Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (pronounced Yon-gay) (b. 1975) is a teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He has authored two best-selling books and oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, a global network of Buddhist meditation centers.
Background
Mingyur Rinpoche was born in Nepal in 1975 the youngest of six brothers. From the age of nine, his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, taught him meditation, passing on to him the most essential instructions of the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions.
At the age of eleven, Mingyur Rinpoche began studies at Sherab Ling Monastery in Northern India, the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche. Two years later, Mingyur Rinpoche began a traditional three year retreat at Sherab Ling. At age twenty, Mingyur Rinpoche became the functioning abbot of Sherab Ling. At twenty-three, he received full monastic ordination. During this time Mingyur Rinpoche received important Dzogchen transmissions from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
In 2007 Rinpoche completed the construction of Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, India, which will serve large numbers of people attending Buddhist events at this sacred pilgrimage site, serve as an annual site for month-long Karma Kagyu scholastic debates, and serve as an international study institute for the Sangha and laity. The institute will also have a medical clinic for local people.
In June, 2011, Mingyur Rinpoche left his monastery in Bodhgaya to begin a three years of retreat. Instead of staying in isolation, as he did in his early years of retreat, for this period he will be wandering from place to place without any fixed plans or agenda. Rinpoche left a farewell letter before leaving his monastery.
Books
- The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness, Harmony Books
- Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom, Harmony Books
- Ziji: The Puppy Who Learned to Meditate
