Khenchen Rinpoche Drupon Trinley Paljor

Khenchen Rinpoche was born in 1930 in Nangshen of Kham. He began monastic training at the age of five after being sent to the Bakyod Monastery by his father. This monastery was a three-day horse ride from his childhood home. When he was seventeen his father died, leaving behind the wish for him to practice diligently and become a good Dharma practitioner.

Khenchen Rinpoche took the full monk's vows in 1948 at the age of nineteen. Shortly thereafter he started his first traditional three-year, three-month, three-day retreat and completed it in 1951. In 1952, he started his second such retreat. Due to excessive efforts in practice, he became physically weak and had to come out after one year. In order to regain stability of mind, he began to visit and pay homage to various holy places in Tibet. In 1954, at the age of twenty-five, he re-entered his second retreat. During that period all the senior teachers of the monastery recognized his superior qualities and appointed him to be an instructor for retreats. Thus he was given the title of Druponla, or retreat master in 1957, at the age of twenty-eight. Subsequently, in his third retreat he started to teach other retreatants.

At the end of 1959, when the massive destruction in Tibet began, the monks began to escape Tibet and the retreat program was ended prematurely. Druponla, together with four other lamas, made the dangerous one-year journey to Nepal. In the face of various life-threatening situations, hunger and physical exhaustion, they never stopped their practice. After finally arriving in Nepal, the language barriers and different climate, lifestyle and food conditions posed numerous problems. Nevertheless, grievances or hostility never arose in Druponla's mind during this entire process as he thought that all the difficulties he and his traveling companions had faced were a result of karma and that karma had also led them safely to Nepal. This experience enhanced his understandings of the dharma and deepened his faith. After a pilgrimage to the eight holy places of the Buddha in Nepal and India, Druponla's only wish was to see the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa.

In the mid-1960s, Druponla met with the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa Rigpe Dorje in Sikkim. According to Karmapa's instruction, he stayed in Rumtek Monastery, which was still under construction. While the young monks joined in the construction work, Karmapa assigned Druponla to the practice group doing certain practices every day to clear obstacles. Druponla stayed at Rumtek for many years, until the Karmapa sent him to Bhutan to take care of the Tashi Choeling Monastery, which had been offered to the Karmapa by the King of Bhutan.

During his many years of stay in Bhutan, Druponla received many Nyingmapa teachings from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, visited numerous holy places where Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava had stayed, including the famous cave of Taktsang (Tiger's Den). Here Padmasambhava had forcefully subdued hostile forces and here also Druponla did a month's retreat on Padmasambhava. Some extraordinary experiences from the practice arose in him.

One day, Druponla received a letter from the 16th Karmapa asking him to return to Rumtek Monastery before the eighth day of the Tibetan new year to be Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche's personal tutor (Gegenla). He hesitated and asked the Karmapa whether he was really qualified for the task. The Karmapa reassured him by saying, "If I'm not sure, why would I choose you? I chose you from many lamas." Then Gegenla said, "Because of my father's wishes, I hope to practice in closed retreats for the rest of my life." Karmapa then said, "If you follow my instructions, that's the best practice!"

Therefore, on an auspicious day, Gegenla began to teach Rinpoche the Tibetan language, then various rituals and practices.

Gegenla received the complete Kagyu teachings from the 16th Karmapa, and received Nyingma and Sakya teachings from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

In the late 1990s, Khenchen Rinpoche was requested by Rinpoche to reside in Taiwan in order to make his primary contribution to the UTBF there. In fulfilling this duty, Khenchen Rinpoche travels to the different Trungram Dharma centers in Taiwan, teaching disciples Buddhist precepts and leading Dharma activities.

A few years before that, in a meeting held at the Karma Kagyu Headquarters in Rumtek, Sikhim, the Red Crown Lama, Shamar Rinpoche, decided to confer the title of Rinpoche upon Gegenla, as Gegenla's practice and realization had proven him worthy of such a title.

On november 21, 1999, Gegenla was officially granted the title of Khenchen Rinpoche - the Senior Abbot of Monastic Ordination - by the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje.

Druponla's duties have included teaching Buddhist precepts and leading Dharma activities, extending his teaching duties to Dharma centers in Hong Kong and the United States, and leading a retreat in France for the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche and other masters.

Most recently, Khenchen Rinpoche has dedicated himself to guiding retreats and leading sadhana practices on behalf of Dharmakaya in New York State as the retreat master at the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing.

His love, insight and powerful practice has given great joy to students in different parts of the world.

Khenchen Rinpoche - Short Biography