His name of birth is Jigme Losel Wanpo. His Eminence the 7th Dzogchen Rinpoche, Jigme Losel Wangpo, is one of the highest lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is the head of Dzogchen Monastery, one of the six major Nyingma monasteries, and the authentic holder of the Dzogchen lineage, the renowned Great Perfection or Great Completion teachings. With his totally natural, relaxed dignity, His Eminence is the embodiment of Dzogpachenpo, the fully awakened mind.
His Eminence was born in Sikkim in 1964 and recognised at an early age as the 7th Dzogchen Rinpoche by His Holiness the 4th Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Thupten Trinley Palzang. This was confirmed straightaway by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Significantly, there was a very close link between the 1st Dzogchen Rinpoche and the 5th Dalai Lama. This close connection has been maintained to this day.
I feel fortunate that i’ve meet this great teacher from Tibet, now 2,5 years ago. I was going through a difficult phase in my life in which i had just come to terms with a traumatic life event in the past. I had a hard time controlling my emotions and could hardly deal with the stress which came with it. But amidst all of this i saw a poster announcing a lecture from this famous Tibetan lama. And as i came into contact with one of the local Sangha’s of Rinpoche, i got the opportunity to practice myself. It was weird at first, because i had no background in any religion practice in the past. So i really had to get used to the rituals and see beyond the symbolism, to grasp the true meaning of the rituals. It didn’t make sense to my western oriented mind to chant mantras. But it did have its results. These little encouragements helped me to integrate the lectures more and more and bring them into practice. My life started to settle more and more and i became less affected by all the emotional upheaval which had haunted me for months.
And so now i am part of an international Sangha, supported by a gifted and kind teacher. I could never grasp what i was searching for in the past. Religious and spiritual books had been my helpers for years when i was studying at the university. But i continued to reach for new teachings, new teachers and new books. My mind was never fully satisfied or pleased with what it could find in ancient and modern wisdom text. But when on a retreat last year, i could feel the real meaning living and breathing behind the texts. Here, right in front of my camera – as i was asked to photograph the retreat, which felt like a true honor – sat a realized master, smiling and teaching. No ordinary being and yet he lets you feel close as a friend. That first morning session the first day of the retreat.. wow.. I was afraid to take pictures, and yet i could not resist taking pictures of my teacher. So in the end, after what lasted for 1 hour and 20 minutes but felt like a blissful day-long gift, i had only taken pictures of the teacher. And i was overwhelmed with it all. Something had pierced through all my thick layers of defense and showed me who i truly was. Blissful clarification, moment after moment and yet continuous.
All i was searching for, was a teacher, a genuine one who had crossed the ocean of suffering and had reached the other shore safely. I could never fully live with the idea of God, though i must admit that i do feel attracted to the idea sometimes. But due to personal experiences, i know that what i see and view as outside, is more like an outside-inside. All is interdependent, so this outer world is not so alien as it seems. It operates by the same laws as i operate. And so in Dzogchen Rinpoche i found the teacher i was looking for; one who could explain some of my life experiences and who could help me to take my first few baby steps on the path towards enlightenment. For that i am thankful. After the retreat i experienced compassion and love and respect for my teacher. This was something i have never felt before for any other being, not with this intensity and clarity. From that day i looked differently upon my parents. I see them more as human now, and less like the gods they used to be for me. And so i stepped up and join them on the human level. And so this journey so far has made me realize that for me it´s all about growing up and integrating the past into the present. By bringing into presence old traumatized parts in my system, i become more conscious of how my mind works and how something which had helped me to survive in the past, turned into a blockage. It soften the grip my inner judge had on me and i can now be more peaceful and loving and compassionate to myself.
Dzogchen is a very practical way of dealing with life. It is at the same time alien and familiar to me. Alien, because everything i was taught could not prepare me for what i would encounter; Familiar, because it feels like coming home again to the original ground of being, which had been so familiar when i was younger.
For those of you who are interested in Dzogchen Rinpoche, i can tell you that His Eminence will visit Europe this spring and summer. For a full program, check out this website:
http://www.dzogchen.org.in/international-programme
Exploring Life 