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| Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche (1943 - ) |
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 Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche is a renowned Kagyu retreat master and the abbot of the Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, the first and largest Tibetan Buddhist centre in Europe. Samye Ling was set up by Losal Rinpoche’s older brother, Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1967. [1] Samye refers to the first Buddhist monastic university in Tibet, while Ling means a large house with grounds. Over the years under the guidance of Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe Losal, the center has flourished; today it boasts a large stupa, accommodation and a range of course on meditation, spiritual development and art. It also is home to the first Tibetan temple to be constructed in Western Europe. [2] In 1980 Lama Yeshe took full ordination as a monk. A short time later he went in to a long-term solitary retreat. In 1985, at the request of his brother Akong Tulku he moved to Scotland to continue his retreat at Samye Ling. In 1988, he became the resident Retreat Master and although he wanted to spend more time in retreat he was obliged in 1991 to return to the world and take responsibility for Samye Ling. In 1995, he became the Abbot.[3] Lama Yeshe Losal also holds the distinction of being the first Tibetan Lama to win the Sasana Kirthi Sri award in Sri Lanka, making him the first Tibetan Lama to have a connection with the Theravadin community. He also is the director of the Holy Island Project. An environmentally-friendly Buddhist Centre opened in 2003. His participation in inter-faith dialogue at home and abroad continues. On Holy Island in August 2003 he hosted a visit by the heads of the main faith traditions of Scotland and has forged lasting friendships with several of his fellow heads-of-faith. In February 2002, for example, he attended the European Parliament in Brussels as the guest of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. [3] On his 60th birthday, he was finally given the name of Rinpoche, which is only bestowed on the great Kagyu masters. |
Date of Birth: 02 Jan, 1943
Location: United Kingdom
State: Scotland
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Views: 185
Summary
Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche was born in 1943 in Kham, East Tibet. His spent his early years studying at the Dolma Lhakang Monastery, where his brother Akong Tulku Rinpoche was abbot. Like many, he escaped Tibet in 1959, during the Chinese invasion. He went to India and studied at the Young Lamas Home School in Dalhousie. He left in 1967 to be the private secretary of His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Two years later, he joined his brother and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche on a trip to Scotland, where the Kagyu Samye Ling was founded. Five years later, he went on a trip with the Karmapa to the United States. It was at this time that he and Lama Tenzin Chonyi were asked to establish and run Karma Tryana Dharmacakra Centre in Woodstock, New York. It became the main set for the Karmapa in America. In 1980, he took full ordination as a Gelong monk. Following this, he went on a long solitary retreat under the guidance of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, abbot of Karma Triyana. In 1985, his brother requested that he return to Scotland and continue his retreat at Samye Ling Purelands Retreat Centre. Four years later, he became Retreat Master and was responsible for all the western practitioners on retreat. His goal was to remain in retreat for twenty years, but he was forced to give up on that dream in 1991 when he had to take over Kagyu Samye Ling. By 1995, he became official abbot of the Kagyu Samye Ling. His first action was to create the Samye Sangha Foundation; this would allow the nuns and monks to support themselves. In November of 1998, he received the Sasana Kirthi Sri award at the International Sarvodaya Bhikku Congress in Sri Lanka. This makes him the first Tibetan Lama to make such a connection with the Theravadin community, an important step in inter-faith relations. In August 2003, on his 60th birthday, he was finally bestowed with the honor of the name Rinpoche.
Holy Island Project
He also directed the Holy Island Project, which was acquired in April 1992. The Project has become the site for the Centre for World Peace and Health, an environmentally-friendly centre for retreats, courses and conferences it opened to the public in May 2003. The project came together as a result of an Irish lady coming to Samye Ling in 1990 with a strange request. She was the owner of Holy Island who had a vision for Mary, the mother of Jesus asking her to approach the Buddhists at Samye Ling. Lama Yeshe visited the island that same year and was struck by a vision he had whilst in retreat of flying over an island surrounded by lights. In April 1992 Holy Isle was bought by the Rokpa Trust.
References:
1. Smith, Claire (2007-03-03). "True path from Tibet to... Eskdalemuir", The Scotsman. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
2. Ani Rinchen Khandro, Kagyu Samye Ling - The Story, Dzalendara, 2007, ISBN 0906181232
3. Lama yeshe losal rinpoche - Website - http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/teachers/tea29.php
Related Links:
london.samye.org/london/kagyu/teachers/lama_yeshe.shtml
www.samyeling.org/
www.facebook.com/pages/lama-yeshe-losal-rinpoche/29607935760
www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/teachers/tea29.php
www.dundee.rokpa.org/teachersakong.htm
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