Rizong Rinpoche: Eight Verses of Enlightenment

Born in Ladakh in the early 1930s, Kyabje Rizong Rinpoche was
recognized and enthroned as a child as the reincarnation of
the founder of the illustrious Rizong Hermitage.

In the mid-1940s Rinpoche joined Drepung Loseling Monastery in
Lhasa for his higher training, remaining until the Chinese
takeover of Tibet in 1959. He then joined His Holiness the
Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile community in India. He was
appointed by His Holiness as Abbot both of Gyumed Tantric
Monastery and of Drepung Loseling, two of the greatest seats
of Tibetan spiritual knowledge. At present Rinpoche carries
the title Jangtse Choje, or Dharma Master of the Northern
Peak, one of the three highest spiritual positions in the
Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Rinpoche has made the practice of meditation his principal
focus in life, and has conducted numerous extensive retreats,
including a three-year tantric retreat on the Yamantaka
mandala in a remote hermitage in Ladakh. Through his
achievements in practice and scholarship, he represents the
pinnacle of the Sutra and Tantra traditions.

Rinpoche is renowned for his Tantric powers, and is frequently
called upon by H.H. the Dalai Lama to lead ceremonies for
healing and other similar purposes.

TPB