27/03/2026
His Holiness Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
The Seventh Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche was born to Chimed Wangmo, the daughter of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, on December 25, 1967, in Chandigarh, Northern India, during the Year of the Fire Sheep according to the Tibetan calendar.
As soon as Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche heard that his daughter had given birth to a son, he gave precise instructions on how the child should be cared for. When the baby was one week old, he was presented to Kyabje Khyentse Rinpoche, who expressed great joy, saying, “This boy is extraordinary.” Rinpoche then recited the Manjushri mantra, gently blowing on the child’s face several times, and bestowed upon him the name Tashi Tsepel.
A few years earlier, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche had a conversation with His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa. During their exchange, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche asked, “What do you think has happened to Rabjam Rinpoche and the other great lamas from Shechen? Have they survived, or are they now in the Buddha Fields?”
The Karmapa replied, “You don’t need to look for them, they are looking for you. You will see.”
Confirming this, in 1968 the Year of the Earth Monkey during Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s pilgrimage to Namo Buddha in Nepal, Rinpoche had a profound dream. In the dream, he saw the three most important lamas of Shechen: Rabjam Rinpoche, Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche, sitting together.
Overcome with immense happiness and devotion, he felt as though he were meeting both the living and the deceased at the same time. He recalled how the Sixth Rabjam Rinpoche and other Shechen lamas had suffered greatly during the turmoil in Tibet. When he asked them about the hardships they had endured, they all looked at him with expressions of great compassion and offered many prophecies concerning the future.
When Rinpoche awoke, he was filled with a deep mix of joy and sorrow that lingered for several days, and he recorded these special experiences in his writing’s.
On February 3, 1970 (the Year of the Iron Dog), His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa made the following prophecy:
From the ocean like expanse of the Dharmadhatu, countless rays of light stream forth taming beings, fulfilling every wish.
In the play of boundless radiance across a hundred realms, the supreme emanation appears Padma’s regent, the wondrous Khyentse, and his noble heart born daughter Chimed Dronkar.
From the ground of primordial awareness itself, this sacred rebirth within the line of Shechen Rabjam arises as a beacon of the secret teachings to uphold their depth, to carry their weight, and to spread their brilliance far and wide. This concludes the vision that dispels delusion. According to this infallible vajra prophecy, the Karmapa, with his unmistakable wisdom, recognized him as the reincarnation of the Sixth Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, a great chariot of the Early Translation (Nyingma) tradition in Do Kham. He was enthroned at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim and given the name Karma Gyurme Shedrub Chokyi Senge Mijig Gocha Trinley Kunkhyab. The first tutor of Rabjam Rinpoche is Atshe Lama a student of previous Shechen Rabjam from Shechen Monastery Tibet, from whom he learned basic reading and writing. From the age of five till 25 Rabjam Rinpoche relied primarily on his principal and most kind root guru, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, receiving, instructions on grammar, poetics, and extensive teachings on the commentaries to the Treasury of Spiritual Qualities (Yonten Dzo) He also received detailed commentaries on the Ghyuagharba Ta**ra based on Longchenpa’s Commentary, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, and The Wish-fulfilling Ear of Corn on the Three Vows, among many others. He received complete transmissions of the Treasury of Oral Instructions (Damngak Dzo) three times, the Treasury of Precious Termas (Rinchen Terdzo) twice, the long K**a tradition (Nyingma K**a) twice, and countless empowerments, transmissions, and instructions from the five great treasuries and various lineages of teachings from both the ancient and new traditions. He never missed any teachings and received everything his teacher possessed in the manner of filling a vase to the brim. At the age of eight, Rinpoche received novice ordination, and, at twenty, he received full monastic ordination from Most Venerable Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, he was given the name Ngawang Chopel Gyatso. for 35 years, he hold the monastic vows, Rinpoche also received teachings andinstructions pointing out the nature of the mind from the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Rinpoche received numerous empowerments, transmissions, and instructions from many masters, from all the different schools of Tibetan, Buddhism, like the, Gyalwa Rinpoche, Sakya Dagchen, Dudjom Rinpoche, Drubwang Penor Rinpoche, Khamtrul Rinpoche, Dongyu Nyima; Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, Lama Kalu Rinpoche, Dodrub Rinpoche, Khyenpo Kunga Wangchuk, Gemang Khenpo Wanglo, Arik Khenpo Pema Tsewang; and many others.
After Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche passed away in 1991, Rabjam Rinpoche, at only 25 years of age, assumed full responsibility for Shechen Monastery and for the monks and nuns in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. He has since worked tirelessly to fulfill the wishes and vision of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
Rinpoche has visited the main Shechen Monastery in Kham, Tibet, several times, offering continuous support for the monastery’s regular ceremonies and for its study and practice centers (shedra and drupdra) by providing essential resources. He also sponsored the construction of temples, sacred images, and other important facilities.
In addition, Rinpoche established regular stipends for the monks and offered them guidance, empowerments, transmissions, and instructions. At Shechen Monastery in Nepal, he has likewise ensured that the monks receive food, clothing, education, and all their spiritual needs, sustaining the flourishing of study and practice.
