Bokar Rinpoche (1940 - 2004) was born in western Tíbet. When Rinpoche was four years old, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa recognised him as the reincarnation of the previous Bokar Tulku, Karma Sherab Ösel. He named the boy Karma Shedrup Yongdu Pel Zangpo.
Rinpoche was trained at the monastery founded by his previous incarnation. He continued his studies at Tsurphu Monastery, the main seat of the Karmapas. While still a teenager, he assumed full responsibilities for the Bokar monastic community. Then, due to the Communist oppression in Tibet, Bokar Rinpoche fled into exile at the age of 20. In India, he became a close disciple of Kalu Rinpoche.
Under Kalu Rinpoche's guidance, Bokar Rinpoche twice completed the traditional three-year retreat. Later in Mirik, India, he founded a retreat centre that is a important focus for Kalachakra practice. He was a main meditation teacher of the Kagyu tradition. In all, he spent more than 19 years in retreat. He was appointed by the Karmapa to be the retreat master of a new facility at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.
In 1987, Kalu Rinpoche said: "Bokar Rinpoche is extraordinary; perfectly made. Naropa prophesised to Marpa, that in the lineage succession, each direct disciple of the lineage would be superior to the master. In the same way, Bokar Rinpoche will be my successor and will be greater than me."
|
