Akhyuk Rinpoche

Achuk Rinpoche photo courtesy of Matthew Pistono

Lama Achuk Rinpoche, Jamyang Lungdok Gyaltsen, was born in Trom, Eastern Tibet. He entered Trom Dokhol Monastery and was ordained at age fifteen, serving teachers of the Sakya, Nyingma and Gelugpa lineages. Eventually, he went to study with Tromgé Arik Rinpoche, a student of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, serving him for thirty-three years. During the military occupation of Tibet, Lama Achuk was his guru’s attendant, enduring great hardship without regard for his own health or life, and so proving to be an ideal heart-son. Arik Rinpoche empowered him as a holder of his lineage, conferring on him all of the advice and instructions of the Lamdré cycle and the Dzogchen approach.

Once restrictions on the practice of Buddhism were eased, Achuk Rinpoche began to teach widely, instructing vast numbers of monastic and lay people. Lama Achuk Rinpoche is a great exponent of Dzogchen. After spending decades in retreat with Arik Rinpoche, he established Yachen Orgyen Samten Choeling, also known as Yachen Gar, an encampment of thousands of monks, nuns and lay practitioners, in an isolated valley near Kandze in Sichuan, China. This settlement provides students with an opportunity to receive a comprehensive Buddhist education. Lama Achuk Rinpoche still teaches regularly at this centre. With the passing of Khenpo Jikme Phuntsok Rinpoche in 2004, Achuk Rinpoche is considered the seniormost teacher of the Nyingma tradition residing in Tibet.

Further Reading

• Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage, Padma Publications, 2005, pages 521—522.