Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche is one of the most uncompromising and influential teachers of his generation. Recognised in childhood as the third incarnation of the great nineteenth-century master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, founder of the Rimé non-sectarian movement, he was trained under Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Khenpo Appey Yonten Zangpo. He holds transmissions across all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and is regarded as a principal lineage holder of the Khyentse line.
Rinpoche is the founder of Khyentse Foundation, which has, since 2001, funded the translation and preservation of the Buddhist canon at a scale unmatched in modern times — including the 84000 project, the largest Buddhist canonical translation initiative in history. He also founded Siddhartha's Intent, Lhomon Society in Bhutan, and the Lotus Outreach charity for women and children in Cambodia.
He is the author of the cult books What Makes You Not a Buddhist and Not for Happiness, which have introduced a generation of readers to a stripped-down, non-romantic understanding of the four seals. His style is famously austere, allergic to spiritual consumerism, and merciless about the distance between dharma and self-improvement.
As a filmmaker, he directed The Cup (1999) — the first feature film in Tibetan to receive international release — and Travellers and Magicians (2003). He has also produced major retreats and empowerments across the Khyentse and Sakya lineages, including the Lamdré transmission, the Rinchen Terdzö, and numerous Padmasambhava cycles.
Rinpoche has a particular and unusual relationship to Nepal. He teaches frequently in Kathmandu and Lumbini, has championed the restoration of Newar Buddhist scholarship, and was instrumental in the public discourse around the rebirth of Buddhist learning in Nepal in the post-monarchy era. His teachings on Nepal and the dharma — recorded by Bodhi Television over multiple visits — form one of the most important video archives of Vajrayana teaching ever produced in Nepal.
He accepts applications for personal time from serious practitioners through Khyentse Foundation, on a biannual cadence. The wait is long. The intention is everything.
