Praise of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

 This praise of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was originally
 published in the Rigpa Tibetan Calendar for the year 1992 - 1993.
 Copyright - Rigpa Fellowship 1992

 HIS HOLINESS DILGO KHYENTSE RINPOCHE
 (1910- 1991)

    His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Head of the Nyingma School of
 Tibetan Buddhism,passed away in Bhutan on September 28, 1991.
 Universally revered as the most outstanding master of the Dzogchen
 teachings and foremost upholder of the unbiased (Rime) spirit within
 the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, he was one of the principal lineage
 holders of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik tradition and a highly
 acclaimed "terton", a discoverer of spiritual treasures concealed by
 Padmasambhava.  As such, he became the teacher of many of the
 important Lamas of today, and for several years had been giving
 teachings from the Nyingma and Dzogchen tradition to His Holiness the
 Dalai Lama. He was spiritual adviser to the royal family of Bhutan,
 and has thousands of disciples in India, the Himalayas, Tibet and the
 West.

    Born in l910 in Kham Derge, Eastern Tibet, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
 was recognised as an incarnation whilst still in his mother's womb by
 the great master, Mipham Rinpoche, who foresaw his exceptional
 destiny.  At the age of eleven he entered Shechen Monastery, one of
 the six principal monasteries of the Nyingma tradition, and was
 formally recognised and enthroned by his teacher, Shechen Gyaltsap
 Rinpoche, as the wisdom-mind emanation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
 (1820-92), the extraordinary visionary master who, alongside Jamgon
 Kongtrul and Chogyur Lingpa, spearheaded the spiritual and cultural
 renaissance in Tibet which became known as the Rime movement.

    Khyentse Rinpoche spent many years at Shechen with his teacher,
 Shechen Gyaltsap, who imparted to him all the essential instructions
 and empowerments of the Nyingma tradition. Studying with
 over fifty great masters and scholars, including the renowned Khenpo
 Shyenga, and practising for years in remote caves and solitary
 hermitages, his understanding and realisation matured and blossomed.
 From an early age, Khyentse Rinpoche had received visions of Guru
 Rinpoche and he began now to reveal his terma teachings. He became on
 of the closest disciples of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (1896-1959),
 the activity emanation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, who granted him a
 vast number of teachings, and prepared him to be his lineage holder in
 a period when he knew the survival of the teaching of Buddha, and
 especially the Dzogchen teachings, would be in jeopardy.

    Khyentse Rinpoche devoted his entire life to worhng for the benefit
 of others. He travelled tirelessly throughout India, the Himalayas,
 South East Asia and the West, transmitting the pure essence of the
 teachings to his countless disciples. He composed many commentaries,
 meditation texts and poems, and became famous for his outstanding
 scholarship and wisdom. He played an enormous part in preserving
 Tibet's rich spintual heritage by collffting and publishing many rare
 Buddhist texts which otherwise would have been lost forever in the
 systematic destruction of the monastic universtities and libraries in
 Tibet during the Chinese occupation.

    Khyentse Rinpoche established the great living tradition of Shechen
 in Baudhanath, Nepal, constructing a new monastery, Shechen Tennyi
 Dargyeling, which looks out onto the great stupa, and personally
 supervising the education and training of the young Lamas destined to
 continue the tradition there.  The abbot of the monastery is Khyentse
 Rinpoche's grandson and spiritual heir, the VII Rabjam Rinpoche.  In
 India, he built a new stupa at Bodhgaya, the site of Buddha
 Shaykamuni's enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree, and prepared plans
 for the construction of seven other stupas in each of the great
 pilgrimage places associated with the life of the Buddha, according to
 the prediction of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. This project carries
 immense significance for the continuity of the Buddhist teachings in
 the East, the aversion of war and famine, and promotion of world peace
 and harmony.

 In this way, Khyentse Rinpoche spent his whole life in complete and
 selfless dedication helping others and continuing the unbroken
 transmission of the teachings.  Not a single minute in his day was
 wasted from the moment he woke, early before dawn, to perform his
 prayers and meditation practice, until late at night in an
 uninterrupted stream of teachings, empowerments, instructions,
 interviews, and supervision of Dharma projects, all of which were
 accomplished with his charactenstic sense of spaciousness, humour and
 ease.

    Khyentse Rinpoche was a master who was larger than life, in a
 category entirely of his own. It would be no exaggeration to say that
 within recent times in the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, there was no
 other meditation master or scholar of his calibre.  With more that
 twenty years in retreat, his poetic and inspired writings, his vast
 learning, his tremendous achievements in the fields of building and
 publishing, his inexhaustible energy and the unique and effortless
 manner in which he continuously taught and passed on the transmission,
 he epitomised the image of the greatest Lamas of the past

    Over the years, Khyentse Rinpoche has shown tremendous kindness to
 Sogyal Rinpoche and the RIGPA sangha, confernng teachings and
 empowerments on numerous occasions, both in the East and the West. He
 was the principal 'object of refuge' for the whole sangha and inspired
 in them all a natural devotion and a heartfelt conviction that he was
 none other than Padmasambhava himself. It was in August 1990 during
 Rigpa's summer retreat in the French Alps that this long and deep
 connection matured in a glorious way when Khyentse Rinpoche bestowed
 the most profound transmissions from the Dzogchen Longchen Nyintik
 cycle.  Radiant and in excellent health, day after day the blessings
 of his wisdom mind flowed effortlessly in an unbroken stream of
 empowerments, teachings and transmissions which created a foundation
 and sowed the seeds for the complete practice of the Nyingma path and
 Dzogpachenpo . This was to be one of his last major teachings and one
 of the very rare occasions he gave a complete transmission of the
 Dzogchen teachings to a large group. The significance of this
 unprecedented and auspicious meeting is apparent now more than ever,
 and will remain a constant source of inspiration in our hearts and in
 our practice.

    The passing away of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche marks the end of an
 era, and is a tremendous loss both for the Nyingma tradition and
 Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.  It is impossible to express in words the
 full measure of our sadness and how greatly we will miss him. He has
 given us now the ultimate teaching on impermanence to urge us to
 spiritual practice. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama said recently,"We
 all, his disciples, should repay his kindness with our practice."

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 The Rigpa Calendar is a wonderful pocket size calendar Tibetan/Western
 calendar which includes Buddhist Anniversaries & Special Practice
 Days.

 It begins with the first day of Losar - Tibetan New Year, with each
 day cross referenced to it's western counterpart.

 All the Buddha days, the Great Festival Days, the Dakini days,
 Dharmapala days, New moon and Full moon days are clearly noted.

 You can obtain it from RIGPA centers, or many stores which cary
 Buddhist texts.