Biography Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche

 

Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche, also called Tulku Orgyen Chöying Yeshe, was born in 1982 into a Lama Yogi family in Dho Tarap, Dolpo. He is the reincarnation of the second Nyingchung Tulku Rinpoche who is well-known as a great yogi or drubthob and the Dharma holder of Namgung Monastery, which is one of the three oldest mother monasteries in Dolpo.

Until the age of 8, Dolpo Tulku worked as a shepherd boy for his family and was sent to work on the fields and farms of other families in the village on the basis of barter arrangements. He was the second youngest shepherd and bartering worker in his village.

In the end of 1990, when he was still 8 years old, he ran away from home to follow his grandfather, who was leaving the village to attend the Kalachakra empowerment in India. Only after a whole day of walking in secret behind him, did Dolpo Tulku reveal himself to his grandfather. In this way Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche was present at the Kalachakra Empowerment given by H.H. Dalai Lama in Varanasi from December 20, 1990 – January 4, 1991.

In 1991, at the age of 9, after returning from Varanasi, Dolpo Tulku joined at his own request the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Nepal as novice. He then took his refuge vows from Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche and was given the refuge name Orgyen Tsering.
At Kanying Shedrub Ling Monastery, his full name, birth (in the iron-bird year) and his parents’ full names were discovered to match with the prophecy details given by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for the discovery of the reincarnation of Nyingchung Tulku Rinpoche. For clarification Dolpo Tulku was sent to meet with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who confirmed the match and gave him the reincarnation name Orgyen Düdul Dorje.

During this time Lama Tenzin Rinpoche Chögyal was the abbot in charge of Namgung Monastery and together with other disciples, he arranged to send Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche to Namdroling Monastery in South India to receive his primary Himalayan education.
From then on until 2007 under the guidance of the third Nyingma Lineage holder H.H. Drubwang Pema Norbu, Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche completed all of the classical education and studies in Buddhist philosophy, practice and teachings. He also studied literature and poetry as well as general and Buddhist history.

In 1994, Shakya Rinpoche and Nyingma Rinpoche together with Dolpo People’s Welfare Association organized Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche’s grand enthronement ceremony at Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu, led by H.H. Drubwang Pema Norbu amidst more than 10,000 residents of the Dolpo region as well as the surrounding Himalayan areas.

In 1997, at the age of 15, Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche became ordained as a monk and received the name Orgyen Chöying Yeshe. He began his higher Buddhist studies at Nyingma Ngagyur Institute, the highly respected monastic university of Namdroling Monastery. There, over the course of ten years, he studied and explored the classical sutra and tantra teachings dating back to Buddha and practiced the traditional art of debating. He was instructed and guided by more than 40 teachers and meditation masters during this time, including His Holiness Drubwang Pema Norbu. In addition, he studied Tibetan poetry, literature as well as general and Buddhist history.

In the exams he usually scored as first or second best in all subjects, like writing, speaking, debating and exams on ritual practices. In 2006, due to his high education and experience, in the 8th year of study, he was appointed a teacher in graduate studies at the Nyingma Ngagyur Institute and became a member of the Rigzod Editorial Committee, which is responsible for all publications of the monastery. He continued to teach at the Nyingma Ngagyur Institute until 2012. H.H. Drubwang Pema Norbu taught Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche the exercises of the Nam Chö cycle, which combines the practice of Dzogchen and Mahamudra. Rinpoche now passes on these practices according to the ability of his students.

In 2007, Rinpoche completed his higher Buddhist studies. Since then he has had the status of a university professor. In 2008, after a total of 17 years, he traveled to his native Dolpo for the first time to visit the monasteries under his responsibility and to be enthroned there. He was accompanied by a German film team, which produced the award-winning documentary “Dolpo Tulku – Return to the Himalayas”.

In 2008, Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche also started his first projects in Dolpo, in close collaboration with the local population. In January 2010, the Dolpo Tulku Charitable Foundation is recognized by the Nepalese government as a non-profit organization whose main focus is on environmental protection, health care, preservation of culture and a meaningful combination of traditional and modern education.

Since 2009 Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche has been traveling in Europe, the US and Asia to bring Buddhist teachings and yoga closer to people in an everyday form and to teach Buddhist philosophy, give public lectures and seminars on topics such as mind training, stress or burnout, as well as to raise awareness about the situation in his home region. In addition, he is in active exchange with doctors, psychologists and representatives of various religions. Likewise, Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche is regularly invited to many conferences, the most recent being the “Climate and Environment Summit 2023” in New Delhi among others.