Venerable Ribur Rinpoche

Reincarnation of Ribur Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with the incarnation of Ribur Rinpoche, Sera Je Monastery, India, Jan 2014. Photo by Ven Roger Kunsang

 The incarnation of Ribur Rinpoche – whose personal name is Tenzin Pasang Rinpoche – is already living and studying at Sera Mey Monastery.  He was recognized as the incarnation of Ribur Rinpoche by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and was initially enthroned as the incarnation in Bodhgaya in 2010 by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Woser Rinpoche, and formally enthroned at Sera Mey Monastery in May 2013.  

The young incarnation when he was only six years old (see photo below) noted that His Holiness the Dalai Lama had given him the advice: “Study hard and you can become like the previous Rinpoche.” 

Ven. Ribur Rinpoche. Photo by Mark Gatter

At the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, Ribur Rinpoche spent more than 10 years in Chinese labor camps and was given a job with the Religious Affairs Office in Tibet. On one of his trips to China, he worked with the Panchen Lama and recovered holy objects – including the famous Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Ramoche temple – that had been dismantled and shipped to China. He also re-established the destroyed stupa of Lama Tsongkhapa, which contained some of Lama Tsongkhapa’s bodily relics.

Since his exile to India in 1985, Ribur Rinpoche wrote numerous biographies of great lamas such as the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and an extensive history of Tibet, which includes his autobiography. Ribur Rinpoche spent many years living in northern California where he gave teachings and led retreats, before returning to India, where he passed away in 2006.