Pema Tönyö Nyinje

Pema Tönyö Nyinje (1995)

Life

When His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa was in Beijing to discuss the affairs of Tibet, he had a vision of Mahakala concerning Kenting Tai Situpa's rebirth. There, the Gyalwa Karmapa wrote the prediction letter for the discovery of the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa Pema Donyo Nyinje Wangpo. The Gyalwa Karmapa accurately foretold the signs surrounding Kenting Tai Situpa's birth and dwelling. Likewise, the 11th Kenting Tai Situpa Pema Wangchog described the circumstances of his next incarnation before passing away. A search party discovered the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa quickly.

The 12th Kenting Tai Situpa, Pema Donyo Nyingche Wangpo, was born in the male wood-horse year (1954) in the village of Palmey of Palyul section of the Derge province.

On the day of his birth, the entire region witnessed two solar orbs illuminating the sky. The details of his birth were completely in accordance with the prediction of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa.

Pema Tönyö Nyinje Wangpo was born in a farming family named The Liyultsang in the Palyul district of Derge, in the East of Tibet and enthroned at the age of 18 months by the 16th Karmapa.

At the age of 5 he was brought to Tsurphu.For the first time, Kenting Tai Situpa assisted by 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche performed the ceremony of the Red Vajra Crown at the chamber of His Holiness 16th Karmapa.

At the age of six he left Tibet for Bhutan, where King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk had been a disciple of the 11th Tai Situpa. Later he was cared for at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India where he received his formal religious training from the 16th Karmapa.

The 16th Karmapa had himself been raised under the guidance of the 11th Tai Situpa. Indeed this alternation between teacher and disciple has served as a mechanism for the unbroken continuity within the Kagyu tradition. As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche wrote in his book Born in Tibet: “Tai Situ Rinpoche, who was second in importance in the Karma Kagyu school, had died some years before and no reincarnation had been found. The Karmapa could now tell them where the incarnation had taken place. Everyone rejoiced and started immediately to make the preparations."

In 1974, at the age of 21, he went to Ladakh with the invitation from late Druppon Dechen Rinpoche and stayed there for one year to turn the wheel of Dharma. In 1975, at the age of 22, he assumed his traditional responsibilities by founding the monastic project, Sherab Ling, at the request of his Tibetan followers who had settled in Bir, northern India. In 2000, relics of the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche were enthroned in a separate temple.

As a Buddhist teacher, Tai Situ Rinpoche traveled widely making his first visit to the West in 1981 to Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, and he visited the United States in 1982. Since then, Rinpoche has extensively traveled North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. These teachings have so far been published in 9 books. In 1989 the Rinpoche went on pilgrimage for World Peace.

Way to go. Sowing the Seed of Buddha. 1985
Tilopa: Some Glimpses of His Life (1989)
Relative World, Ultimate Mind (1992)
Awakening the Sleeping Buddha (1996)
Mahamudra Teachings (2002)
Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra (2002) with the third Karmapa
Ground, Path and Fruition (2005)
Praises and Prostrations to the Twenty-one Taras. Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Trust, 2009
Nectar of Dharma: The Sacred Advice. Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Trust, 2008