Sogyal Rinpoche

**Sogyal Rinpoche** (1947 – 28 August 2019) was a Tibetan Dzogchen Lama of the Nyingma tradition. He taught for over 30 years. He travelled widely in Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

He was the founder and spiritual leader of Rigpa, which is an international network of over 100 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world. He is also the author of the best-selling book _The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying_, which has been printed in 30 languages and 56 countries.

Rinpoche often spoke at major conferences in all areas of society, including medicine and healing, education,  dialogue between religions, movements for peace and non-violence, the world of business and leadership, and the field of serving the dying and hospice care.

## Early life

Sogyal Rinpoche was born in 1947 in the region of Kham in Eastern Tibet. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö says that he is the reincarnation of Tertön Sogyal, a teacher to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. Jamyang Khyentse raised him as a son and made sure he got good training.

When things got bad in Kham, Khyentse Rinpoche and his young student went to Central Tibet and Lhasa. In 1955, they met Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. They then went to India. They settled in Gangtok at the invitation of the king of Sikkim.

## Education

Rinpoche went to Catholic School in Kalimpong.  Then he went to study at a university in Delhi before coming to the West. In 1971, he was granted a place to study comparative religion at Trinity College, Cambridge  as a visiting scholar. He continued to study with many masters of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, especially His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

## Controversy

In 1994, a $10 million civil lawsuit was filed against Sogyal Rinpoche. It was alleged that he had used his position as a spiritual leader to induce one of his female students to have sexual relations with him. The complaint included accusations of infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, as well as assault and battery. The lawsuit was settled out of court. Related allegations were later introduced by journalist Mary Finnigan, who was also the main author of the original article in 1995.

## Teaching career

Rinpoche soon began teaching in Paris. He often translated for His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. He also went with Dudjom Rinpoche to the United States in 1976.

In the summer of 1977, he started a centre in London, which he called Dzogchen Orgyen Chöling. Many great masters taught there: Dudjom Rinpoche, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Gyalwang Karmapa, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and others.

In 1979, Sogyal Rinpoche chose the name Rigpa for his work. It means "the innermost, essential nature of mind". Rigpa soon set up a schedule of teaching events, referred to as retreats, with Sogyal Rinpoche and other teachers, with teachings in France every summer, California at Thanksgiving, Germany in Winter, followed by Myall Lakes in Australia, and then England at Easter. The first winter event at Kirchheim in Germany was in December 1986, retreats in Tiona Park in Australia began in 1989, and the first Thanksgiving retreat in the US was in Oakland in 1988.

In 1987, Rinpoche became spiritual director of the centre in County Cork in the west of Ireland which was to become Dzogchen Beara, Rigpa’s first long-term retreat centre. In 1991, Sogyal Rinpoche opened the retreat centre of Lerab Ling near Montpellier in southern France. The first three-month retreat was held there in 1992. A centre in Berlin named Dharma Mati was opened in October 2007.

## Abuse allegations

In 2017, a letter revealed that Rinpoche had physically and sexually abused many of his students dating back to the 1990s.

## Death

Rinpoche died of a pulmonary embolism caused by colorectal cancer on 28 August 2019 at a hospital in Thailand at the age of 72.

### Books

- Sogyal Rinpoche, _The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying_,
- Sogyal Rinpoche, _Dzogchen and Padmasambhava_, Rigpa Publications, 1990,
- Sogyal Rinpoche, _Glimpse After Glimpse_,
- Sogyal Rinpoche, _The Future of Buddhism_, Rider & Co, 2002,

### Articles and contributions

- _Himalaya: Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge and Hope_, National Geographic Books, 2006
- Jonathon Cott, _On the Sea of Memory: A Journey from Forgetting to Remembering_, Random House, 2005,
- Reginald A. Ray (ed.), _The Pocket Tibetan Buddhist Reader_, Shambhala Publications, Boston, Mass. 2004,
- Kathryn Meeske (Author), Sandra Scales (Photographer), _Sacred Voices of the Nyingma Masters_, Padma Publishing, California, 2004,
- Charles A. Tart, _Living a Mindful Life, A Handbook for Living in the Present Moment_, Shambhala Publications, Boston, Mass. 1994,

### Forewords and introductions

- _Biography of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche_ (forthcoming).
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, _Mind in Comfort and Ease_, Wisdom Publications, 2007,
- Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, _Blazing Splendor: The Memoirs of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche_, North Atlantic Books, 2005,
- Don Farber, _Portraits of Tibetan Buddhist Masters_, University of California Press 2005,
- Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje (translated by Richard Barron), _A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage (A Spiritual History of the Teachings on Natural Great Perfection)_, Padma Publications, 2005,
- Tsoknyi Rinpoche, _Fearless Simplicity: The Dzogchen Way of Living Freely in a Complex World_, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, Nepal, 2003,
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, _Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection_, Snow Lion Publications, 2000,
- Khenpo Namdrol _The Practice of Vajrakilaya_, Snow Lion Publications, 1999,
- Christine Longaker, _Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying_, Arrow Books, 1998,
- Mordicai Gerstein, _The Mountains of Tibet_, Harper Trophy, 1989,

## Related pages

- List of Chinese writers

## Other websites

- The Official Biography of Sogyal Rinpoche
- Lotsawa House Biography of Sogyal Rinpoche
- Sogyal Rinpoche - Rigpa Wiki
- Buddhist Masters and Their Organisations: Sogyal Rinpoche