Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Who is Tsoknyi Rinpoche?

Tsoknyi Rinpoche or Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author, and the founder of the Pundarika Foundation. He is the third Tsoknyi Rinpoche, having been recognized by the 16th Karmapa as the reincarnation of Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche. He is a tulku of the Drukpa Kagyü and Nyingma traditions and the holder of the Ratna Lingpa and Tsoknyi lineages.

He began his education at Khampagar Monastery at Tashi Jong in Himachal Pradesh, India, at the age of thirteen. His main teachers are Khamtrul Rinpoche Dongyu Nyima, his father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche and Adeu Rinpoche.

Rinpoche has overseen the Tergar Osel Ling Monastery, founded in Kathmandu, Nepal by his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. He has overseen the monastery's operations and introduced studies for non-Tibetans. Under his leadership it has "thrived and grown into a mature sangha of dedicated practitioners."

In 2005, he led a group of students to Nangchen in Eastern Tibet to meet the Tsoknyi Nangchen nuns, who live and practice meditation in remote nunneries and hermitages. This trip became the subject of a documentary called "Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet" narrated by Richard Gere.