9th Traleg Rinpoche

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche was born in 1955 in Nangchen in Eastern Tibet. At the age of 2 he was recognized by H.H. the 16th Karmapa as the 9th Traleg Rinpoche and subsequently enthroned as supreme abbot of the Thrangu Tashi Choling monastery in Tibet. After the Chinese invasion in Tibet he was brought to India in 1959.

In India he received the traditional tulku education, starting at Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the traditional seat of the Karmapas outside of Tibet. His further education led him to Sangngak Choling in Darjeeling, to the Institute of Higher Buddhist Studies in Sarnath and to the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India. At the age of 19 he was put in charge of the Zangdog Palri monastery in Bhutan, where he continued his studies in Sūtra and Tantra.

From 1977 to 1980 he was appointed secretary and translator of H.H. the 16th Karmapa in Rumtek. Finally, in 1980 he enrolled at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, in Philosophy and Comparative Religion. He relinquished his monks vows and married in the further course.

In 1982 he founded the E-Vam Institute in Melbourne, where he gave weekly teachings until 2007. In the mid-80s he acted as spiritual leader of the Kamalashila Institute in Germany for several years. In the following years he founded further study and practice centers in Australia and in the US. In the course of his life, he published many books, a periodical, initiated a bi-annual conference of Buddhism and Psychotherapy and established a Buddhist Summer School. He traveled extensively and gave teachings in many Western countries. On July 24, 2012, Traleg Rinpoche died with 57 years.

In July 2016 the 10th incarnation of Traleg Tulku was identified by H.H. the 17th Karmapa and enthroned at Thrangu Tashi Choling monastery in Tibet in order to continue the activity of his predecessor in the future.