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 Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche Founder and President of Rokpa Trust |
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Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche was born in 1939 near Riwoche in Kham, Eastern Tibet. At a very young age, he was discovered and identified as the reincarnation of the first Akong, Abbot of Dolma Lhakang monastery in the Chamdo area of Kham. His religious training began here, and he also undertook training in traditional Tibetan medicine. He later went to the monastic university of Sechen, where he received transmission of the quintessential mahamudra Kagyu Buddhist lineage from Sechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. |
His spiritual training as a holder of the Kagyu lineage was further completed under the guidance of HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, who also certified him as a teacher of Tibetan medicine. Rinpoche also holds many lineages of the Nyingmapa tradition. The 1959 takeover of Tibet caused him to flee to India, in an arduous, nine month journey through Tibet and over the Himalayas. After spending some time in refugee camps, he was asked, along with some other lamas, to look after the Young Lamas Home School in Dalhousie, India, a post he held for three years. In 1963, he and Trungpa Tulku sailed to England to learn English in Oxford. Only the latter had a bursary and Akong Rinpoche worked for some years as a simple hospital orderly, supporting himself, Trungpa Rinpoche and Tulku Chime of Benchen Monastery in the small apartment they shared. In 1967, Akong Rinpoche and Trungpa Rinpoche founded Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be built in the West and to introduce the religion and some aspects of its culture to the western community. Visited by people from all over the world, Akong Rinpoche made it first and foremost a place of peace and spirituality, with a strong emphasis on active, selfless compassion, open to anyone of any faith. In response to a growing demand for specific teachings from the Kagyu traditions, he invited many great scholars and meditation masters to Scotland, culminating in the visit in 1975 and 1977 of HH the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Under the Karmapa's guidance, Rinpoche established a traditional 3-year 3 month meditation retreat at Samye Ling and launched the construction of a major Tibetan Buddhist temple and accompanying College, Library and Museum. Later, reflecting the closeness of his relationship with his guru, in 1994 Akong Rinpoche played an important role in discovering the reincarnation of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and in arranging the visits of the two Regents to meet the new Karmapa. During this period of Samye Ling's development, various satellite centres and activities came into being in Belgium, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the UK. On another front, the interest which many therapists and physicians showed in Dr Akong Tulku's medicinal and therapeutic Buddhist skills led to the development of a unique therapy system, now thriving as Tara Rokpa Therapy. In the 1990s, Akong Rinpoche continued to expand his humanitarian activities, principally in Tibet and Nepal, but also in Europe, where he created several soup kitchens to feed the homeless. He has brought well over 100 projects into existence in regions of Tibet and he continues this work to date with tremendous vigour and diligence. |
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