Brief Biography of Lama Choedak Rinpoche

From his humble beginnings as a young nomad of Northern Tibet, Lama Choedak Rinpoche has grown to become one of the most respected and valued teachers of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

In the late 1950s Lama Choedak’s family fled before the invading Chinese armies and escaped across the Himalayas to Nepal where they began their new life as refugees. Lama Choedak then became one of the first young Tibetans to graduate from a Nepalese secondary school and began studying as a monk under the tutelage of the renowned meditation master, His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. Lama Choedak went on to serve His Eminence as personal assistant and secretary for six years before entering a traditional solitary three and half year meditation retreat, one of the first of its kind outside of Tibet. This retreat, sponsored by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, was completed under extremely arduous conditions in Lumbini, the birth place of the Buddha.

After the retreat, Lama Choedak quickly became a highly valued translator for some of the most important teachers of all the four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, including the late tutors of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. But he had become disillusioned with the monastic system in exile, and, after traveling as an assistant teacher to New Zealand, he made the difficult decision to return his ordained vows and continue his dharma work as a lay Buddhist teacher.

In the late 1980s Lama Choedak met his future wife, Mirabelle in Singapore. They married and moved to Australia where they quickly settled in Canberra to raise their three children. Lama Choedak enrolled in post-graduate studies at the Australian National University (ANU) and continued to study and teach in close proximity to ANU library’s extensive collection of Buddhist Sanskrit and Tibetan texts.

Almost since his arrival in Australia, Lama Choedak has been in high demand to give Buddhist teachings. He has been instrumental in introducing the Sakya lineage to Australia and has hosted the visits of many great Sakya masters. In just over 20 years, Lama Choedak has founded Sakya Losal Choe Dzong, Rongton Buddhist College, and Virupa Retreat Centre in Canberra, Jamchen Buddhist Centre in Melbourne, Sakya International Buddhist Academy (SIBA) in Gippsland, and many other sister centres around Australia and New Zealand. During a second visit to Australia in 2001, His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche gave the title, ‘Tsarpa Lochen Lama Thubten Choedak Rinpoche’ in recognition of Lama Choedak’s outstanding dharma work.

As the heart son of His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, Lama Choedak Rinpoche is one of the rare Sakya Lamas who has completed major retreats on Hevajra, Vajrayogini, Vajrapani and most importantly on the entire Lamdre Lobshe teachings. His many year of experience teaching meditation and Buddhism in the West have led to a deep understanding of the western mind and way of life. Rinpoche conducts retreats, workshops and public talks attended by increasingly large numbers of students throughout Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Rinpoche is one of the finest and most prominent Tibetan meditation masters now living and teaching in the West.