Welcome, Jigme Rinpoche!

Finally we were able to welcome Lama Jigme Rinpoche back to the Europe Center! We are so happy to find him in excellent health and spirits! Rinpoche presented Lama Ole with a beautiful statue of Lama Shang from Tibet.

Lama Jigme Rinpoche was born in Kham, Eastern Tibet, in 1949. When the Chinese invaded in 1955, he moved to Tsurphu, the monastery of the Karmapas in Tibet, and eventually, in 1959, together with the Karmapa and many other high lamas and tulkus of all ages, he moved on to Rumtek in Sikkim. In Rumtek, H.H. the Karmapa founded a monastery in order to preserve the teachings, and it was there that, together with all the regents and important tulkus gathered there by the Karmapa, that Lama Jigme Rinpoche received all the transmissions directly from him.

In 1974, during his first visit to Europe, the Karmapa designated Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in Dordogne, France, to be the central seat of his activity, headed by Lama Jigme Rinpoche as his representative. He also asked Gendün Rinpoche and Pawo Rinpoche to go there and help in bringing the 5 wishes to fruition.

In addition to receiving all the main transmissions and teachings from the Karmapa, Lama Jigme Rinpoche was very close to and spent a lot of time with Gendün Rinpoche, Pawo Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche and Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche, receiving many teachings and initiations from them as well.
Lama Jigme Rinpoche also received numerous important transmissions from Dudjom Rinpoche, the previous Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, the previous Khandro Rinpoche and the previous Gyatrul Rinpoche.

When H. H. the 16th Karmapa appointed Lama Jigme Rinpoche as his European representative, he said: ‚In the person of Lama Jigme Rinpoche, I leave you my heart’, and it is in this spirit that Lama Jigme Rinpoche today continues his activity in Europe, travelling extensively, visiting and teaching in the centres and inspiring all those who come into contact with him.

Source: www.jigmela.org