Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Rinpoche was born in Tibet, and raised as a son by a famous Tibetan spiritual masters, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. After Jamyang Khyentse passed away, He continued to study with Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and many other masters. He went to university in Delhi and Cambridge, and began to teach in the West in 1974. Rinpoche is the founder and Spiritual Director, along with H.E. Dzogchen Rinpoche , of RIGPA, (why do all these Tibetans start their own organisayions? there seems a remarkable lack of ability to co-operate under one organisation) an international network of centers and groups that follow his teachings.

He has lived and taught in the West for more than twenty years and travels widely in Europe, North America, Australia and parts of Asia, leading retreats and trainings based on his book, which offer spiritual care for the living and the dying.

He has had remarkable success with 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying', of which over 900,000 copies in 25 languages have been published worldwide. He has had a co-starrring role in the Hollywood move "Little Buddha" which tells a romanticised story of the "discovery" of a "reincarnated Rinpoche" in the US. He played the genial, "Friar Tuck" role as befits a man of his physique. He was considered by many as having a special role to play in the future of Buddhism, both in the West and in the East.

That is until he was a victim of the Buddhist "outings" of the 1990's when some of his former female devotees told of his sexual and alcohol abuses. He has attempted to ride these out with legal settlements yet RIGPA still has centers all over the Western world. I suspect that many more of his devotees see movies than read "Tricyle" or other serious Buddhist publications.