(by Tsem Rinpoche and Stella Cheang) I am part Kalmyk. The Kalmyks are Mongolians who have their own republic in the Russian Federation called Kalmykia. My adoptive parents, along with hundreds of other Kalmyks, migrated to the USA between the 1950s and 1960s. At the time, America’s immigration policies did not favour Asians, but the...
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The Third Trijang, Lobzang Yeshe Tendzin Gyatso was born on March 10, 1901, in Gungtang. As a child he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Second Trijang, Lobzang Tsultrim Pelden...
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འབྲོམ་སྟོན་རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས། b.1004 – d.1064 Tradition: Kadam བཀའ་གདམས་པ། Geography: Tolung Dechen County སྟོད་ལུང་བདེ་ཆེན་ཛོང། Historical Period: 11th Century ༡༡ དུས་རབས། Institution: Reting Monastery རྭ་སྒྲེང།; Gyelje རྒྱལ་བྱེད་དགོན། Clan: Drom འབྲོམ། Name Variants: Gyelwa Jungne རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས། Dromtonpa Gyelwa Jungne (‘brom ston rgyal ba ‘byung gnas) was born in Tolung (stod lung) in 1004 or 1005, into the Drom (‘brom) clan. His father was Kushen Yaksherpen (sku gshen yag gsher ‘phen) and his mother was K...
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Pema Lingpa was born in Chel Baridrang, in the Tang valley in the district of Bumtang. His father was Dondrub Zangpo of Sumtrang and his mother was Pema Dronma...
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Sonam Chopel was born in 1595 at Gyale in Tibet’s Tolung valley to the west of Lhasa. When he was eight, he was enrolled at the great Geluk monastery of Drepung...
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When the Twelfth Dalai Lama, Trinle Gyatso died at the young age of twenty in 1875, his face is said to have turned toward the south-east, which was taken as a sign...
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Zong Lobzang Tsondru was born in Mangsang, Kham, in 1905. As a child he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Geluk master Zongtrul Tenpa Chopel...
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The Third Changkya, Rolpai Dorje was born in 1717 in the Drakkar territory of Nub Padmo De Monastery, one of four monasteries that Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen established...
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The life story of Machik Labdron has been recounted in several different Tibetan hagiographies, with considerable differences among them. According to these sources, Machik was born in 1055...
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Padampa Sanggye was probably born during the eleventh century in an area identified as the district of Kupadvipa, the province of Carasimha, the land of Bebala...
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Drapa Ngonshe was born in 1012. For five years he worked as a shepherd, and then took ordination at Samye Monastery from Yamshud Gyelwa O...
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The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje was born in 1284. His father, named Chopel, is described as a Nyingma practitioner. While still a young child his parents brought him on pilgrimage in Tsang...
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Milarepa is one of the most famous individuals in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, but very little of his life is known with any historical certainty. Even the dates of his birth and death...
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The Eighty-fifth Ganden Tripa, Lobzang Tsultrim Pelden was born in Tolung Ragkor in 1839. The names of his parents are not known, but they were said to be descended from...
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The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso was born in the territory of Mon Tawang in March 1683. The search for the reincarnation of the Fifth Dalai Lama was conducted by the Regent Sanggye Gyatso...
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The Twentieth Ganden Tripa, Chodrak Zangpo was born in Takpu, Uto in 1493. He was admitted at a young age in the Takpu Chode where he became a monk...
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The Eighty-first Ganden Tripa, Ngawang Norbu was born in Zungchu in Amdo. He was later said to be an emanation of Mahasiddha Sarahapa, one of the mahasiddhas of the eighth century in India...
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The Third Purchok Jampa Gyatso was born in the pasture land of Dzachu Aurtok in Kham. At the age of five, having been identified as the reincarnation of the Second Purchok...
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Jedrung Lhawang Chokyi Gyeltsen was born in 1537 in Kham. He had considerable aptitude in reading and writing, and had a strong desire to become a monk...
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Gendun Drub was born to a family of nomadic farmers in 1391 near Sakya in Tsang. According to legend, on the night he was born, the family’s camp was attacked by bandits...
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