page_title: Jigdal Dagchen Sakya
section_title: A Non-Sectarian Seattle Lama
hierarchical_section_title: Jigdal Dagchen Sakya / Life / A Non-Sectarian Seattle Lama
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the Sakya Monastery, 108 NW 83rd Street, Seattle, USA.
context_page_description: Jigdal Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche was a Tibetan Buddhist teacher educated in the Sakya sect. He was educated to be the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the successor to the throne of Sakya, the third most important political position in Tibet in early times. Dagchen Rinpoche was in the twenty-sixth generation of the Sakya-Khön lineage descended from Khön Könchok Gyalpo and was regarded as an embodiment of Manjushri as well as the rebirth of a Sakya Lama from the Ngor sub-school, Ewam Luding Khenchen Gyase Chökyi Nyima.
  Dagchen is a title meaning “Lineage Holder.” Among his followers he was known as Dagchen Rinpoche, or simply as Rinpoche. His formal title of “His Holiness” indicates the high degree of esteem with which the Tibetan Buddhist community holds him.
  He immigrated in 1960 to the United States with his family, one of the first groups Tibetans-in-exile in North America. He is the first Head of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism to live in the United States. From the Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism in Seattle, Washington, and its precursor, he taught and preserved Tibetan culture and religion.
context_section_description: In 1974 Dagchen Rinpoche co-founded, with Dezhung Rinpoche III, his wife’s uncle, the original Sakya Dharma Center in Seattle called Sakya Tegchen Choling. In 1984, the group adopted the name of Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.
  For the purpose of the preservation of Tibetan culture and religion, Dagchen Rinpoche oversaw the religious activities and administration of the Monastery from its inception. His spiritual leadership took various forms: leading meditations, giving teachings and empowerments (spiritual initiations), conducting refuge ceremonies in which people formally become Buddhists, and holding special services upon request. When the Monastery was completed, Dagchen Rinpoche placed greater emphasis on education. The Virupa Educational Institute is devoted to the study of Tibetan Buddhism,
  Buddhism in general, religions, cultures, and sciences from around the world. Non-sectarianism and education were major components of Rinpoche’s teaching, in keeping with the beliefs of his root lamas. Sakya Monastery in Seattle has hosted visits from leading lamas of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Dalai Lama. Dagchen Rinpoche’s interest in ecumenism stemmed from his training as a non-sectarian master, and from his experience as an immigrant who went to the United States seeking religious freedom. Like the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Rinpoche encouraged inter-religious and interdisciplinary meetings and encounters for Tibetan Buddhists. He regularly travelled to teach in Asia, Europe, Canada, and throughout the United States.
caption: Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, Seattle
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