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ЦЕНТР

His Eminence
Кunsang Pema Namgyal IX Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche

   Kunsang Pema Namgyal was born in 1955, near the village of Tongsa, in the beautiful valley located in central Bhutan.

  At the age of three he happened to be playing near the cattle that belonged to his family; he followed the cows to the forest. On that very day he had taken his father's gau (reliquary); there was a tiny statue of Buddha inside - a gift from the king of Bhutan. He opened the gau and reached for the statue which came alive and told him: „I am going to Gangteng Gompa”; with these words the statue flew away! Upon learning that the boy had lost precious statue, his father started to chide him.  Kunsang managed to explain what had happened – that stopped the father.

  It was in 1959; nobody in the family had ever heard of Gangteng Gompa monastery which was situated in the distant valley Phobdzhika. The child could not have heard about that place -  winter seat of well respected in Bhutan black cranes and residence of Gangteng Tulku: body's incarnation of  Pema Lingpa - The Tertons' King (prominent amongst treasure finders) and Bhutan's protector who had lived in XV century. Having met with such an unusual case, Kunsang's father immediately prostrated in front of the little son.

  Afterwards Kunsang Pema Namgyal was recognised by XVI Karmapa Rangjung Rigpey Dorje, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, H.H. Dilgo Khyentse and other prominent Vajrayana figures as the ninth incarnation in the succession of Pema Lingpa's incarnations. He received traditional education of incarnated lama and took monastic ordination in Tongsa monastery; at the age of 16 he was officially enthroned in his traditional seat of Gangteng Gompa as IX Gangteng Tulku. Being a young lama, he took responsibility over nineteen local monasteries and places of propagation of Ningma teaching. Since then their number grew to thirty five.

    Location for Gangteng Gompa was chosen by Pema Lingpa himself. Construction was started in 1500 by his grandson, first Gangteng Tulku. Its present form the monastery took at the end of XVI century due to efforts of the second Gangteng Tulku. The name given by Pema Lingpa is simple and suitable “The peak of the hill”. Nowadays Gangteng Gompa appears to be the biggest Ningma monastery in the whole Bhutan kingdom.

    The style of ninth Gangteng Tulku started to be known after Kunsang Pema Namgyal had sent away numerous retinue that traditionally was following every step taken by Gangteng Tulku. Till now people remember his advice given to those servants: he suggested that they should find a job somewhere else because they would not find it with him.

    He started promptly his three year training with His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, the head of Ningma school, and during that time he got from H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche  and H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche full cycle of initiations and teachings of Pema Lingpa. After that he spent eight years, almost without breaks, on meditation retreat under the direction of Dze Khenpo Tendzin Dondrup who was known as one of the most realised Dzogchen lamas of our times and lived at the far end of Thimpu valley in Bhutan.

   Fulfilling this, he started to give teachings in his spiritual domains in Nepal; he also took teachings from great Dzogchen master – Chatral Rinpoche. Then, in the middle of 1980s, according to the wishes and advices of his teacher Dze Khenpo Tendzin Dondup, Gangteng Tulku decided to go West to teach Dzogchen – the Wheel of Great Perfection. His first trips he made alone, without a single helper. His wish was to refresh Pema Lingpa's lineage and to share it with Western students, as well as to obtain a financial support for 400 – year-old Gangteng Gompa and numerous other Dharma projects which had been started by him in Bhutan.

   Since 1992, having concluded successfully another three- year-long meditation retreat, Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche has unceasingly been working on continuation of Pema Lingpa's teachings and practices. Some of the fruits of Gangteng Tulku's intensive Buddha activity are: two centres for three year retreats, centre for Dzogchen three year retreats, new monastery (Ugyen Ling) near  his place in Tongsa, female monastery and shedra for women near the Pema Lingpa's place in Bhumtang, as well as long awaited shedra of university level near Gangteng Gompa.