Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
The Nyingmapa Tulku Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
Scholar, Poet, Tantric Master
Tulku Tsewang Dongyal, Khenpo Palden's younger brother, was born in Tibet on June 10, 1950. Soon after his birth, three head lamas from Jadchag monastery recognized him as the reincarnation of Khenpo Sherab Khyentse, the former head abbot at Gochen.
Khenpo Khyentse was a renowned scholar and practitioner who lived most of his life in retreat. Khenpo Tsewang entered Gochen monastery at the age of five, though his studies were interrupted when the family had to leave Tibet during China's invasion.
Training and Enthronement
He was home-schooled in the Indian refugee camps with his father and brother, and later entered the Nyingmapa Monastic School, where he studied until 1967 before entering Sanskrit University in Varanasi.
He earned another BA as well as an MA from the Nyingmapa University in West Bengal. In 1978, he was enthroned as a Khenpo by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and appointed head abbot of Dharma Studies at the Wishfulfilling Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he taught poetry, grammar, philosophy, and psychology.
Teaching Activity
In 1980 he made his first trip to the United States. In 1981 he went to Paris to assume the duties of an abbot at the Dorje Nyingpo Center. In 1982, he was called back to New York to work with Dudjom Rinpoche at the Yeshe Nyingpo Center, where he served until Dudjom Rinpoche died in 1987.
In 1988, Khenpo Tsewang and Khenchen Palden Sherab founded the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center in New York City. Since that time he has served as spiritual friend and director at the various Padmasambhava centers around the world.
Lineage Holder
Khenpo Tsewang is a tantric master, holding all the empowerments of the Kama and Terma lineages. He has taught in Nepal, India, France, Canada, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, and extensively throughout the United States.
An active teacher, scholar, and published poet, Khenpo Tsewang presently lives and travels with his brother, translating his teachings and serving the sangha with his clarity, good humor, and open heart.