This page is about some of the Buddhist teachers of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The teachers listed here are the ones most closely associated with Chicago KTC and KTD, NY. However, there are many precious teachers of the Karma Kagyu lineage with their own centers and communities throughout the world. To find out more, please visit this page for a very good overview.
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H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje
(photo taken ~99/2000)
His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the the spiritual head of Karma Kagyu Buddhism worldwide which includes Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and Chicago Karma Thegsum Chöling. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born in Tibet and recognized at the age of seven according to a prediction letter left by the previous Karmapa. At the age of fourteen he made a dramatic escape to India to study with learned Kagyu masters in exile.
- Information on Rumtek Website
- Biography on Rumtek Website
- Poetry on Rumtek Website
- Information on KTD Website
- Information at Kagyu Office
Venerable Bardor Tulku Rinpoche
Venerable Bardor Tulku Rinpoche has been teaching western students since the early 1980's. He has been principally involved with the construction of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and has directed the recent purchase and renovation of Chicago Karma Thegsum Chöling's new facility. He has taught at Chicago KTC on numerous occasions and is close with many of our members. He visits regularly, usually during the fall.
Venerable Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche
Venerable Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche was born in 1955 in Eastern Tibet. At about the age of two, he was recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg Tulkus and was enthroned as the Abbot of the Thrangu Monastery.
After the Communist invasion, in 1959, Traleg Rinpoche was taken to safety in India where he subsequently continued the rigorous training prescribed for tulkus born with the responsibilities of major lineage holders. This training included five years at the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India, and several years at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the main seat of the Karma Kagyu Lineage.
In 1980 Rinpoche went to Australia where he established the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in Melbourne. Traleg Rinpoche developed the Annual Buddhist Summer School in connection with major universities. The Buddhist Summer School serves as the forum for many important social and religious issues. Traleg Rinpoche has also established the E-Vam Buddhist Institute in Chatham NY.
Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche
Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has been teaching western students since the 1970's. He has been a monk since he was a young child and is very respected throughout the world as a genuine master of Vajrayana practice. He is the head abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and he leads the three-year retreat at Karme Ling in Delhi, NY.
Venerable Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin
Venerable Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin was enrolled in the first class of Karma Shri Nalanda Institute at Rumtek with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Sangyay Nyenpa Rinpoche. He received the Acharya degree from Nalanda Institute and Sampumanand Sanskrit University, jointly, in 1991. As a Khenpo, he taught Buddhist philosophy for six years at Nimalung Monastery in Bhutan. Then, he was Senior Abbot/Principal Teacher at Nalanda Institute at Rumtek Dharma Chakra Center from 1997 to 2002.
In 2002, he resigned as khenpo from Karma Shri Nalanda Institute and returned to Bhutan. He was asked to teach as senior khenpo at the Nimalung Monastery in Buthan, however, he chose to go into retreat at Tang Kunzang Drag Monastery, the birthplace and main seat of the great treasure-revealer, Terton Pema Lingpa. He remained in retreat until October 24, 2004. Following the request of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa to help Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Khenpo Ugyen Tenzin left his retreat and came to KTD monastery on May 27, 2005.
