 to 1970 he was the Principal of the Dalhousie Tibetan School. He received his Lharampa Degree in 1968 and Ngagrimpa Degree in 1969. From 1971 he was Principal of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi and from 1988 to 2001 he was the Director. From 1996 to 2001 he was both Chairman and elected member of the Parliament from Kham province.

Courtesy: http://www.tibet.com