| Karma Thinley Rinpoche | |
| Alias: | Lama Wangchen (bla ma dbang chen) |
| Birth Date: | 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Nangchen, Tibet |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Religion: | Tibetan Buddhism |
| School: | Kagyu, Sakya |
| Lineage: | Mahamudra, Lamdré |
| Karma Thinleypa IV | |
| Location: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Education: | Riwoche |
| Teacher: | XVIth Gyalwa Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse, Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, Ling Rinpoche |
| Reincarnation Of: | Beru Kunrik, Palkhang Lotsawa |
Karma Thinley Rinpoche ཀརྨ་འཕྲིན་ལས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ (born 1931),[1] [2] is an important master of the Kagyu[2] Mahamudra, Sakya Lamdré[2] and Chod traditions of Tibetan Buddhism active in the west and Nepal. He is also well regarded by Tibetans as a scholar, poet and artist.
Karma Thinley Rinpoche was born in Nangchen, Kham, in Qinghai[1] in 1931.[1] [2] At age two, he was recognized as a reincarnation of Beru Shaiyak Lama Kunrik.[1] [2]
Throughout the 1950s, Rinpoche made pilgrimages to Radeng, Samye, Sakya and Lhasa.[2] Eventually, he settled for a period at Tsurphu Monastery,[2] traditional seat of the Karmapa. The 16th Karmapa recognized Rinpoche as a tulku of Karma Thinleypa.[2]
Karma Thinley Rinpoche left Tibet for India in 1959[1] and during the 1960s was abbot of the Young Lamas Home School[1] and Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling nunnery[2] both founded by Freda Bedi in Dalhousie, HP. There he was one of the first Tibetan refugee Lamas to teach western students. In 1971 he accompanied a group of Tibetan refugees resettled in Ontario, Canada as their Lama[2] and in 1973 established a Buddhist center, Kampo Gangra Drubgyud Ling meditation centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2]
In 1982, Karma Tinley Rinpoche was able to visit his homeland Nangchen for the first time since leaving a quarter of a century earlier.[1] Returning several times since then he has established a temple in Shorda, capital of Nangchen District and a school for nomad children in the Sangshung valley.
In 1988, he also established a nunnery, Tekchen Lekshay Ling, at Boudhanath Nepal and subsequently a small meditation retreat center at Pharping.
His students include Lama Jampa Thaye, a British Buddhist teacher who is Karma Thinley Rinpoche's dharma-regent and founded the Dechen sangha,[3] and the Nepalese Lama, Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana