Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, born on October 23, 1964, is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher and a tulku (a reincarnate lama) whose line goes back to Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, a key figure in the rimé non-sectarian movement in 19th-century Tibet. The current Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche is Jigme Namgyel, born in 1964. He is regarded as the second or third incarnation, depending on how Lodro Thaye is counted.
The second Dzigar Kongtrul, Lodrö Rabpel, was recognized by his root guru, the 15th Karmapa, Khakyab Dorje, along with Karsey Kongtrul. He was the younger brother of Dzigar Chogtrül and worked from Palpung Monastery, Tsadra Rinchen Drag, and Dzong Shö. He later founded a monastery called Rango Tsokhar near Neten Gön and was known for his eloquence in Derge, according to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.
The present Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche was born in Himachal Pradesh, India, to Tibetan refugee parents. His father was Pema Gyurme (the third Neten Chokling) and his mother, Mayum Tsewang Palden, dedicated herself to practice while raising five children. He grew up in a monastic environment and trained in the Longchen Nyingtik lineage of the Nyingma school as well as the Khyen-Kong Chok-Sum lineages of Jamgon Kongtrul, Khyentse Wangpo, and Chokgyur Lingpa, under his root teacher H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He also studied with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and the scholar Khenpo Rinchen.
In 1989 he moved to the United States with his family and began a five-year teaching tenure at Naropa University in 1990. He then founded Mangala Shri Bhuti, an organization devoted to practicing the Longchen Nyingtik and Khyen-Kong Chok-sum lineages. He established Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, a mountain retreat center in southern Colorado, and spends much of his time teaching and guiding students in long-term retreat. When not in retreat, he travels the world to teach.
His Western student with the widest recognition is Pema Chödrön, who became his primary teacher in 1994, after the death of her root guru Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Mangala Shri Bhuti now runs five centers: three study and practice centers—Phuntsok Choling in Boulder, Colorado; Pema Osel Do Ngak Choling in Vershire, Vermont; and the Guna Institute in Bir, India—and two retreat centers—Longchen Jigme Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado (site of the Sangdo Palri Temple) and Guna Norling in Salvador, Brazil.
Beyond his teaching and leadership, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche is also an abstract expressionist painter. He views creativity as a core part of life and began arts training early with calligraphy, music, ritual dance, and other Tibetan arts. After encountering Western culture, he became interested in modern art and studied painting with Yahne Le Toumelin in the mid-1990s. Le Toumelin, a renowned abstract expressionist based in France, regards him as her most significant student. In his book Natural Vitality he describes how the creative process and meditation can merge, arguing that true meditation frees the mind to experience reality without judgment. He suggests that art, when free of beauty ratings and rules, can express this unaltered mind and help others awaken to their own awareness.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:10 (CET).