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His Eminence the 8th Chokyong Palga Rinpoche (born 1984) is a philosopher and a tulku of the Drukpa (Dragon) lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche was born amid various miraculous and auspicious omens, such as multiple rainbows with light drizzle on a clear day, and being completely covered in amniotic membrane (caul), with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck multiple times, like a white silk scarf (considered a very auspicious symbol by the people of Himalayan kingdoms).

Lineage
Due to the destruction of sacred texts and biographies during the cultural revolution in 1959, not much is known about the previous incarnations, except that they were all highly realised Mahamudra masters and performed astonishing miracles. The first Chokyong Palga was originally the head cook of the monastery! But once, he and his party on horseback were faced with a raging, flooded river upon their return from a distant town. The rest of the party gave up attempting to cross and left to look for a bridge. But Chokyong, on his horse, flew across the river and landed on the roof of the main temple! Although he later flew down, he left his horse on the roof; the villagers and monks were able to bring the horse down afterward, but only with much effort. His Eminence Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, the head guru of Zigar monastery, then recognised Chokyong as a reincarnation of a bodhisattva and enthroned him as the 1st Chokyong Palga. Thus began the unbroken succession of the realised master Chokyong Palga of the glorious Dragon lineage.

The 7th Chokyong Palga was a very well known and highly realised master, who was eventually assassinated by the invading Chinese troops in or around the year 1959. He had resisted the invasion along with the 8th Zigar Choktrul, the great Zigar Lhamchok Dorjey, and other tulkus and monks of the monastery for several weeks, but after Zigar Lhamchok Dorjey was assassinated, the others all dispersed and attempted to escape to India. While the 7th Chokyong Palga was fleeing with a small party, the Chinese caught up with them and started firing. Chokyong, in an act of utter selflessness, shielded the others and was shot several times. Realising that his karma within Tibet was ending, Chokyong gave his mala and a few other personal belongings to the other members of his party, removed his upper robes and hung them on a nearby bush, and awaited the Chinese troops while seated in a varja position. The Chinese stabbed, tortured, and eventually killed him, while the other members of his group looked on helplessly from a distance. Although Chokyong died in an unsuccessful attempt to seek refuge in India, the people who had been with him did escape and lived to tell the tale of a bodhisattva. Some of these same people are still alive and living in Bir, a refugee village in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, as well as in other parts of India.



Early life
The present Chokyong Palga Rinpoche was born in a small village in Ladakh, a former Himalayan Kingdom that is now a present-day district in the northernmost state of India, Jammu and Kashmir. At the age of only two, Rinpoche was recognised in Ladakh by His Holiness the great Gyalwang Drukpa, the head of the Drukpa lineage, as the reincarnation of the Chokyong Palga line of tulkus. This line of tulkus belongs to the Zigar monastery in Kham, eastern Tibet. This recognition occurred when His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa summoned Rinpoche's parents during a grand empowerment and instructed them to look after the boy, whom he said was a special being. He later described the present Chokyong Palga Rinpoche as a pillar of the glorious Dragon lineage, prophesying that he would benefit a myriad of beings during his lifetime.

There were numerous accounts of miraculous events during the present Chokyong Palga Rinpoche’s early childhood days. Once when he was terribly ill, his mother, Mayum Rinchen Angmo, took him to visit another Rinpoche for blessings. Upon meeting them, the other Rinpoche smiled and said that he had had a dream the previous night in which he was told that a special being would visit him the next day! Both Rinpoches were very happy and Chokyong was cured immediately. Rinpoche’s family tells another story. When Rinpoche was around 6, he was playing in a field with a cousin, chasing a bee. The bee flew away; Rinpoche went after it without his cousin. He chased the bee until it vanished into a small crack in a wall. Rinpoche stuck his finger into the crack. A swarm of hundreds of bees instantly emerged and stung him all over his head! Chokyong ran home; alarmed by her son’s condition, Mayum Rinchen Angmo immediately took him to a doctor who, after thoroughly examining him, said he won't survive the night. Heartbroken, with Rinpoche on her back with his head swollen to three times its normal size, Mayum took him home. She wept the whole night with Rinpoche lying at her side, but when she checked him in the morning, he was not only completely cured, but also smiling and running around. There have been many other such instances, which were beyond the comprehension of those who witnessed them. Even today, Rinpoche's relatives tell many stories of amazing deeds, performed before he was even enthroned.

In 1992 at the young age of eight, during the auspicious year of the monkey (Chinese astrology), when H.H. the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa gave the Six Ornaments of Naropa, the holiest of empowerments, a search party of monks and laymen came from Himachal Pradesh to examine the young Rinpoche. They had come to ascertain that he was truly the reincarnation of the previous Chokyong Palga Rinpoches; their preparations were made in secret. Just before their arrival, however, Rinpoche asked his mother Mayum to make tea for visitors who were coming from a distant land.

