Our founding teacher, the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, was born in 1933 in Kham, Eastern Tibet. At the age of five he was recognized as the ninth in a succession of Thrangu Rinpoches. Enthroned at Thrangu Monastery, he received a traditional monastic education in the great texts of Buddhist philosophy. At twenty-three he received full monastic ordination as well as bodhisattva vows and tantric vows from His Holiness Karmapa.

In 1959, Rinpoche and a group from Thrangu Monastery fled Tibet and made their way to India. He spent several years at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, teaching philosophy to the young monks and receiving many empowerments, transmissions, and teachings. In 1967, he took the examinations for the Geshe degree in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and 1,500 monks of different sects and was awarded the highest degree, Geshe Lharampa. Subsequently, the 16 th Gyalwang Karmapa gave him the title of Khenchen, or Great Abbot. Thrangu Rinpoche became the highest scholar of the Kagyu school, responsible for the education of the highest tulkus of the Kagyu lineage.

In 1976, Rinpoche went to Nepal, where he established Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery in Namo Buddha, which eventually grew to include a large temple, a three-year retreat, a monastic college, and a school for young monks. Rinpoche also established the Thrangu Tara Abbey for nuns in Kathmandu, Nepal; the Vajra Vidya Institute monastic college in Sarnath, India; and Shri Mangal Dvip School, a boarding school in Kathmandu, Nepal, providing a modern education for lay Himalayan children as well as young monks and nuns.

For decades Thrangu Rinpoche traveled extensively to teach lay disciples and establish dharma centers across Asia, Europe, and North America. He first taught in Portland in 1996, then founded Vajra Vidya Portland the next year, and returned to Maine annually to lead meditation retreats until 2006. Rinpoche was renowned for his vast compassionate activity and for his ability to make complex teachings accessible to Western students.

Although Thrangu Rinpoche passed away in 2023, his activity is perpetuated throughout the world as his disciples continue to study, practice, and propagate the enormous body of teachings he left behind.

A more detailed biography of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is available on his website:
https://rinpoche.com/a-short-biography/