38 Facts About Dilgo Khyentse

Dilgo Khyentse taught many eminent teachers, including the 14th Dalai Lama.

Dilgo Khyentse was born on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month of the Iron Dog Year, in the Denma region of Derge, in Denkok Valley, in Kham, Eastern Tibet, during a teaching on the Kalachakra Tantra given in his house by Ju Mipham.

Dilgo Khyentse had three brothers: the eldest brother Sanggye; another older brother who became the 9th Benchen Sanggye Nyenpa, Karma Shedrub Tenpai Nyima; and a third older brother that died at a young age.

When Dilgo Khyentse was a year old, he was declared to be a reincarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo by a disciple of Khyentse Wangpo's.

Several high Rinpoches from the Nyingma, Karma Kagyu, and Sakya schools were to request Dilgo Khyentse be sent to their monasteries, but Ju Mipham advised his father to keep young Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Paljor at home.

Shechen Monastery is one of the six principal Mother Monasteries of the Nyingma school, where Dilgo Khyentse received novice vows in 1919, and where he was formally enthroned by Shechen Gyaltsab in 1925 as the tulku of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and given the name Gyurme Tekchok Tenpai Gyeltsen.

Dilgo Khyentse completed what is known as the Ngondro, or Preliminary Practice.

Dilgo Khyentse remained in close proximity to Shechen Monastery until 1926, when Shechen Gyaltsab passed.

From 1926 until 1934, Dilgo Khyentse remained in solitary retreat in a cave in Denkok, near his birthplace, but attended the enthronement of the 5th Shechen Gyeltsab at Shechen Monastery in 1925, and received the transmissions and teachings.

Dilgo Khyentse requested to spend the rest of his life in solitary meditation.

Dilgo Khyentse married Khandro Lhamo, a traditional Tibetan medicine doctor from a modest Kham family while both Khyentse Chokyi Lodro and the 10th Zurmang Trungpa, Karma Chokyi Nyingche, had urged him to pursue terma treasure revelations.

Dilgo Khyentse then spent the next 21 years as an active Terton, while traveling and teaching.

At the age of 34, Dilgo Khyentse spent two years with Dzongzar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, receiving teachings and revealing terma.

Dilgo Khyentse was a close student, and specifically received Jamgon Kongtrul's Rinchen Terdzod, a collection of Revealed Terma Treasures, and his Treasury of Knowledge.

In 1946, Dilgo Khyentse travelled in Kham and strengthened his connections to the lineage of another Terton, Chokgyur Lingpa when he discovered and decoded a sheet of paper which became the treasure cycle of the Kabgye.

Dilgo Khyentse continued his revelations as a Terton while travelling and teaching at Derge, Nangchen, Rebkong, Amye Machen, and other places in Do Kham during the early years of China's invasion.

Dilgo Khyentse was one of the main teachers of Chogyam Trungpa, whom is held in high regard.

Dilgo Khyentse was a considered a master to many qualified teachers from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dilgo Khyentse made frequent visits to India to give teachings to the 14th Dalai Lama at Dharamasala, and he dedicated himself to preserving the Nyingma school lineage by travelling extensively in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Dilgo Khyentse engaged in scholarship and composed numerous poems, meditation texts and commentaries.

Dilgo Khyentse was a Terton, a discoverer of spiritual treasures, and is credited with discovering numerous termas.

Dilgo Khyentse was one of the foremost masters of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, for which he bestowed pith instructions, and is one of the principal holders of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage.

Dilgo Khyentse rebuilt the Shechen Monastery near the great and spiritually significant Jarung Kashor stupa of Boudhanath, in Kathmandu valley, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dilgo Khyentse travelled to Tibet three times, in 1985,1988, and 1990, during which he funded and advised rebuilding projects, including the consecration of a statue of Padmasambhava at the Jokhang, the re-consecration of Samye Monastery, the re-consecration of the Derge printing house, and he visited several rebuilt Nyingma school monasteries including Dzogchen, Palyul, Katok, and Shechen Monastery where he was able to stay and bestow public teachings.

Dilgo Khyentse was one of the few great Tibetan Rinpoches accorded the honorific title Kyabje, or "His Holiness".

In November 1992, the ritual cremation ceremony for Dilgo Khyentse was consecrated for three-days near Paro in Bhutan, and was attended by over 100 lamas and ordained monks and nuns, the Royal Family and ministers of Bhutan, 500 western disciples and 50,000 devotees and lay people.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche has been described as a perfect example of an impartial preserver of Tibetan Buddhist lineages, and a Rime master, since in exile he was instrumental in safeguarding all of the lineages of Tibetan Buddhism without partiality.

Dilgo Khyentse received and gave empowerments, and wrote volumes of texts that revitalized and interpreted important transmissions and teachings from all four Tibetan Buddhist schools.

Dilgo Khyentse would receive it and, in turn, pass it on to make sure that the lineage remained unbroken.

Dilgo Khyentse's father is Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, the son of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and his mother is Sangyum Dechen Paldron.

Dilgo Khyentse's siblings are Phakchok Rinpoche, Mingyur Paldron, and Kelsang Bhuti.

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche was born in Nepal on June 30,1993.

When Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, his close students requested Trulshik Rinpoche, his most senior and accomplished disciple, to find his incarnation.

Dilgo Khyentse's recognition was confirmed by the 14th Dalai Lama.

The tour began in France at La Sonnerie in the Dordogne, since La Sonnerie is the main European seat of Dilgo Khyentse, and is the French seat of Dudjom Rinpoche.

In Toronto, Canada, at Riwoche gompa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche gave empowerments on Namgyalma and Vajrakilaya.

The film Spirit of Tibet: Journey to Enlightenment, The Life and World of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was released in 1998.

The film Brilliant Moon: Glimpses of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, written and directed by Neten Chokling Rinpoche, and narrated by Richard Gere and Lou Reed, uses animation, previously unseen archival footage and photos along with new interviews of Tibet's qualified masters to tell Dilgo Khyentse's life story.