Gelek Rimpoche

Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche (Tibetan: སྐྱབས་རྗེ་དགེ་ལེགས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།, Wylie: skyabs rje dge legs rin po che/) is a Tibetan Buddhist lama who was born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1939. His personal name is Gelek; kyabje and rimpoche are titles meaning "teacher" (lit., "lord of refuge") and "precious," respectively. He is a tulku, an incarnate lama, of Drepung Monastic University, where he received the scholastic degree of Geshe Lharampa, the highest degree given, at an exceptionally young age.

Gelek is a nephew of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He was tutored by many of the same masters who tutored the current (14th) Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

In 1959, Gelek fled to India from Tibet and gave up monastic life. He was one of the first students of the Young Lamas Home School. He is the founder and president of Jewel Heart, "a spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian organization that translates the ancient wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism into contemporary life."

Beat-poet Allen Ginsberg was among the more prominent of Jewel Heart's members. Ginsberg met with Gelek Rinpoche through the modern composer Philip Glass in 1989. Allen and Philip jointly staged benefits for the Jewel Heart organization.

Bibliography

• Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation, Riverhead Books, 2001, ISBN 1-57322-196-1
• The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing From the Female Buddha (with Brenda Rosen), New World Library, 2004, ISBN 1-57731-461-1

External links

• Biography of Gelek Rimpoche, from Jewel Heart
• "An Audience With Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche". Official Website of His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
• "The Four Noble Truths: Online Retreat with Gelek Rimpoche". Tricycle Magazine. Retrieved 2013-08-18.