Shortly after Rinpoche’s request, the search party in fact arrived; they examined the young boy according to various traditional tests, all of which he passed. The most impressive signs of Rinpoche’s reincarnation for the search party were a number of marks on his body, identical in location to the bayonet stab wounds that the previous Chokyong had received at the hands of the Chinese troops just before being killed. Even to this day, Rinpoche has these marks, the biggest one being on his left shin. H.H. the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa visited shortly after the search party and officially recognised the young boy as the reincarnated Chokyong Palga Rinpoche. A few days later, the boy was enthroned just outside his house, among a gathering of about 1008 people,.

A week later, Rinpoche and his party left for Zigar Labrang in Chauntra, Himachal Pradesh. The journey took three days. Upon his arrival, Rinpoche started his preliminary studies. After almost a year in Chauntra, he moved to the holy caves of Guru Padmasambhava, just above the holy lake in Tsopema (Rewalsar), Himachal Pradesh, where the main Zigar Monastery outside Tibet is situated. Rinpoche spent another year in the mountains there continuing his studies. Then he moved from the caves into his newly built room in Zigar Monastery, which would become his main seat.

Education and studies
Rinpoche spent the first, second, and third grade at the private Ladakhi Lamdon Model School, then attended fourth grade at Tibetan Children's Village, a school founded by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama. Though very naughty and energetic, Rinpoche was very intelligent and kind-hearted. He didn’t study much but remembered everything once he did. Despite studying very little, he always placed at the top of his class on annual exams. After he was enthroned, Rinpoche completed his preliminary Buddhist studies in subjects including Tibetan reading and calligraphy, memorising scriptural texts, lama dancing, and rituals. In addition, he taught himself a great deal about subjects not covered by the monastery curriculum but in which he felt a keen interest. These included Western culture, English language and literature, science and technology in general, and specifically computers and astronomy. He also taught himself Hindi, thangka drawing, and various other subjects during his early days in the monastery, achieving a level of excellence that astonished even experts in those fields.

In the year 2000, by then a curious and energetic teenager, Rinpoche wished to pursue advanced Buddhist studies. In particular he wanted to learn more about the vast and profound Buddhist philosophy. After getting permission to do this from H.E. Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, he left for Dzongsar Institute (in present day Deer Park in Bir, India) and studied philosophy till 2004. During the four years Rinpoche was at the Institute, however, he spent his time and energy mainly on sports and other activities. He was known as the most mischievous person at the school during that period, not only out of the other young tulkus but overall among the 400-odd students. He had a very independent and carefree nature, while being also quite generous and ready to help anyone in need. This remains true to the present day.

Visits to the West
Rinpoche left for England in November 2004 and spent about a year-and-a-half there, joining a college, studying Western culture, living with lay friends and learning about life outside the monastery. This enabled him to understand the real-life pains and sorrows of others, unseen in a monastery. It invoked a profound change in his view towards life, suffering, the need for realisation, and the pursuit of truth, all central topics in Buddhist philosophy. By his return to India in mid-2006, he had grown from a naive and energetic teenager to a much wiser young man. He immediately engaged himself in various dharmic activities; receiving months of empowerments from H.E. the great 12th 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche in Sherabling, the entire oral transmission of the Buddhist canon from H.E. the great Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in Chauntra, and various empowerments and teachings from H.H. Drikung Kyabgon Rinpoche.

In June 2007, Chokyong was invited to stay for a couple of months by a family in Halifax, Canada, who were members of Shambhala and students of the late H.E. the great Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Chokyong did not teach formally there. His secret agenda was to learn more about North American culture, which he found to be different from the European culture he had experienced in England. He met numerous noble and kind-hearted people, most of them members of the Shambhala community. When he returned to India, he was richer in both experience and knowledge.

Retreat
After returning to India, Rinpoche immediately started planning a decade-long stay in his root monastery, Zigar Monastery, in Kham, eastern Tibet. But due to border restrictions and the political situation there, especially the March 2008 uprising in Lhasa, Chokyong had no choice but to change his plan and to look for an alternate place for retreat. He then chose his homeland, Ladakh. However, when he visited there in March for a month, he had to change his mind once again, mainly due to the absence of a good meditation master and a retreat centre. After consulting H.E. Zigar Choktrul Rinpoche, Rinpoche eventually decided to do his retreat in Darjeeling, West Bengal, where there is a small Zigar Monastery. He spent a year-and-a-half practicing Mahamudra there with an accomplished elderly retreat master in the small retreat centre situated just a hundred yards above the monastery.

Currently, Rinpoche is accepting teaching invitations around the world. For updates about Rinpoche you can visit his personal blog at www.chokyong.wordpress.com, where he shares his thoughts and current activities. For requests regarding invitations and his teaching schedule, you can email at ChokyongOffice@gmail.com.