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KYABJE Sakya Trizin Rinpoche
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Personal Background:
The present Sakya lineage holder,
Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, was born into the Dolma Phodrang family on
September 7, 1945. He was born in the Sakya palace at Tsedong, upper
Tibet. His father was Vajradhara Ngawang Kunga Rinchen, the previous
head of the Sakya Dolma Phodrang, and his mother Sonam Drölkar,
the sister of a renowned minister of the Tibetan Government. Together
they had four children, of whom only two survived childhood: the eldest
daughter Jetsun Chime Trinley, who now lives in Vancouver, Canada,
and the youngest son, the present Sakya Trizin. At
the time of the infant’s birth several auspicious signs were
observed, and many rituals were performed for his life and the increase
of his wisdom.
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Sakya Trizin Rinpoche’s parents died
when he was still very young, and subsequently the maternal aunt took
care of the two remaining children. She appointed tutors to teach
him the fundamentals of Tibetan reading and writing, memorization
and recitation, as well as chanting, music, ritual dancing, mudras
and other subjects. Also, he learned from his tutors all the rituals
and prayers of both the northern and southern traditions of the Sakya
monasteries.
From a young age he showed an extreme
intelligence, and from early onwards he received initiations, transmissions
and teachings on the most profound and complex sutric and tantric
scriptures. At the age of five he received the Common and Uncommon
LamDre, from his main guru Ngor Khangsar Dampa Dorje Chang at Ngor
Monastery. At the age of seven he passed an extensive oral examination
on the Hevajra Root Tantra at Sakya monastery. In
1951, the future Sakya Trizin Rinpoche made a pilgrimage to Lhasa.
His father was supposed to become the throne holder, but passed away
before his predecessor's demise. Therefore, at the age of six, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama designated him as the Throne Holder of the
Sakya Order. The following year a preliminary enthronement as the
Sakya Trizin Rinpoche was performed.
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At the age of eight he undertook
his first Hevajra meditation retreat at the Sakya monastery. He continued
his studies, and when eleven years old he went for another pilgrimage
to Lhasa. There, at the Potala, he received Dharma instructions from
the Dalai Lama. Then, before a large audience, he gave an extensive
explanation of the Mandala Offering, which caused his wisdom to be
proclaimed throughout Tibet.Among
other great lamas, the Sakya Trizin Rinpoche received from Vajradhara
Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö many tantric initiations and
teachings according to the Sakya tradition, as well as teachings and
initiations of the Dzogchen tradition. Later he made a pilgrimage
to India.In 1959, when fourteen,
he was formally enthroned at Sakya monastery as the 41st Sakya Trizin.
After the enthronement, during which many rituals were performed,
he was forced to leave Tibet for Darjeeling, India, due to the changed
political situation. In 1963, Sakya
Trizin Rinpoche moved to Mussoorie, in the area of Dehra Dun, and
stayed there for six years. Then he moved to Rajpur, also near Dehra
Dun, and began to re-establish the main Sakya monastery and the whole
tradition in exile. To keep up with
the hereditary tradition of the Sakya lineage, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche
is married and has two sons who are presently undergoing the traditional
extensive training.Sakya Trizin
Rinpoche has been relentlessly teaching, giving transmissions, doing
ceremonies for the exile community, promoting higher education and
extensive philosophical training, and has been traveling and turning
the Wheel of Dharma all over the world. In this way, as water is poured
from one vase into another, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche first received all
of the profound teachings of the Sakya Order and many of the teachings
and transmissions of the other lineages of Tibetan Buddhism from various
teachers, and has passed them on to his monks and followers around the world.
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