Penor Rinpoche Incarnation Line

The First Drubwang Pema Norbu

Previous Incarnations

• Vajrapani
• the famous minister of King Songtsen Gampo called Lönpo Gar Dampa
• the son of King Trisong Detsen, Prince Lhasé Damdzin
• Lhalung Palgyi Dorje, one of Padmasambhava's twenty-five disciples
• Tertön Sangye Lingpa, discoverer of the huge Lama Gongdü terma cycle

The Drubwang Pema Norbu Incarnations

• the First Drubwang Pema Norbu (1679-1757)
• the Second Drubwang Pema Norbu (1887-1932)
• the Third Drubwang Pema Norbu (b. 1932)

All three successive incarnations are counted among the throneholders of Palyul Monastery.

The present day Penor Rinpoche writes:

It is not uncommon for there to be a lengthy span of time between the death of a master and the appearance of his or her subsequent reincarnation. My own tulku lineage is an example of this. There was a 130 years hiatus between the death of the First Pema Norbu in 1757 and the birth of the Second Pema Norbu in 1887. This is common in all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. As for how these gaps come about, while tulkus are understood to have vowed to be continually reborn to help beings, it is not necessary for them to take rebirth in a continuous sequence of lives in this world. It is believed that they can be reborn in other world systems where they continue their compassionate activities, returning only later to this world system. This is how such lapses in tulku lineages are understood in Tibet.