Khenchen Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche

Born in Nepal, Khenchen Rinpoche received his higher monastic education at Menri Monastery in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh, India, the principal educational institution of Yungdrung Bön. At Menri Monastery, he studied with His Holiness the 33rd Menri Tridzin Rinpoche (1929–2017), Yongzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche (1926–2025), Geshe Lharampa Tsöndrü Gongphel, his tutor and mentor Gen Gyaltsen Choglek (1932–2002), and several other eminent Bön masters.

A particularly important influence on Khenchen Rinpoche’s life and education was Yongzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, widely regarded as one of the foremost Bön masters and scholars of the modern era and a major holder of the principal transmission lineages of Yungdrung Bön. Yongzin Rinpoche made an important contribution to the preservation and revival of Bön education at Menri Monastery and later founded Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu in 1987 and Shenten Dargye Ling in France in 2005. These institutions became important centers for the preservation, study, and transmission of the Bön tradition and its practices.

Khenchen Rinpoche’s relationship with Yongzin Rinpoche extended far beyond that of teacher and student. Following his studies at Menri, he continued his advanced training in Tantra and Dzogchen under Yongzin Rinpoche in Kathmandu, where Yongzin Rinpoche had established Triten Norbutse Monastery. Over many years, Khenchen Rinpoche also served him closely as an assistant and travelled extensively with him internationally for approximately two decades. Over the years, he gave teachings and led meditation retreats alongside Yongzin Rinpoche and other senior Bön teachers, while also participating in seminars and practice programs throughout Europe, North America, and other parts of the world. This close association gave Khenchen Rinpoche extensive experience in both the traditional transmission of Bön teachings and their presentation to an international audience.

Khenchen Rinpoche completed the traditional thirteen-year course of higher Bön studies, covering Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen, together with general Tibetan sciences, including language and literature, astrology, arts, and other traditional disciplines. In 1994, following a rigorous final examination, he was awarded the Geshe degree, the highest level of traditional Bön scholastic education, representing many years of advanced philosophical and textual study.

In 1996, Khenchen Rinpoche was appointed Ponlob, or principal teacher, of Triten Norbutse Monastery and assumed full-time teaching responsibilities, a role he had already been undertaking informally since the inception of the Bön Dialectics School. The school, established in 1994, was later renamed the Yungdrung Bön Academy of Higher Studies. In 2001, he was appointed Khenpo, or abbot. He has since combined his responsibilities as abbot with teaching, monastic education, personal practice, and the development of the monastery’s educational and managerial infrastructure. Triten Norbutse is now the largest Bön monastic institution in Nepal and one of the principal centers of Yungdrung Bön outside Tibet.

Recognizing the pressing importance of preserving and promoting modern education in harmony with traditional value, cultural identity and language, and with the blessings and guidance of Yongzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Khenchen Rinpoche, together with other members of the Bön community, founded the Sherig Phuntsok Ling Bön Society in India in 2007. 

Under the administration of the Society, the Tise Himalayan International School was subsequently established in 2018 to provide education and comprehensive residential support to children from remote and disadvantaged Himalayan communities in Nepal and India. Khenchen Rinpoche has been the principal driving force behind this educational mission, actively promoting its development and facilitating resources and support from a range of individual and institutional sources. The school currently serves more than 200 students, with girls and boys represented in balanced numbers, providing accommodation, meals, clothing, school supplies, healthcare, and education free of charge. Through this initiative, Khenchen Rinpoche has sought not only to expand access to education for children from underserved Himalayan communities but also to preserve their language, cultural heritage, and traditional values for future generations.

Khenchen Rinpoche is particularly known for his teaching of the major Dzogchen traditions of Bön, including the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü, A-Tri, Drakpa Korsum, and Yetri Thasel. His teaching combines rigorous philosophical study with contemplative practice and emphasizes the direct recognition and introduction to the natural state of mind.

While continuing to teach at various international Bön centers in Europe and America, his international work has been closely associated with Shenten Dargye Ling, a Bön monastery and learning center in Blou, France, founded under the vision and guidance of Yongzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, with Khenchen Rinpoche among its founding members.

Since its inception in 2005, Khenchen Rinpoche has contributed significantly to Shenten’s development as an international center for the study, practice, education, and preservation of Yungdrung Bön. As part of his commitment to fostering collaboration between Bön practitioners and the academic community, he has maintained close engagement with Western scholars and researchers working in the field of Bön studies.

In collaboration with scholars, Khenchen Rinpoche has organized and facilitated international symposia on Bön, including gatherings held at Shenten Dargye Ling in 2008 and 2016, and at Triten Norbutse Monastery in 2012, 2019, and 2025. These symposia have brought together scholars and researchers from numerous countries, contributing to the broader academic study and preservation of Bön history, literature, culture, and spirituality.

In 2009, Khenchen Rinpoche established the Gomdra Meditation Program, a four-year program offering 70 days of intensive meditation and practice training each year. Designed particularly for Western practitioners, the program provides an opportunity to undertake traditional Bön contemplative training within a structured monastic-style environment.

Through his long-standing work in education, scholarship, meditation, cultural preservation, and international teaching, Khenchen Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche has contributed to the continuity and contemporary transmission of the Yungdrung Bön tradition. His work connects the traditional educational and contemplative heritage of Tibet and the Himalayan region with an increasingly international community of students, scholars, practitioners, and cultural institutions.

Khenchen Rinpoche continues to serve as Khenpo of Triten Norbutse Monastery and as a senior teacher of Yungdrung Bön. His decades of study, service, and close association with some of the most important Bön masters of the modern era have made him an important contemporary figure in the preservation and international transmission of the ancient spiritual and cultural heritage of Tibet and the Himalayas.