Khenzur Nyima Wangyal Rinpoche

Khenzur Nyima Wangyal Rinpoche was born in 1961 in the Tibetan refugee camp of Pokhara, Nepal. His parents had fled Tibet through the Himalayas in 1959. In 1962, they moved to a new Tibetan refugee camp founded in Dhorpaten, Dhaulagiri province, western Nepal. Nyima Wangyal grew up there with her brother and sister. Her father taught her the Tibetan alphabet and reading. He died when Nyima Wangyal was eight years old. 
He was then brought up and educated in the pure Tibetan tradition by his uncle Khenpo Khyungtsün Dongrig Sönam Gyaltsen Rinpoche, who had been sent to Nepal from Menri Monastery (re-founded in India after the exile) to become the 2nd abbot of the Bön Monastery in Dhorpaten. It was the first Bön monastery to be established since the exile.

Khenpo Sönam Gyaltsen Rinpoche taught him reading and writing, prayers and rituals. He was a very serious teacher, a very good practitioner, and such a gifted calligrapher that he often received orders for copies of texts, notably the text of the preliminaries of the Atri, the twelve volumes of the Ziji (biography of Tönpa Shenrab Miwo), the Gyalwei Chagtri, the two volumes of the Gyalshen Namthar (collection of commentaries by Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche) as well as numerous ritual texts, all published in New Delhi, India. 
Many Bön masters stayed at Dhorpaten Monastery: from Menri Monastery (Tibet), the 32nd abbot Sherab Lodrö Rinpoche, Yongdzin Sangyé Tenzin Rinpoche, Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, and many great lamas of Dolpo (Nepal).

In 1976, at the request of her uncle, Nyima Wangyal received from Yongdzin Rinpoche, for the first time, the instructions and transmission (lung) of the Dzogchen teaching of Atri. In the summer, he also received from Yongdzin Rinpoche the initiation (wang) of the TRI SU during a seven-day TRI SU Drubpa ceremony prepared by Khenpo Sönam Gyaltsen Rinpoche for the people of Dhorpaten.

In 1977, Nyima Wangyal was brought by her uncle to the Menri Monastery in Dolanji (near Solan, North India). There he took monastic vows and was entrusted to Yongdzin Rinpoche to receive his teachings and become his daily assistant. 
Nyima Wangyal lived with Yongdzin Rinpoche until 1995. Yongdzin Rinpoche is her root and main spiritual master. With him he had the chance to meet the great Tibetan Bön masters. 
In 1978, Nyima Wangyal joined the new Menri dialectical school. In the same year, his mother died in Dhorpaten, Nepal.

At Menri Monastery, Nyima Wangyal received in 1979 the initiation of the complete Dzogchen cycle by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, as well as other Dzogchen initiations by Drupwang Tsöndü Rinpoche, the Khenpo of the Drupdra of Ri Tse Druk Monastery in Khyungpo (Tibet), holder of the lineage of the Shardza tradition as a disciple of the first Jalüpa Shardzi Gyaltsab Lodrö Gyatso.

In 1984, Nyima Wangyal received from His Holiness the 33rd Abbot of Menri, Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, and from His Eminence Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche all the initiations (external, internal and secret) and transmissions of all the yidams of the Bön tradition.

 

In 1986 Nyima Wangyal successfully completed her studies at the Bön Monastery in Menri under the guidance of H.H. the 33rd Abbot, H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche and Geshe Larampa Tsöndü Gongphel, and received the Geshe Diploma (Doctor of Philosophy) after several years of study of Bön philosophy and psychology.

The following summer, Yongdzin Rinpoche travelled to Tibet (for the first time since the Cultural Revolution) with Geshe Nyima Wangyal and Geshe Tenzin Wangyal, mainly to see his mother there again, and to advise the Bön lamas and monks on how best to preserve and develop the Yungdrung Bön tradition. They visited the entire Bönpo population of the three provinces of Tibet (U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo) and Rinpoche gave teachings and initiations. 
There, Nyima Wangyal met and connected with great lamas, yogis and practitioners, survivors of the Cultural Revolution.

At Luphuk Gön Monastery (in Hor, Kham), Geshe Nyima Wangyal received many rare initiations from the great practitioner Dzogchen Ragshi Togden Drimed Yungdrung Rinpoche.

At the end of 1986, Yongdzin Rinpoche founded the Monastery of Triten Norbutse on the northern slope of Kathmandu, Nepal. At the very beginning, only Rinpoche and Geshe Nyima Wangyal lived there. It was the first Bön Monastery in Kathmandu, and in the whole of Nepal at that time there was no school of dialectics, no complete course of study given daily, year-round, on Bön and philosophical debate.

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In 1992, Yongdzin Rinpoche and the Abbot of Menri chose Geshe Nyima Wangyal as the first abbot of the Monastery of Triten Norbutsé. He took care of the monks and their daily needs. In the same year, Yongdzin Rinpoche went to Tibet again, together with Khenpo Nyima Wangyal. They visited many Bön monasteries and Yongdzin Rinpoche gave many teachings, transmissions and initiations.

In 1995, Khenpo Nyima Wangyal decided to leave the monastery and its monastic rules to live as a Tibetan yogi in different countries, situations and circumstances. He felt that, in accordance with his nature, this would be a good way to develop his practice of Dzogchen.

In 2001, at the Monastery of Triten Norbutsé, he had the great good fortune to receive again from his root master Yongdzin Rinpoche all the Bön initiations. This was very good for Khenzur Nyima Wangyal who, in his practice, experienced a much stronger bond with his root master. He was very happy because he felt the blessings of all the great Dzogchen masters. 
From 2002, at Triten Norbutse Monastery, he was also able to receive teachings from Yongdzin Rinpoche on Dzogchen Zhang-Zhung Nyen-Gyüd, Dzogchen Namkha Trul-Dzöd, Ma-Gyüd (Mother Tantra), etc. He was also able to learn from Yongdzin Rinpoche about the Dzogchen Zhang-Zhung Nyen-Gyüd, Dzogchen Namkha Trul-Dzöd, Ma-Gyüd (Mother Tantra), etc.

In 2002, following the advice of Yongdzin Rinpoche, Khenzur Nyima Wangyal began to prepare different kinds of special Bön protective amulets. In Kathmandu, he created the Künthub Sungkhor Khang, a workshop (still active and prosperous) where he handcrafted traditional amulets of high quality with the help of his wife and family. These spiritual amulets with mantra are delivered to Tibet, China, Nepal, India, Europe, America, Mexico, Canada, etc. Through this activity, Khenzur Nyima Wangyal shares his spiritual experience, supporting others in their life and practice.

In 2013, Khenzur and his family moved to France, near Paris.

Since November 2015, under the aegis of Shenten Dargyé Ling (Blou, Saumur), Khenzur Nyima Wangyal Rinpoche has been teaching meditation in Paris on a regular basis to a group of practitioners (sangha), some evenings and weekends, as well as in other countries.

Thanks to Waltraud Benzing and Yungdrung Tenzin (Dominique Troulay) for this biography.