BOKAR TULKU RINPOCHE

On the morning of August 17, 2004, the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu
lineages of Tibetan Buddhism lost a renowned meditation master and
beloved teacher. Karma Ngedon Chokyi Lodro, widely known as Bokar Tulku
Rinpoche, passed away en route to hospital in the Darjeeling District
of West Bengal, India. Rinpoche's kind presence will be deeply missed
by both his Asian and Western disciples.

Bokar Tulku Rinpoche was born in Western Tibet in 1940 to a nomadic
family. At the age of four, he was recognized by His Holiness the
Sixteenth Karmapa, who later officiated at his enthronement, giving him
the name Tulku Karma Shedrup Yongdu Pel Zangpo.

Rinpoche was initially educated in the monastery founded by his
previous incarnation, and continued his studies at Tsurphu, the main
seat of the Karmapas. At a young age Rinpoche assumed full
responsibility for the monastic community of Bokar Monastery.

At the age of twenty, Rinpoche and members of his community fled
Communist oppression and went into exile in India, where he became a
close disciple of the eminent meditation master Kalu Rinpoche. Under
Kalu Rinpoche's guidance, Bokar Rinpoche completed a traditional
three-year, three-month retreat focusing on Shangpa Kagyu practices.
Later, he completed a second three-year retreat, also led by Kalu
Rinpoche, which focused on Karma Kagyu practices. In between these
retreats, he served as the retreat master of a second Shangpa
three-year retreat.

When the Sixteenth Karmapa built a monastery and retreat center in
Rumtek, Sikkim, he asked Bokar Rinpoche to be the retreat master there.
This made him the chief retreat master for the Karma Kagyu lineage
generally. Rinpoche led four retreats at the monastery and often
practiced alongside the retreatants. In addition, he did a substantial
amount of personal retreat during his life.

Bokar Rinpoche founded a retreat center in Mirik, India, and then,
at the urging of the local community, a monastery. Both continue to
thrive: the monastery is currently undergoing significant expansion and
a second three-year retreat facility is just being completed.
Well-known for his emphasis on the importance of long retreats, Bokar
Rinpoche was also known for holding the Kalachakra lineage, which he
had received from Kalu Rinpoche along with the entire Shangpa Kagyu
transmission.

One of the remarkable legacies of Bokar Rinpoche is the development
of the unique, twelve-year-long Mahamudra and Yidam Seminar Program. It
allows lay Westerners to remain involved with family and community
while nourishing Dharma practice by committing an hour a day or more to
formal practice. Rinpoche said, "Our approach with the seminar, at the
very beginning, was to emphasize not rejecting work, family and so
forth-but to integrate a daily practice into one's lifestyle."

Through this program, hundreds of students worldwide have received
Dharma instruction in English, French, Tibetan and Chinese in annual
seminars in India, France and North America.

Biography by Michael Conklin
Published in BuddhaDharma, The Practitioner's Quarterly. Winter 2004, page 88.