Khenpo Jurme Kunzang Tenzin Biography

Khenpo Jurme Kunzang Tenzin was born to father Kunzang Chophel and mother Dewa Zangmo in 1962, in a simple religious family in Eastern Bhutan. Even as a child he was instinctively inclined towards the Dharma. As a result, his parents did not event sent him to school for fear that he might get distracted t hrough the worldly education. Although Bhutan is entirely a Buddhist country, with the Bhutanese religion being an offspring of Tibetan Buddhism, his parents saw the advantages of directly studying the Dharma through the Tibetan medium. Therefore, at the tender age of 18, he was sent by his parents far away to Mindroling Monastery, the Residential Seat of the Great Master, and the then Supreme Head of Nyingma Tradition, the late H.H. Minling Thrichen Rinpoche, Dehra Dun, in Northern India.

This monastery represents one of the Six Mother Monasteries of Nyingma Tradition in Tibet. During his rigorous study of five years in Mindroling Monastery, he successfully completed the study of foundational subjects such as Writing, Spelling, Grammar, Poetry, Basic Philosophy, Rites and Rituals, and Lama Dances. In 1987, he was admitted at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute (NNI), a branch of Namdroling Monastery, Mysore, in South India and successfully graduated from his nine-year course in 1995. NNI is one of the leading centres of our time and is dedicated to the pursuit of the study of Tibetan Buddhism according to the Nyingma Tradition. It was established in 1978 and since then it has been regulating as a regular Buddhist College under the auspices of the former Supreme Head of Nyingma Tradition, the late H.H. Penor Rinpoche. In the Institute he was so outstanding that he even won the admiration and applause from the teachers for his in-depth understanding of the Buddha Dharma and was unanimously appointed as assistant teacher even while he was a student. He also completed the practices of Ngondro (preliminary practices), Tsa-lung (channel-wind) exercises, and the Dzogchen practices according to the profound Space Treasure teachings of “Buddha Held on the Palm of the Great Perfection.” And he received several pith instructions and Empowerments like the Great Precious Treasury, the Four Volumes of the Heart-Drop, and so forth, from the late H.H. Penor Rinpoche.

Following his graduation, in 1996, the late H.H. Penor Rinpoche sent him to Dorje Drag Monastery in Simla, Northwest India, which is the Residential Seat of H.H. Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, having conferred upon him the title of Lopon (Lecturer). He taught there for almost four years. During this period, under the guidance of Tsetrul Rinpoche, he also completed the Ngondro Practices according to the tradition of the Northern Treasure revealed by the great Terton Rigzin Goedemchen, and he also received the complete cycle of Empowerments and Oral Transmissions from Rinpoche. Furthermore, he received the Dzogchen teachings of Longchen Rabjam, Three Cycles of Self-Liberation, “The Three Phrases Hitting the Key Points,” a commentary on Dzogchen by Patrul Rinpoche, from the Great Master of Dzogchen, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche Jamyang Dorje. Also from the Great Hidden Yogi, Yangthang Rinpoche, he received Empowerments and once again the teachings on “The Three Phrases Hitting the Key Points,” and “The Primordial Awareness of the Guru,” the most profound teachings on Dzogchen Nyingtik by Rigzin Jigme Lingpa. In 1999, he was called back to the Institute and when the late H.H. Penor Rinpoche conferred the Khenpo Degree (Doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy) to a batch of 10 outstanding scholars, he was among them.

Thereafter, till he was assigned to Singapore by his Holiness, he has been relentlessly teaching in the Institute. And at the same time, he shouldered the Chairmanship of the Text Book Editorial Division of the Institute till 2002, during whose tenure almost the entire collection of textbooks of the Institute were processed through computer and reprinted. These are just a few accounts of noble activities and services rendered towards upholding, preserving and spreading the Buddha Dharma by Ven. Khen Rinpoche Jurme Kunzang Tenzin in our strife stricken age. May Khen Rinpoche and all noble Guides and Masters like Him live long!