Dilgo Khentsye Rinpoche - Celebration and Discussion

At this month's Mindful Gathering, I presented on Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's life and his influence on American Buddhism. Born in 1910 in eastern Tibet, he spent 13 years in solitary retreat before being called to teach. After escaping Tibet in 1959, he became head of the Nyingma school and taught teachers who directly shaped our lineage - including Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. I traced his journey from retreat caves through exile to teaching in the West, focusing on how his influence reached The Wisdom Seat through our connection to his grandson, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, who we hosted in 2019. We had a good discussion afterward about the teacher-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism and how these lineage connections remain living transmissions rather than just historical facts.

Part 1 - Presentation of our connection

Part 2 - Our group discussion, including story from Michael about meeting HH.