Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche, courtesy of Vairotsana Foundation

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche (b. 1944) is the tenth incarnation of the Bhakha Tulku line, a primary holder of the lineage of Pema Lingpa, and a senior student of Dudjom Rinpoche.

Birth, Family & Recognition

Bakha Tulku Rinpoche was born in 1944 in Tibet. At a young age, he was recognized by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, the Sixteenth Karmapa and Dudjom Rinpoche not only as the tenth incarnation in the Bhakha Tulku lineage, but also as a tulku of the fifteenth-century tertön Pema Lingpa. He is also an incarnation of Tertön Dorje Lingpa, and an emanation of the eighth century scholar and translator Vairotsana.

Training

At the age of nine, Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche began a three-year solitary meditation retreat in Powo under the tutelage of Garwang Sangye Dorje. One month after completing his retreat, he embarked on a six-month pilgrimage through Pemakö..

Pema Lingpa’s teachings had spread throughout Pemakö in the 1700’s, and as the principal emanation of this tertön, Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche was responsible for the many temples in Pemakö dedicated to the Pema Lingpa lineage.

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche’s uncle had travelled through China with Jedrung Trakpa Gyaltsen—the reincarnation of Jedrung Trinlé Jampa Jungné—and witnessed the beginnings of a major cultural upheaval. Upon his return he urged his extended family members to resettle in the secluded valleys of lower Pemakö. Together with a tutor, two monk attendants, his mother, two younger brothers, and three other families and their servants, Bhakha Tulku crossed the Dashing-La pass from Powo. His father was away on a trading expedition in Kham and his older brother had gone to study in Beijing, as was the custom among noble families.

When Bhakha Tulku and his family members reached Chimdro, they stayed for a month as guests of Jedrung the second. Afterward, he travelled to Kundu Dorsempotrang and, over the next several months, to Rinchenpung and the lower Tsangpo valley, looking for a place where they might settle.

In Medok, plans changed abruptly when Bhakha Tulku received news from Dudjom Rinpoche that he was to begin a rigorous course of study at Mindroling Monastery, in Tibet. Three years later, after the political events, Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche fled to India, where he studied later at the school for young tulkus in Dalhousie.

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche served Dudjom Rinpoche for 7 years as an attendant and secretary, and received from him the whole Dudjom Tersar lineage, the Rinchen Terdzö, the thirteen cycles of Pema Lingpa and many other teachings.

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche has also received many teachings from:

• Chatral Rinpoche
• Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
• Dodrupchen Rinpoche
• Penor Rinpoche
• Garwang Sangye Dorje, Pulung Sangye Dorje
• Tamshing Lama Phuntsok, Bhutan’s main holder of the Pema Lingpa lineage, who transmitted to hom the thirteen cycles of Pema Lingpa.

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche also holds the Dzogchen lineage of the Namchö tradition, the Longchen Nyingtik and the Chetsün Nyingtik.

Family

In India, in 1969, Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche married the daughter of the second Jedrung, Thinley Jhampa Yungney, who had settled in Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh.

Students

Among his main students is his nephew Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok.

Activity

Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche has taught in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Taiwan and the United States, and is the founder of the Vairotsana Foundation in the US.

External Links

• Vairotsana Foundation
• Tamshing Lhundrup Choling main seat of the Bhakha Tulkus lineage in Bhutan.