Dudjom Rinpoche

Dudjom Rinpoche was born in 1904 in the southeastern Tibetan province of Pemakö, one of the four hidden lands of Padmasabhava, and was considered a revealer of the treasures concealed there. As a Dzogchen master, he headed the ancient Nyingma lineage. He was also an astrologer, healer, poet, and scholar, and wrote several Tibetan histories. He left Tibet in 1958, establishing communities for Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. In 1972, he visited London as the guest of Sogyal Rinpoche. He founded many Dharma centres in the West, including Dorje Nyingpo and Orgyen Samye Choling in France, and Yeshe Nyingpo and Orgyen Cho Dzong in the United States. Dudjom Rinpoche was a householder yogin. He married twice and had 10 children, many of whom are tulkus, including his son, Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche, a well-known Western teacher. Dudjom Rinpoche settled with his family in the Dordogne center, and died there in 1987. His body lies in a stupa at his monastery in Boudanath, Nepal.