In particular, Rinpoche has placed great emphasis on making Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s mind treasure (gong-ter) teachings accessible to all who wish to practice them. He has been transmitting the lineage, empowerments, and instructions in retreat centers and seminars around the world, making this one of the most important missions of his life.
In 1996, Rinpoche founded the Tsering Art School to preserve the unique artistic tradition known as Karma Gadri. In 1997, to fulfill the wishes of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, he built the Shechen Temple in Bodhgaya. In 2001, he established the Pema Oling Retreat Center at Namo Buddha, Nepal, providing a place for deep study and practice. Between 2004 and 2009, Rinpoche oversaw the construction of eight stupas at various sacred sites in India and Nepal.
In Bhutan, Rinpoche established centers for study and practice, including a residence and training place for 160 nuns, as well as a retreat center dedicated to deep meditation and spiritual development.
Rinpoche completed the practice of the mind treasure (gong-ter) of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche during a retreat lasting more than three years at Satsam Chorten in Paro, Bhutan. Throughout this retreat, he engaged in numerous deity sadhanas of the Three Roots of the Early Translation (Nyingma) Tradition, along with many other profound practices.
At the request of Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother, Ashi Kesang Chödrön Wangchuck, Rinpoche has continued to perform the annual ritual ceremonies dedicated to the spiritual and temporal well being of Bhutan, just as Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche did before.
Rinpoche, together with Matthieu Ricard, co-founded Shechen Karuna, an organization dedicated to offering social services through the establishment of schools, hospitals, and homes for the elderly in Tibet, China, Nepal, and India. Beginning in 2010, Rinpoche served as the Chairperson of the Nyingma Monlam Chenmo (the Great Prayer Festival at Bodhgaya) for three years. Afterwards, the entire Nyingma community requested him to become the eighth head of the Nyingma tradition. Although Rinpoche initially declined, he agreed to continue serving as Chairperson, dedicating himself to the benefit and unity of the Nyingma tradition as a whole. once again Rinpoche assumed the responsibility of chairing the Nyingma Monlam from 2023 to the present (2025).
Among Rinpoche’s many major Dharma activities, in 1994 he founded Shechen Publications, through which he published the collected works of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in twenty-five volumes. In 2017, he oversaw the publication of the seventy one volume edition of the Rinchen Terdzod (Treasury of Precious Termas). Rinpoche continues to support and guide many other important publications, ensuring the preservation and spread of the Buddha’s teachings.
Rinpoche offered the reading transmission of Padma Lingpa’s Kathang Sang Gyachen (the Secret Sealed Biography of Padmasambhava), to Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche which he received from Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, as a cloud of offerings.
At Shechen Monastery in Nepal, Rinpoche granted the following transmissions: in 1994, the reading transmission of the Rinchen Terdzod; in 1997, the reading transmission of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's collected works; in 2004, the reading transmission of the Nyingma K**a and the Four Parts of Heart Essence (Nyingtik Ya-shi); in 2006, the reading transmission of the three volumes of the Heart Essence root texts (Longchen Nyingtik); in 2007 and 2008, the reading transmission of the Nyingma Guyd Chuden; in 2008, the reading transmission of Longchen Dzod Dun (Seven Treasuries); in 2017, the empowerments and transmissions of Kyabje DilgoKhyentse Rinpoche's mind treasures; in 2019, the reading transmission of Jigme Lingpa's and Patrul Rinpoche's collected works, as well as the empowerments and transmissions of the Longchen Nyingthik cycle; in 2013, at the Nyingma Temple in Bodhgaya, the empowerments and transmissions of Mipham's collected works; in 2019, at NgeSang Do Ngak Jangchub Dargye Ling in Pemako, India, the empowerments and transmissions of the Longchen Nyingthik; in 2020, at E-Wam Nyubchen Namchak Monastery in Siliguri, India, the reading transmission of Jamyang KhyentseWangpo's collected works and the empowerments and transmissions of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s mind treasures, mainly the Three Roots of Clear Light Heart Essence (Tsa-sum Osel Nyingtik); in 2014, at Satsam Chorten, Paro, Bhutan, the reading transmission of the Seven Treasuries; in 2021, at Shechen Nunnery in Bhutan, the reading transmission of the Seven Treasuries; and in 2024, at Paro Bhang De Orgyen Pema Zangtok Palri in Bhutan, the empowerments of the Rinchen Terdzo. Rinpoche has traveled extensively across many countries, bestowing empowerments, transmissions, and profound instructions to countless disciples—both ordained and lay from all traditions. His collected writings include a comprehensive empowerment and activity manual for Guru Padmasambhava, a subsidiary practice of Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s profound treasure (terma), The Heart Essence of the Spontaneously Arisen Padma (Rangjung Pema Nyingtik). Rinpoche continues to serve as the leader of Shechen Monastery and all its branches, tirelessly living and turning the Wheel of Dharma. May his vajra like form remain steadfast for eons as countless as the atoms of the universe, continually opening countless doors to the profound and vast vehicles of the Dharma for the benefit of all beings.
