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Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung
Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung is a lama of from the Tibetan Bön tradition. Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche is the abbot (khenpo) of Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, one of the two main Bon monasteries outside of Tibet. Khenpo Rinpoche was born in 1969 in Dhorpatan, a remote area of western Nepal that hosts a small Tibetan refugee settlement and a Bon monastery. Established with aid from the Swiss Red Cross, the Dhorpatan settlement is one of the earliest refugee camps for Tibetans in exile; most of its residents are Bonpos from western Tibet.
He was admitted to the dialectic school at Menri Monastery, bring the total number of students there to 26. For 13 years to come, Khenpo Rinpoche and other monks studied the complete Bon philosophical system of sutra, tantra and dzogchen; and the general Tibetan sciences including Tibetan grammar, poetics, white and black astrology, Sanskrit grammar, sacred geometry or arts, and general Tibetan medicine. Khenpo Rinpoche remembers with deep gratitude his teacher Gen Gyaltsen Choglek — affectionately known as Gen Samgha, or "happy hearted teacher" — and notes that his teacher's immeasurable kindness served as a beacon for his studies and his success. A great practitioner, Gen Gyaltsen Choglek passed away at Triten Norbutse with incredible signs of realization in 2002. In 1986, Khenpo Rinpoche began teaching philosophy and general Tibetan sciences to younger students. During this 13-year period he also participated in many ritual ceremonies and cultural and social activities.
From 1989 through 1992 he served as accountant, treasurer, and then president of the school, and for a time he also served as the monastery's ritual leader and discipline master. In 1994, having successfully completed the traditional 13-year course of study, Khenpo Rinpoche passed the 10-day final examination and was awarded his geshe degree (doctorate) with acknowledgment from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1996 His Holiness Menri Trizin Rinpoche and Yongdzin Rinpoche appointed Khenpo Rinpoche as ponlob (principal teacher) of Triten Norbutse Monastery. Even though this was an unexpected and challenging assignment for a young lama, Khenpo Rinpoche says he strongly felt the blessings of His Holiness and Yongdzin Rinpoche and enthusiastically accepted the opportunity to serve the Bon community and its ancient teachings. Since then Khenpo Rinpoche has taught at the Yungdrung Bon Academy of Higher Studies at Triten Norbutse Monastery, under the blessings of Yongdzin Rinpoche.
In 2001, Rinpoche was appointed as khenpo (abbot) of the monastery by H.H. Menri Trizin Rinpoche and H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. Triten Norbutse Monastery was founded by H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche in 1987 for the preservation and development of the Yungdrung Bon tradition. This is one of the two main Bon monasteries outside Tibet, providing a comprehensive and rigorous study of the broad spectrum of Bon teachings and traditions. Today, 170 resident monks study and practice there. Since 1998 Khenpo Rinpoche has been regularly traveling around Europe and America giving teachings, including leading retreats with H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche.
Since 2005, with guidance from H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche and help from dedicated volunteer committees, Khenpo Rinpoche has taken the responsibility of establishing the congregation
of Shenten Dargye Ling outside Saumur, France ( ), for the preservation, research, teaching and
practice of the Yungdrung Bon tradition.
This biography is based on information from Shenten.
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Updated on 3/9/2011