Brief Biography of Guru Vajradhara His Holiness the 12th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa


March 2006,by Dhonnam

Guru Vajradhara His Holiness Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa, popularly known as His Holiness Kenting Tai Situ Rinpoche is proclaimed in number of sacred texts as the incarnation of Bodhisattva Maitreya in Tushita Heaven who was crowned as the future Buddha by Buddha Sakyamuni when he descended to the Earth in 623 BC, as well as subsequent incarnations as Guru Padmasambhava.

In 1012 AD His Holiness was born in Tibet as Marpa the Great, the Enlightened Translator who introduced sacred Kagyu lineage from India. The lineage was continued by his disciple Milarepa, passed onto Gampopa and then Gampo Tsultrim Nyingpo who was an incarnation of Marpa. In 1148, Marpa incarnated as the first Situ Drogon Rechen. In 1407 the enlightened Chokyi Gyaltsen received the title (ཀྭན་ཏིང་དབེན་ཐོང་མེའུ་ཙི་གོ་སཱི།) "Kuan Ting Yuan Thong Miao Tsi Guo Shi."

In 1727 His Holiness the 8th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa the Great, popularly known as Situ Panchen founded the Mount of Excellence, a non-sectarian, multidisciplinary Palpung Institution which he established as Palpung Monastic Seat.

As the Supreme Head of Palpung Monastic Seat, His Holiness Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa oversees 180 monasteries of Kagyu lineage, 300 Bon and Buddhist monasteries, over 1000 affiliated branch temples and eighteen monastic estates throughout Tibet.

The current Guru Vajradhara His Holiness Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa was born to a farming and nomadic dual family in the east Tibetan Kingdom of Dege in 1954. He was enthroned to the Palpung Monastic Seat shortly afterwards.

In 1959 at age of 5 he was brought to safety by senior lamas of the Palpung Monastic Seat to the Kingdom of Bhutan and then to India following His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to take refuge.

Until 22 years of age, He grew up in Sikkim, Bhutan and West Bengal. He received ordinations from His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and from a great number of eminent masters. During the time, he received the entirety of basic and advanced studies and transmissions.

In 1976 at age of 23, Guru Vajradhara H.H. Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa established the Palpung Sherabling Monastic Seat in Himachal Pradesh, India where he trains, educates, ordains and transmits precious teachings to the next generation of Buddhist Masters of present and future time across and beyond all denominations and ethnicity to this very day.

In 1984 Guru Vajradhara H.H. Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa founded the Maitreya institute dedicated to interfaith and interdisciplinary harmony based on love, kindness, compassion and wisdom through exchanges and exposure.

He Holiness has great concerns for the disharmony among people, religion, ideology throughout the world and environmental degradation. He initiated a program “Pilgrimage for ACTIVE PEACE - ONE WORLD - ONE HUMANITY” where he embarked on a world-wise journey in 1989. Pilgrimage for ACTIVE PEACE - ONE WORLD - ONE HUMANITY celebrated its silver jubilee in 2014.

His Holiness is a great scholar, philosopher, poet, artist, architect and geomancer. He is the author of more than 20 books in English. His compilation in Tibetan language reaches over 200 volumes and his writing reaches over 15 volumes to date.

He continues to teach and transmit the sacred lineage of Dharma to disciples from all over the world diligently and tirelessly.

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