Ven. Gonsar Tulku Rinpoche --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Venerable Gonsar Rinpoche was born in Shigatse, Tibet in 1949. When he was three years old he was recognized as the fifth incarnation of the Gonsar lineage and was confirmed as such by HH the Dalai Lama. At the age of six his traditional education began in Sera Monastery under the guidance of the Venerable Geshe Rabten Rinpoche. Gonsar Rinpoche received many teachings and transmissions from HH the Dalai Lama and many other masters, particularly his root gurus Trijang Rinpoche and Geshe Rabten.
In 1959 he flew from the Chinese together with his teacher and many other Tibetans. In India he was able to continue his studies under the care of Geshe Rabten despite the hardships they had to endure for many years while living first at a refugee camp in Buxa, and later in Dharamsala. As part of his studies, he learned English and Hindi.
In 1969 he began translating Geshe Rabten's teachings into English for Western students. Due to many requests on part of Geshe Rabten's Western students, in 1974 he and Gonsar Rinpoche came to Switzerland, where they founded The Center for Higher Tibetan Studies Rabten Choeling. After the death of Geshe Rabten in 1986 the guidance and responsibility for Rabten Choeling as well as for the affiliated centers in Austria, Germany and Italy was assigned to Gonsar Rinpoche. He is also the abbot of Zongkar Choede, a small monastery in South India. In Winter 1996, Gonsar Rinpoche visited the city of Bloomington, Indiana, where he gave teachings on Lam Rim (Stages of the Path).
Gonsar Rinpoche is a co-founder of Dagom Gaden Tensung Ling Monastery which he inaugurated on July 5th, 1998. Rinpoche's teachings are exceedingly clear, precise and logical and his presence is invaluable. He is the only Tibetan spiritual master currently giving teachings in three languages: English, German and Tibetan.
The first Gonsar Rinpoche, who lived in the times of 7th Dalai Lama, was famous for his particularly wise and comprehensive teachings about the complete path to enlightenment. All Gonsar Rinpoches are significant yogis of the Hayagriva Tantra. The present Gonsar Rinpoche is reknowned as one of the few living masters capable of transmitting every aspect of Buddha's teachings as a clear and moving experience to Western and Tibetan students alike.
Gonsar Tulku Rinpoche During the time of the 7th Dalai Lama, a young man from Amdo requested acceptance at the house of his countrymen in the Sera monastery near Lhasa. His appearance was so poor and shabby, that he was refused. Turning away from the house he met an old woman in the grounds of the monastery who suggested that he request admittance to Chadrel House and ensured him that he would be accepted there. He did as he was told, and after joining the monastery he showed great enthusiasm in his studies. Soon the extraordinary qualities of a great master became apparent. He became famous as Master Ngawang Thöndrup and extensively served the teachings of the Buddha as Abbot of the Sera Je monastery and as one of the tutors of His Holiness the 8th Dalai Lama.
He spent a lot of time in meditation in a cave in the mountains near Lhasa, where later the Gonsar retreat monastery was built. When the people of Lhasa observed the new monastery they immediately started to call him ‘Gonsar’ which in Tibetan means ‘the lama of the new monastery'. This name has remained with the lineage of the Gonsar Rinpoches until today. The old woman that had led the first Gonsar Rinpoche to his college came to be known as an emanation of Palden Lhamo.
The fourth Gonsar Rinpoche, the previous incarnation to the present one, also studied in Sera monastery. After completing his studies with the Geshe examinations in his early twenties, he travelled to Mongolia and became one of the greatest masters amongst the later Buddhist masters of Mongolia. Teaching there for more than thirty years and frequently showing supernatural powers, he was greatly cherished by the population and almost all of the contemporary masters of Mongolia became his disciples. He returned to Tibet at the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolution and continued his vast activities there.
The family of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama also belongs to his distinguished disciples. The present Gonsar Rinpoche was born in 1949 in Shigatse, Tibet, to an aristocratic family known to be descendants of the ancient Tibetan kings. At that time his father was governor of the province Tsang, in western Tibet. At the age of three Gonsar Rinpoche was recognized as the fifth incarnation in the line of the Gonsar Rinpoche’s, which was confirmed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
At the age of six he entered Sera monastery, the second largest Monastic University of Tibet at that time. From the very beginning he was raised and tutored under the kind care of Venerable Geshe Rabten. Gonsar Rinpoche received a great number of teachings and transmissions from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and many other masters, in particular from his root gurus Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang and the Venerable Geshe Rabten.
In 1959, when Tibet fell under the power of Red China, Gonsar Rinpoche fled with his master to India and continued his studies there. At the same time he learnt English and Hindi. In 1969 he started to translate into English the Buddhist teachings given to western students by his master Geshe Rabten. Ever since the Venerable Geshe Rabten passed away in 1986, Gonsar Rinpoche, after spending thirty-three years as his closest disciple, has continued his master's activities. At present Gonsar Rinpoche is director of the center ‘Rabten Choeling’ in Mont Pèlerin, as well as the centers in Austria and Germany. He gives regular teachings directly in French, English, German or Tibetan. The first Gonsar Rinpoche was famous for his particularly vast and profound teachings on the complete path of mental development to full enlightenment. The present Gonsar Rinpoche is renowned as one of the very few contemporary masters capable of transmitting every aspect of the Buddha's teachings as a clear and moving experience to Western as well as Tibetan audiences.
One of Gonsar Tulku's emmanations as Yeshe Yang (ye shes dbyangs) was a lay disciple of Padmasambhava, counted among the twenty-five disciples (rje ’bangs nyer lnga). He is credited with transcribing many of Padmasambhava’s treasures, and concealing many of them himself, thus earning his name Ba (sba, conceal) Yeshe Yang. He is said to have received the knowledge of the secret script directly from the dakinis, having traveled to their realm in a state of meditation.
He lived for a number of years at forested mountainsides with Sogpo Lhapel (sog po lha dpal), when one day he flew into the sky and disappeared.
I believe Gonsar Tulku, who provided shelter and education for Kyabje Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche is immeasurably qualified as his Tutor, contrary to what Lama Zopa may think.
From guestbook posted by Thomas Canada
