Sogyal Rinpoche

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Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Rinpoche is a Tibetan Dzogchen Lama of the Nyingma tradition. He has been teaching for over 30 years. He travels widely in Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

He is the founder and spiritual leader of Rigpa, which is an international network of over 100 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world. He is also the author of the best-selling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has been printed in 30 languages and 56 countries.

Rinpoche often speaks at major conferences in all areas of society, including medicine and healing, universities and educational institutions, interfaith dialogue, movements for peace and non-violence, the world of business and leadership, and the field of serving the dying and hospice care.

Early life

Sogyal Rinpoche was born around 1950 in the region of Kham in Eastern Tibet. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö says that he is the reincarnation of Tertön Sogyal, a teacher to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. Jamyang Khyentse raised him as a son and made sure he got good training.

When things got bad in Kham, Khyentse Rinpoche and his young student went to Central Tibet and Lhasa. In 1955, they met Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. They then went to India. They settled in Gangtok at the invitation of the king of Sikkim.

Education

Rinpoche went to Catholic School in Kalimpong. Then he went to study at a university in Delhi before coming to the West. In 1971, he was granted a place to study comparative religion at Trinity College, Cambridge as a visiting scholar. He continued to study with many masters of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, especially His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Teaching career

Rinpoche soon began teaching in Paris. He often translated for His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. He also went with Dudjom Rinpoche to the United States in 1976.

In the summer of 1977, he started a centre in London, which he called Dzogchen Orgyen Chöling. Many great masters taught there: Dudjom Rinpoche, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Gyalwang Karmapa, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and others.

In 1979, Sogyal Rinpoche chose the name Rigpa for his work. It means "the innermost, essential nature of mind".

Criticism

In 1994, a $10 million civil lawsuit was filed against Sogyal Rinpoche. It was alleged that over a period of many years, Rinpoche had used his position as a spiritual leader to induce some of his female students to have coitus with him. The complaint included counts of intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, as well as assault and battery. In December 1995, the issue was settled out of court through mediation.

In the wake of the ensuing publicity, women who had previously remained silent began to talk about their experiences with Rinpoche. As one student pointed out, in a report filed by Mick Brown:

Sogyal Rinpoche's need for a partner is not in question... Rather the issue concerns the inappropriateness of sexual relationships with his students. In the West it is not considered ethical to engage in sex within the confines of a pastoral or teacher-student relationship where there are clear power imbalances.

In 1995, a young English woman attended one of Sogyal Rinpoche's residential retreats and was led to believe she had been singled out for special attention, only to discover that she was being invited to join a harem. "At first I was flattered, and very open and trusting. He encouraged me to fall in love with him - but I realised he was toying with me. I noticed several other young, pretty women going in and out of his apartment; when I confronted him with this, he dropped me and ignored me for the rest of the time I was there."

Supporters have argued that lamas of the Nyingma school are not required to take vows of celibacy, and indeed Sogyal Rinpoche does not claim to be a celibate monk. The central role model of the Nyingma school, its founder Padmasambhava, had five principal tantric consorts who were also his students. While there is a precept against sexual misconduct in Buddhism, with respect to a non-monastic lama this precept is rather limited in scope and would apply only if the female is not free but rather under the protection of her father, mother, husband, king or herself bound by a vow of celibacy. Nevertheless, amongst those who complained about Sogyal's sexual misdemeanours were relatively new converts to the faith who were therefore unlikely to possess sufficient Buddhist experience to be labelled 'qualified consorts'. According to Buddhist principles, engaging in union with an unqualified partner results in rebirth in hell Present social mores also deem sexual relations between teachers and students to be abusive because of the imbalance of power present in the relationship. Thus, while not violating basic Buddhist moral principles, tantric principles were violated and social mores breached.

Publications

Books

• Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, ISBN 0-06-250834-2
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzogchen and Padmasambhava, Rigpa Publications, 1990, ISBN 0-96-248840-2
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Glimpse After Glimpse, ISBN 978-0712662376
• Sogyal Rinpoche, The Future of Buddhism, Rider & Co, 2002, ISBN 0-71-261564-4

Articles and contributions

• Himalaya: Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge and Hope, National Geographic Books, 2006
• Jonathon Cott, On the Sea of Memory: A Journey from Forgetting to Remembering, Random House, 2005, ISBN 1-40-006058-3
• Reginald A. Ray (ed.), The Pocket Tibetan Buddhist Reader, Shambhala Publications, Boston, Mass. 2004, ISBN 1-57-062851-3
• Kathryn Meeske (Author), Sandra Scales (Photographer), Sacred Voices of the Nyingma Masters, Padma Publishing, California, 2004, ISBN 1-88-184735-7
• Charles A. Tart, Living a Mindful Life, A Handbook for Living in the Present Moment, Shambhala Publications, Boston, Mass. 1994, ISBN 978-1570620034

Forewords and introductions

• Biography of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (forthcoming).
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mind in Comfort and Ease, Wisdom Publications, 2007, ISBN 0-86-171493-8
• Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Blazing Splendor: The Memoirs of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, North Atlantic Books, 2005, ISBN 9-62-734156-8
• Don Farber, Portraits of Tibetan Buddhist Masters, University of California Press 2005, ISBN 0-52-023973-3
• Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje (translated by Richard Barron), A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage (A Spiritual History of the Teachings on Natural Great Perfection), Padma Publications, 2005, ISBN 1-88-184741-1
• Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Fearless Simplicity: The Dzogchen Way of Living Freely in a Complex World, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, Nepal, 2003, ISBN 9-62-734148-7
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection, Snow Lion Publications, 2000, ISBN 1-55-939219-3
• Khenpo Namdrol The Practice of Vajrakilaya, Snow Lion Publications, 1999, ISBN 1-55-939103-0
• Christine Longaker, Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying, Arrow Books, 1998, ISBN 0-09-917692-0
• Mordicai Gerstein, The Mountains of Tibet, Harper Trophy, 1989, ISBN 0-06-443211-4

Other websites

• The Official Biography of Sogyal Rinpoche
• Lotsawa House Biography of Sogyal Rinpoche
• Sogyal Rinpoche - Rigpa Wiki
• Buddhist Masters and Their Organisations: Sogyal Rinpoche