Trulshik Rinpoche, one of the most venerated and revered masters in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, passed away on September 2, 2011 at the age of 88, at his monastery at Sitapaila near Kathmandu.
Trulshik Rinpoche was a tulku within the Mindrolling School and studied at the Mindrolling Shedra in Tibet. He was renowned throughout the Buddhist world for his great learning, accomplishment, wisdom and compassion, and was one of the most prominent holders of the Nyingma monastic tradition. Trulshik Rinpoche was a heart disciple of both Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche. He was a teacher to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and in 2010 he accepted the role of head of the Nyingma Lineage. Members of the Shambhala Community will remember Trulshik Rinpoche from Trungpa Rinpoche’s cremation ceremony at Karme Choling, in May 1987.
Born in Lho Talung, Tibet in 1923, Trulshik Rinpoche was recognized at the age of four by Ngawang Tenzin as the reincarnation of his root guru, Trulshik Tendru Dorje. In 1959, following China’s invasion of Tibet, Rinpoche sought refuge in Nepal, where he later established Thupten Choling Monastery in a valley to the South of Mount Everest in the Solu Khumbu district of Northeastern Nepal. Thupten Choling is now home to hundreds of monks and nuns, most of whom are Tibetan refugees.
Students and disciples in all parts of the world are devoting these days immediately following Trulshik Rinpoche’s passing, to prayers and offerings. Ceremonies are being conducted at the Thubten Choling and Sitapaila Monasteries, as well as Shechen Monastery where Rinpoche was deeply revered.
Please visit Songsten for more information on Trulshik Rinpoche’s life and accomplishments.
