About Chagdud Gonpa Foundation
Chagdud Gonpa Foundation (CGF) is part of an international network of centers whose origin is Chagdud Gonpa in Tibet, a monastery founded in the 15th century. Established in 1983 by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, CGF offers teachings and meditation practices from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. For more details, go to https://www.chagdudgonpa.org/.
Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
His Eminence Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was born in eastern Tibet (Kham) in 1930. Recognized at age four as a tulku (incarnation of a meditation master), he received rigorous training and deepened his studies in extensive retreats. He was renowned for his work in the sacred arts, Tibetan medicine, his teaching prowess, and his sublime singing voice.
In 1959, he escaped the Communist occupation of Tibet and lived in exile in refugee communities in India and Nepal until settling in the United States in 1979. In 1983, he established the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation as well
as a library as a repository of sacred Dharma texts. In 1994, Rinpoche moved to Brazil, established Chagdud Gonpa Brasil and began construction of its main center, Khadro Ling, in Rio Grande do Sul. When he died in 2002, he had established more than twenty centers in Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.
Rinpoche's wife, Chagdud Khadro, is the Spiritual Director of his centers in South America. His son, Tromge Jigme Rinpoche, is the empowerment lama of CGF and the vajra master of many ceremonies at Chagdud Gonpa centers.
Now, in a full cycle, Chagdud Rinpoche's tulku has been recognized by Khenpo Ngagchung in Tibet. Known as Chagdud Yangsi Rinpoche, he is the focus of the prayers and deep aspirations of sangha members around the world.
“If I had to leave only one legacy, it would be the wisdom of pure motivation. If I had to be known by a single title, it would be the Motivation Lama.
The moment our hearts are inclined to compassion for all beings, our motivation expands toward the all-encompassing motivation of a bodhisattva.”
- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Resident Lamas
Lama Padma Dorje (Jeffrey Miller) became H. E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche’s close student in early 1980s, when Rinpoche lived in Oregon. One of the foremost Chagdud Gonpa practitioners of sacred lama dances, he trained many of the current dancers. He was also an active member of the Padma Publishing Translation Committee and devoted his resources to the translation of Longchenpa’s Seven Treasuries.
It has been some months now since the passing of our precious Resident Lama and vajra brother, Lama Dorje....our guiding light under the vast auspices of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, and, who followed in the footsteps of his beloved wife and precious vajra sister, Lama Trinley....yet, recognize we must…birth means death...and no moment or day in time will ever be the same as the previous....yet, we persevere, we must persevere even more so, with the profound instructions of our Vajrayana tradition....
Lama Jamie maintained a retreat land and practice group (Rigdzin Gatsal) at Williams, Oregon, since the early 1980s shortly after he first met Chagdud Rinpoche in Eugene.
In 2021, he moved to Cottage Grove and became the Lama in Residence at Dechen Ling. He also supports activities at other Dharma centers. And so, Lama Jamie will continue to persevere as appropriate in that role with the wish that, as Apong Terton revealed, we all may "find the ship of liberation and gain complete freedom from the ocean of suffering that is the three realms of conditioned existence..."
And, as Omniscient Longchenpa advised in his Contemplation 21: "Even though the conditions leading to sudden death may not be present, the Lord of Death may arrive just like the shadow that appears with the setting sun. We may die by means of poisons, weapons, fire, water, enemies, sicknesses, obstacles....etc...There are many different ways to die."
And, even though we pray every day for the longevity of our precious masters....they do depart one by one; and, as Chagdud Rinpoche pointed out…our karma to keep them does run out...so sad, so sorrowful, yet as sentient human beings, it is a precious gift that we are able to recognize what is truly meaningful, and thus the lineage continues, much like one butter lamp lighting another.
So that, again, as Longchenpa pointed out,
“May this teaching of the Dharma,
The sun graced with a thousand stainless beams,
The light of primal wisdom,
Drive away the gloom of ignorance.
May it completely dry the ocean of samsara.
May the brilliance of this isle of liberation [as it comes into view]
Spread and shine in all the ten directions.”
So, may we all continue to work together “unflinchingly," as is said to share this with all motherly sentient beings....
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May this extensive tradition of the great Orygan extend like space and the radiance of the spiritual treasures that are his enlighted activity shine throughout the ten directions. May virtuous signs blaze to fill the far corners of the earth and the teachings last long and flourish.
Through the influence of special auspicious circumstances, this was spoken by Orgyan Trinley Lingpa [Apong Terton].
Dechen Ling History
After Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche moved to the United States, he lived in Nevada for a time before attending H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche’s teaching and empowerments in Ashland, Oregon. A small group of students asked Dudjom Rinpoche for a resident lama in Oregon, and Chagdud Rinpoche accepted the appointment from His Holiness.
Chagdud Rinpoche started out teaching the Dharma in Cottage Grove, Oregon from his home on Ash Street. Shortly thereafter, a large old house was found along the banks of Coast Fork of the Willamette River, which soon became Chagdud Gonpa Dechen Ling.
Until he passed away in 2002, Chagdud Rinpoche continued to maintain a close connection with the flourishing of Dechen Ling. It is the wish of the sangha at large that eventually, Chagdud Rinpoche’s incarnation will return and have the opportunity to visit the CGF centers and offer the teachings of the Buddha to a new generation of practitioners.
For the past 35 years, Chagdud Dechen Ling has been a Chagdud Gonpa center, with Red Tara and Vajrakilaya practice being held here on a daily basis. Although the Cottage Grove Sangha is small in numbers, it is a dedicated group of practitioners, who each care deeply about carrying out Rinpoche’s original intention for this place. We also have several members who may live elsewhere, but keep a close connection with Dechen Ling.
