Garchen Rinpoche

Garchen Rinpoche was born in eastern Tibet in 1936 and recognised at a young age as the eighth incarnation of Garchen Rinpoche. He entered monastic life and studied and practised under many senior lamas of the Drikung Kagyu lineage until he was nineteen, when he began a traditional three-year retreat. It was interrupted after two and a half years by the Cultural Revolution.

He was captured and imprisoned, and spent the next twenty years in prison and labour camps in China. In prison he met the Nyingma master Khenpo Munsel, his root guru, who gave him essential teachings. He was released in 1979 and worked to restore and spread the teachings in Tibet.

He first came to America in 1997. His main centre is the Garchen Buddhist Institute in Arizona, and the institute lists other centres in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. He teaches Mahamudra and Dzogchen, Tummo, the Six Yogas of Naropa and the 37 Bodhisattva Practices, among other practices.

He teaches in Tibetan, and his talks are given in English through a translator. The Institute publishes meditation instructions, short films and recorded teachings from him on its website and YouTube channel.