Gehlek Rimpoche

Born in Lhasa, Tibet, Gehlek Rimpoche was recognized as an incarnate lama at the age of four. Carefully tutored by Tibet’s greatest living masters, he received specialized individual teaching at Drepung Monastery, Tibet’s largest monastery. Rimpoche attained the Geshe Lharampa (the highest scholastic degree, normally requiring twenty-five years) in just ten years of study.

In 1959, Gehlek Rimpoche was among those forced into exile, fleeing the Communist Chinese who had occupied Tibet since 1951. While in India, Rimpoche, a member of a group of sixteen monks, was chosen to continue specific studies with the great masters who had escaped Tibet, including the Dalai Lama’s personal tutors.

At the age of twenty-five, Rimpoche gave up monastic life, allowing him to better serve the lay community of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners. In the mid-70’s, Gehlek Rimpoche was encouraged by Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche (senior and junior tutors to the Dalai Lama, respectively) to begin teaching in English. Since that time, he has gained a large following throughout the world. Coming to the U.S. in the mid-80’s, Rimpoche later moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in 1988 founded Jewel Heart, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture and Buddhism. Today Jewel Heart has chapters throughout the U.S. and in Malaysia, Singapore, and The Netherlands.

A member of the last generation of lamas to be born and fully educated in Tibet, Gehlek Rimpoche is particularly distinguished for his knowledge of English, his understanding of contemporary society, and his skill as a teacher of Buddhism in the West. He is now an American citizen.

Gehlek Rimpoche published his first book, Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation, in September 2001 (Riverhead/Putnam). It has since been published in paperback.

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