Tai Situ Rinpoche 大司徒仁波切
Tai Situ Rinpoche, the Twelfth Tai Situpa, Pema Donyö Nyinché (Wyl. pad+ma don yod nyin byed) was born in 1954, in Dergé, Eastern Tibet, and recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchok Gyalpo, by the Sixteenth Karmapa. At the age of eighteen months he was brought to his monastic seat, Palpung Monastery, and enthroned there by the Karmapa according to tradition.
Due to the changing political situation in Eastern Tibet, he was taken to Tsurphu Monastery in Central Tibet, at the age of five. It was there that he performed his first Red Crown Ceremony, assisted by Ninth Sangyé Nyenpa Rinpoche. He stayed in Tsurphu Monastery for one year and then left Tibet with his attendants for Bhutan. Later, he went to Sikkim, to Rumtek Monastery, where he remained under the care of the Sixteenth Karmapa and received his formal religious training. He also received important transmissions from many great masters, notably Kalu Rinpoche, the Ninth Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Saljay Rinpoche, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, the late Drikung Khenpo Konchok, and the late Khenpo Khedup.
At the age of twenty-two, Situ Rinpoche assumed responsibility for founding his own new monastic seat, Sherab Ling Monastery, close to the Tibetan community of Bir, in Northern India. In 1980 he made his first tour to Europe, and has since traveled widely in North America, Europe and South-East Asia.
In 1992, Tai Situ Rinpoche recognized the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, and enthroned him at Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet. He has become Orgyen Trinlé Dorje's main teacher in the Mahamudra lineage.
Publications
Teachings
- Nectar of Dharma [Vol. 1, 2 & 3] (oral instructions and teachings on The Five Great Treasures of Jamgön Kongtrul), Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Trust, 2008.
- Ground, Path & Fruition, Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications, 2005.
- The Third Karmapa's Mahamudra Prayer, Snow Lion, 2002.
- Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra by HH III Karmapa, Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications, 2001.
- Mahamudra Teachings, Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications, 2001.
- Relative World, Ultimate Mind, Penguin Books India, 1999.
- Tilpoa, Dzalendara Publishing, 1988.
- Awakening the Sleeping Buddha, Shambhala, 1996.
Paintings
- Meditative Art
- Creativity: Magnification Images Will Be Born
- Awakening: Meditation Art of the 12th Tai Situpa
- Relative World, Ultimate Mind: The Art of the 12th Tai Situpa.
Photographs
- Eye of the Eye, was published in 2000 in Taiwan.
Calligraphy
- Collection of the Creative Art Works of Xii Tai Situpa in 2004 in Taiwan.
