Garchen Rinpoche is the 8th Garchen incarnation of the Drikung Kagyu lineage and one of the most beloved living Tibetan masters, particularly within Sinophone communities. He spent twenty years in Chinese labour camps during the Cultural Revolution, where he received secret instruction from the Nyingma Dzogchen master Khenpo Munsel — an experience he transformed into the foundation of his teaching on bodhicitta as the inseparable practice of all dharma.
He is renowned for the depth of his Mahamudra and Dzogchen instruction, his commentary on the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, and his unwavering practice of carrying a prayer wheel at all times. He is politically neutral with deep ties to both Tibetan and PRC-resident Chinese students, and serves as a quiet bridge across the Sino-Tibetan divide.