Brief Biography of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin
His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin is the supreme head of the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism. He has received and mastered the most profound, broad and thorough teachings that can be traced in an unbroken lineage right back to the Lord Buddha himself. His Holiness is the most senior member of the Dolma Royal House of the Khön family, which has a long and esteemed history from the pre–Buddhist times of Tibet. Many famous masters have appeared in this royal lineage including Sakya Pandita and Chogyal Phakpa, who ruled Tibet under the patronage of Mongolian Khans. As prophesized by the famous Indian sage Atisha, His Holiness’s ancestor, Könchog Gyalpo, founded the first Sakya monastery in 1073 CE in Upper Tibet.
His Holiness was born in Tibet in 1945 after the famed Tsarpa Nalendra Lama, Khenpo Ngawang Lodroe Rinpoche, performed special rites to facilitate his birth. When His Holiness was born, there were many auspicious signs and the sky was filled with extraordinary rainbows. The great spiritual master and abbot of the time, Zhenphen Nyingpo, is reported as saying, ‘Now the future of the doctrine of the Sakya Order is well assured. I am an old monk but now, when I die, I shall have no regrets.’
In his childhood both his parents died, and His Holiness was raised by his maternal aunt, who guided his early training in all the unique teachings of the Sakya tradition. His Holiness studied extensively and received teachings and important initiations in his early life from his father Vajradara Ngawang Kunga Rinchin and from Zhenphen Nyingpo, and other great masters. Even though still very young, he also performed many duties as the head of the Khön family tradition.
When he was 14, in 1959, before an audience of more that 1,000 monks and nuns, His Holiness was enthroned as the head of the Sakya tradition and became formally known as His Holiness the Sakya Trizin. Later that year, due to increasing hostility from the Chinese communists, His Holiness and entourage escaped from Tibet and settled in India.
In exile, His Holiness continued to receive extensive teachings on Buddhist philosophy under the tutelage of the Most Venerable Khenchen Appey Rinpoche and the late Khenpo Rinchen. His Holiness received the complete Collection of Tantras (Gyude Kuntu) and Lamdre Lobshe from His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche in the early 1970s. He also founded Sakya Centre in Rajpur and Sakya Settlement in Puruwala in the 1960s. Sakya College and Sakya Institute were founded in 1970s, and the only Sakya nunnery in exile was formed in the 1990s.
In 2003, His Holiness founded and inaugurated Sakya Kunchab Ling, his seat in the North America. When he is not teaching, His Holiness lives at Sakya Dolma Phodrang in India with his consort and their two sons, Ratna Vajra and Gyana Vajra and their families.
His Holiness has worked ceaselessly for the preservation of Sakya’s rich and profound heritage. In addition to these weighty responsibilities, he has undertaken major and minor retreats, given numerous initiations, written many important texts and given the vast Lam Dre teachings at least 11 times. As well as teaching in Tibet and India, His Holiness has visited and taught in countries all over the world. His Holiness has visited Australia three times and given Lamdre Tshogshe, Lamdre Lobshe, Vajrayogini teachings and the Thirteen Golden Dharmas. During His first visit to Australia in 1988, His Holiness blessed the forming of Sakya Losal Choe Dzong in Canberra and conducted a Lamdre Lineage Guru Puja. During His last visit in 2003, His Holiness blessed Jamchen Buddhist Centre in Balwyn, Melbourne. Now there are many Sakya centres around Australia supported by His Holiness, including Jamchen Buddhist Centre and Sakya Choekhor Lhunpo in Melbourne.
His Holiness is an unsurpassed and profound teacher, able to explain and communicate complex teachings in fluent English and in ways that can easily be understood by students of all levels of experience. We are fortunate indeed to be blessed with his presence in the world during such difficult times.
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