Palden Sherab


Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche , called Khen Rinpoche, is a teacher, a scholar, a lama, and a Dzogchen master in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was considered by Penor Rinpoche to be one of the most learned Nyingma scholars alive.
Born in Tibet, Khen Rinpoche escaped the Chinese in 1960 to arrive in India where he joined other monastic leaders to collect and salvage Tibetan buddhist teachings carried by the exile community. He became the Nyingma professor at the Central University of Tibetan Studies, in 1967. As a close student of Dudjom Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche also taught in France and in the United States. Khen Rinpoche founded Padmasambava Buddhist Center in upstate New York, U.S., which grew to include centers in Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, India and Russia. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche's seat is Orgyen Samye Chokhor Ling Nunnery in India. The Yangsi Rinpoche was born in Nepal, and enthroned in India as Palden Yonten Thaye Lodro Choyki Gyaltsen.

Life

Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche was born in the village of Joephu, in the Dhoshul region of Kham, Tibet, near the sacred mountain of Jowo Zegyal. He entered monastic studies at the age of 6 years at Gochen Monastery, founded by Tsasum Lingpa. His nickname was "the Cyclone" due to his constant activities. At the age of 12, Khen Rinpoche entered Riwoche Monastery in eastern Tibet. Just prior to China's invasion, he completed his shedra education at the Taklung Kagyu monastery of Riwoche, in the Riwoche region of Kham, where he was being groomed to take over as the khenpo, or abbot, of Gochen Monastery which his family had administered for generations.
Following China's annexation of eastern Tibet, he fled with his family over the Himalayan mountains into India in the winter of 1960. They escaped from capture on three occasions. His sister Ting Ting and another sister died during the journey, as did his mother shortly after arriving in India. Khen Rinpoche's father, Lama Chimed Namgyal Rinpoche, and his brother, Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, survived. After the escape, they lived in Indian refugee camps with others fleeing the Chinese.
Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche received full ordination three years after escaping. While in exile, Dudjom Rinpoche requested that Khen Rinpoche join a year-long conference, overseen by the 14th Dalai Lama, of the four main Tibetan buddhist schools dedicated to protecting the culture and spiritual heritage of Tibet. Their focus was also recovering sacred texts missing or destroyed in the struggle with China. Khen Rinpoche salvaged thousands of texts and commentaries, and the complete cycle of teachings was recovered.
In 1967, the Central University for Tibetan Studies, which resulted from the conference, opened in Sarnath. Khen Rinpoche was for a time the only professor and administrator of the Nyingma Department, teaching up to 13 classes a day in the first years. He taught there for 17 years, writing the text from Mipham Rinpoche on a blackboard. He also taught in the Tibetan department at the Government Sanskrit College in Varanasi. In 1984, he drafted the basis for the commentary, "The Radiant Light of the Sun and Moon", published by the Central University in 1986.
Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche
first traveled to the U.S. in 1980 with his brother, Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche. In 1981, Khen Rinpoche replaced his brother as Khenpo of Dudjom Rinpoche's Dorje Nyingpo center in Paris, France, due to Khenpo Tsewang's problems with travel documents. In 1984, they followed and attended Dudjom Rinpoche in New York and then California, and taught periodically at Yeshe Nyingpo. In 1985, Khen Rinpoche founded Dharma Samudra, a non-profit publishing organization, and with his brother published 11 volumes on Tsasum Lingpa as the inaugural publication. They were referred to as "The Khenpo Brothers" by western practitioners. Khen Rinpoche wrote and published numerous texts on Tibetan history, language, poetry, grammar, Buddhist philosophy, practice, logic, as well as text and commentary on tantra.
In 1989, Padmasambhava Buddhist Center was founded, and its main retreat center and monastery is Palden Pema Samye Ling, located in Sidney Center, Delaware County, New York. PBC grew to include retreat centers and monastic institutions in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Russia, and India. Khen Rinpoche undertook large building projects at the monasteries and centers, and completed the Miracle Stupa at Padma Samye Jetavan in Shravasti. In Tibet, he also began rebuilding Gochen Monastery.
Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche passed into paranirvana on Saturday, June 19, 2010 at Palden Pema Samye Ling. His body remained there in post-death meditation until Wednesday, June 23, 2010. He was cremated on Thursday, June 24, 2010. In this life, he received recognition, honors, and appointments from Dudjom Rinpoche, the 14th Dalai Lama, head of the Nyingma school Penor Rinpoche, and other Tibetan spiritual leaders. Penor Rinpoche stated Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche was the most learned Nyingma scholar presently alive.
The Yangsi Rinpoche of Khenchen was located in Nepal, where he was born. In 2019, he was enthroned in India by Terton Namkha Drimed Rinpoche, and given the name Palden Yonten Thaye Lodro Chokyi Gyaltsen. His seat is the Orgyen Samye Chokhor Ling Nunnery in India.
Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche held full knowledge in the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools, and held transmissions in Nyingma ka-ma and terma lineages. He was particularly well known and respected for his texts and teachings on Dzogchen
.

Publications

English

PSL Shedra Texts

Spanish