Mangala Shri Bhuti and Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

A Brief History

Venerable Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche was born in the Northern Indian province of Himachel Pradesh to Tibetan parents. His father, the third Neten Chokling Rinpoche, fled Tibet in 1959 with his wife, Mayum Tsewang Palden and two eldest children. On an abandoned tea plantation he recognized from a vision, Chokling Rinpoche established Pema Ewam Choegar Monastery, and surrounding it, a refugee settlement. For the remainder of Chokling Rinpoche's life, he cared for and guided their development. Kongtrul Rinpoche's mother, having spent thirteen years in retreat before marrying his father, continued a life of devoted practice, even in the midst of transplanting her family and raising their five children.

Recognized as an incarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche grew up in a monastic environment and received extensive training in all aspects of Buddhist doctrine. In particular he received the teachings of the Nyingma lineage, especially those of the Longchen Nyingthik, from his root teacher, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Rinpoche also studied extensively under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche and the great scholar Khenpo Rinchen.

In 1989 Rinpoche moved to the United States with his wife and son, and in 1990 began a five-year tenure as a professor of Buddhist philosophy at Naropa University. Rinpoche soon founded a sangha, Mangala Shri Bhuti. Taking His Holiness Khyentse Rinpoche's Sanskrit name as its namesake, Mangala Shri Bhuti focuses on the wisdom and practice of the Longchen Nyingthik tradition of the Nyingma Lineage.

For many years the sangha gathered in the basement of a house owned by a number of students in Boulder. This center was named Phuntsok Choling. In 2000, we found an expansive new home for our center in the mountains outside Boulder, where we now host the majority of Rinpoche's study and practice programs. After teaching at Naropa, Rinpoche moved to southern Colorado to develop the mountain retreat center, Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, which has been providing a place for students to deepen their understanding in retreat for over ten years.

Kongtrul Rinpoche teaches four major programs each year for the sangha, along with the weekly Personal Link teachings, and he travels to other centers annually to teach as well. When not teaching or traveling to further his own education, Rinpoche remains in retreat at Samten Ling.