Tenga Rinpoche (Tibetan:དསྟན་དགའ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་,Wylie:bstan dgav rin po che; 1932 – 30 March 2012) was aTibetan teacher (lama) in theKarma Kagyu tradition.[1]
Born inKham in 1932,[1] Tenga Rinpoche was recognized as areincarnation of Lama Samten[1][2] at the age of seven.[1]
As he grew older, he studied atBenchen Monastery[2] and was eventuallygiven the name Karma Tenzin Thinle Namgyal fromSitu Rinpoche.[2] Soon after, he was given ordination by Situ Rinpoche and entered a three-year retreat.[1][2]
He was an expert in mandala painting and sculpture.[3]
In 1959, Tenga Rinpoche left Benchen forLhasa. After the14th Dalai Lama left Tibet in relation with the1959 Tibetan uprising, he escaped withDilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and the brother of Dilgo Khyentse, the 9thSangye Nyenpa Rinpoche.[4] He then eventually traveled to northern India.[2] In India, he settled atRumtek Monastery, the main seat ofthe 16th Karmapa.[1] Tenga Rinpoche served the 16th Karmapa for seventeen years,[1] nine of those years in the position ofDorje Lopön.[1][2]
In 1976 Tenga Rinpoche settled inSwayambhunath,Nepal, where he founded a second Benchen Monastery and a retreat center inPharping.[4]
In 1986, Tenga Rinpoche established the newBenchen Monastery inKathmandu.[2]
He visited France regularly, giving teachings atKagyu-Dzong in Paris andVajradhara-Ling inAubry-le-Panthou, Normandy. On 21 September 2003, he laid thecornerstone of theTemple for Peace in Normandy.[5]
On 30 March 2012, at 3:24 in the morning Nepali time, Tenga Rinpoche died.[6]
Nyima Döndrup, the yangsi (reincarnation) of the previous Tenga Rinpoche was born 14 December 2014 in Nepal. He was discovered in 2017 following the indications of the17th Karmapa who met him on 21 March 2017 inBodhgaya for a ceremony at Tergar Monastery.[7]
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