A tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibetan Buddhism, embodying the concept of enlightened beings taking corporeal forms to continue the lineage of specific teachings. The term "tulku" has its origins in the Tibetan word "sprul sku", which originally referred to an emperor or ruler taking human form on Earth, signifying a divine incarnation. Over time, this term evolved within Tibetan Buddhism to denote the corporeal existence of highly accomplished Buddhist masters whose purpose is to ensure the preservation and transmission of a particular lineage.
Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1988 to 1991, he is also considered an eminent proponent of the Rime tradition.
Nyingma, often referred to as Ngangyur, is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the eighth century, during the reign of King Trisong Detsen.
The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje was the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Followers believed him to be part of the oldest line of reincarnate lamas in Vajrayana Buddhism, known as the Karmapas, whose coming was predicted by the Buddha in the Samadhiraja Sutra. The 16th Karmapa was considered to be a "living Buddha" and was deeply involved in the transmission of the Vajrayana Buddhism to Europe and North America following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. He had many monikers, including "King of the Yogis", and is the subject of numerous books and films.
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, also known by his tertön title, Pema Ösel Dongak Lingpa, was a teacher, scholar and tertön of 19th-century Tibet. He was a leading figure in the Rimé movement.
Namkhai Norbu was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, particularly in the fields of history, literature, traditional religions, and Traditional Tibetan medicine, having written numerous books and scholarly articles on these subjects.
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, also known as Khyentse Norbu, is a Tibetan/Bhutanese lama, filmmaker, and writer. His five major films are The Cup (1999), Travellers and Magicians (2003), Vara: A Blessing (2013), Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait (2017), and Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache (2019). He is the author of What Makes You Not a Buddhist (2007) and many other non-fiction works about Tibetan Buddhism.
Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was a Tibetan lama, a master of many lineages, and a teacher of many of the major figures in 20th-century Tibetan Buddhism. Though he died in 1959 in Sikkim, and is not so well known in the West; he was a major proponent of the Rimé movement within Tibetan Buddhism, and had a profound influence on many of the Tibetan lamas teaching today.
Sogyal Rinpoche was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and former spiritual director of Rigpa — an international network of over 100 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world — and the author of the best-selling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has been printed in 30 languages and 56 countries. Before his retirement, in the wake of abuse allegations in 2017, he had been teaching for 40 years in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
The Cup is a 1999 Tibetan-language film written and directed by Khyentse Norbu in his feature directorial debut. The plot involves two young football-crazed Tibetan refugee novice monks who desperately try to obtain a television for their remote Himalayan monastery to watch the 1998 FIFA World Cup final.
Chagdud Tulku was a Tibetan teacher of the Nyingma school of Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism. He was known and respected in the West for his teachings, his melodic chanting voice, his artistry as a sculptor and painter, and his skill as a physician. He acted as a spiritual guide for thousands of students worldwide. He was the sixteenth tülku of the Chagdud line.
Kyabje Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje was known as Terchen Drodül Lingpa and as Dudjom Rinpoche. He is considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to be from a line of important Tulku lineage, and a renowned Tertön. Per lineage, he was a direct incarnation of both Padmasambhava and Dudjom Lingpa (1835–1904). He was a Nyingma householder, yogi, and a Vajrayana and Dzogchen master. According to his disciple Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, he was revered as "His Holiness" and as a "Master of Masters".
Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche was a major modern teacher in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and patron of the Vajrayana Foundation. He was the eldest son of Dudjom Rinpoche, the former head of the Nyingma lineages, and also the father of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche and Dungse Garab Rinpoche. His association with the Dudjom Lineage is a long one: he is held to be the incarnation of Tulku Drime Oser, who was one of seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa. He also was considered to be an emanation of Longchen Rabjam, the great 14th-century Nyingma scholar and siddha who composed the Seven Treasuries. He died in California on December 26, 2011, according to the Tibetan Buddhist Lunar Calendar the 2nd day of the 11th month of the Iron Rabbit year. His cremation was held in a public buddhist cremation ceremony in Paro, Bhutan on March 3, 2012, which was attended by several thousand people, including some of Bhutan's royal family.
Shabdrung Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche is a Tibetan teacher of the Sakya school of Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Kunga Rinpoche is licensed in California to perform marriages with a Tibetan Buddhist ceremony.
Tenga Rinpoche was a Tibetan teacher (lama) in the Karma Kagyu tradition.
Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in Ukraine. It has existed since the 19th and 20th century, after immigration from countries with Buddhist populations, mainly North Vietnam and Korea under Communist period. Although sources are not readily available, Buddhists are believed to constitute 0.1% of the total population in Ukraine.
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, also called Tulku Ugyen Topgyal, is a Tibetan Buddhist lama who was born in Kham in Eastern Tibet in 1951, living in exile in India.
Nyoshül Khenpo Rinpoche, more fully Nyoshül Khenpo Jamyang Dorje, was a Tibetan lama born in the Derge region of Kham.
Khyongla Rato, pronounced "Chungla," was also known as Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, Rato Khyongla Rinpoche, Khyongla Rinpoche, Ngawang Lobsang Shedrub Tenpai Dronme, and Nawang Losang, his monk's name. Born in Dagyab county in Kham province in southeastern Tibet, he was recognized as an incarnate lama at an early age. He spent over 30 years receiving teachings and studying as a highly trained monk in the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries of Tibet. A respected scholar, he was a debate partner of the 14th Dalai Lama at his Geshe examination in Lahasa, Tibet. He founded the Tibet Center in New York City which co-sponsored many of the Dalai Lama's teachings in New York City.
Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche is the head of the Trungram descent, and one of the highest tulkus of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He has received extensive transmissions of the Nyingma ancestry, and teaches in the spirit of the nonsectarian Rimé movement. He is also the first incarnate lama to earn a Ph.D. in the West, having completed a doctoral program in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Harvard University. Gyalwa has founded organizations throughout Asia and United States which aims to modernize ancient Buddhist teachings.
