H.E. 8th Kyabgon Adeu Rinpoche	H.E. 9th Adeu Yangsi Rinpoche

I have been very fortunate to have met some of the greatest masters of the twentieth century. In the Vajrayana practice, there is nothing more important than meeting the right guru! And I am so blessed to have had these three great masters as my root gurus - 8th Kyabgon Khamtrul Rinpoche, H.H Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and 8th Kyabgon Adeu Rinpoche. They have left a lasting impression on me and made the person that I am today, for which I am greatly indebted.

Of the root gurus, Khamtrul Rinpoche and Adeu Rinpoche were pivotal in the transmission of the Dechen Choekhor Lineage of the Drukpa Kagyu teachings in my life. They in turn had received the complete teachings from the previous 8th Choegon Rinpoche (Choekyi Gyamtso) in Nangchen Garh upon invitation by the King of Nangchen in the 1940s.

I was three years of age when Khamtrul Rinpoche recognized me as the reincarnation of previous Choegon Rinpoche. At age of six, I was then invited to Tashi Jong and formal enthroned by Khamtrul Rinpoche. At the age of fourteen, I received an urgent message from Khamtrul Rinpoche in Bhutan, who requested me to go to Bhutan to receive the complete lineage teachings. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter he passed away in Bhutan after completing some of the most important transmission.

Khamtrul Rinpoche perform the enthronement ritual in Tashi Jong	Formal Enthronment performed by Khamtrul Rinpoche in Tashi Jong

My life was suddenly left empty since he was my sole pillar and guidance at that time. His presence was almost like a father figure who nurtured and cared for my spiritual developments and worldly needs. It was at this critical juncture that Adeu Rinpoche was invited from Tibet to transmit the lineage teachings to me and 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche.

I was twenty years of age at that time when he came to our monastery in Tashi Jong, India. I can clearly remember the first time I met him. Upon arrival, he wanted to meet me immediately, which made me very honored and nervous as well. I had only heard stories about him and how a great spiritual master he was. But all my anxieties vanished when I finally met him in person. He showered me with so much affections and reverence that I was totally disarmed. It almost felt like a meeting between a long lost father and son. He had so many things to talk about and I was so eager to listen to him - an incomparable compassionate enlightened master.

Posted with Adeu Rinpoche in Tashi Jong when he first came visited me in year 1987	Posted with Adeu Rinpoche in year 2002

In particular, he told me a lot of wonderful stories about the roles of previous Choegon Rinpoche which is of utmost importance to me since I will have to follow his life's work. Tears welled up in his eyes when he recounted the stories of his root guru. It was tears of devotion, I believe. I was overwhelmed and deeply moved by his devotion and affection to his guru. At that point it reinforced in me the crucial teaching on the importance to develop complete and sincere devotion to one's own guru. And in a very profound way it made my life complete and meaningful.

There were many inspiring stories too. The difficult times he had when he was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution. But he told me that, one of the most meaningful times for him was in fact in the prison. As conditions became tougher, his Dharma practices became stronger. This reaffirmed my faith in him as a truly enlightened master since only genuine enlightened beings can maintain their enlightened state under such difficult times.

He also highlighted to me some important points about tulkus that I have never forgotten ever since. He said that tulkus should not only take pride in simply being the reincarnation of the previous lamas. Tulkus (Rinpoches) should instead revere and pray to their previous incarnations. They should learn about their practices and works, and emulate it as much as they can.

Image of previous Choegon Rinpoche	Statue of previous Choegon Rinpoche made by Adeu Rinpoche in his monastery - Tsechu Monastery in Nangchen, Qinghai

And since then I learnt earnestly about the previous Choegon incarnations, their practices and lives. Adeu Rinpoche was a wealth of knowledge on my previous incarnations. In every meeting with him he would unceasingly talk about his root gurus and I would be completely immersed in his stories.

Adeu Rinpoche therefore wanted me to make my primary practice in following the works of the previous Choegon Rinpoches. I have tried to continue, not always successfully, where they have left off.

In particular he emphasized on three primary areas:

Firstly, put into practice the teachings of the previous Choegon Lineage.

Secondly, construct Dechen Choekhor monastery in Tibet and India to keep the Lineage unbroken.

Thirdly, recognize Drukpa Kagyu Tulkus and provide them empowerments, transmissions, and oral instructions. The reason he said this is because the previous Choegon Rinpoche recognized the majority of Drukpa Kagyu Tulkus in eastern Tibet.

Of all these tasks the last has been the most challenging. But in keeping with his wishes and for the sake of the lineage, I have assumed these duties with all my heart and humility. Incidentally in 2007 when Adeu Rinpoche passed away, I was suddenly left with the daunting task of finding his reincarnation.

In early June 2007 Adeu Rinpoche gave me a surprise call when I was traveling in Seattle, USA. He asked me to go to Tibet urgently to meet up with him, and without any further delay, I took the next available flight to Xining, Tibet.

Having lunch with Adeu Rinpoche and Satrul Rinpoche in June 2007, when Adeu Rinpoche requested me to meet with him urgently ... a month before his passing away.	Sweet moment with my root guru in Beijing in year 2006

Rinpoche requested all his followers to leave the room and had the door closed. He then started talking about how satisfied he was with all the works he had done until then. Sadly I felt like I was talking with a master who had completed his journey on earth. He laid out the works he took satisfaction in, including complete transmission of lineage teachings to all Drukpa Kagyu tulkus, full compilation of the Drukpa Kagyu texts (120 volumes), and construction of his temple in Nangchen, Tibet. However he noted that the only thing he will not be able to do was to visit my monastery in India where I had invited him for quite sometime. I was very surprised at first and naturally I asked him why? Matter of fact he replied that his health is not good, but surprisingly, to me he did look in good health.

As the fact dawned on me that he was confident about when he will be passing away, I even asked him about his future reincarnation. We discussed a lot on important future issues. I duly noted them in my mind. And finally he emphasized that I should take care and support Satrul Rinpoche with all my heart. He mentioned that Satrul Rinpoche will play an important role in upholding both the Monastery (Choe Gyud) and the Tulku Lineage (Tul Gyud).

Posted with Adeu Rinpoche and Satrul Rinpoche	Performing puja together with Adeu Rinpoche and Satrul Rinpoche during my first return to Nangchen in year 2000

With a heavy heart I returned to India in June 2007. After a month, in July 2007, I received the sad news of his demise which he had already hinted to me earlier. I went to Nangchen Garh immediately upon their invitation. It was a very sad moment and hundreds of monks and tulkus came to pay their homage including HH Gyalwang Drukpa who came two days after my arrival; it was HH very first visit to Adeu Rinpoche's monastery. The ceremony completed with lots of auspicious signs and great blessings.

At the end of the ceremony, the monastery then made an announcement. It declared that no Rinpoche can recognize Adeu Rinpoche's reincarnation unless Nangchen King, Tulkus and monks of the monastery make such an official request. This was because of their fear that multiple Adeu Rinpoches might be recognized.

Performing the ceremony in front of Adeu Rinpoche shrine	Hundred of Drukpa Kagyu's Rinpoches and monks performing the ceremony

Having two reincarnations is not something that has never happened, because higher emanations have manifested in multiple incarnations. For example, 4th Gyalwang Drukpa Kunchen Pema Karpo had two reincarnations - Druk Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Druk Gyalwang Paksang Wangpo. Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal later contributed tremendously to the propagation of Buddhism in Bhutan, while Paksang Wangpo served equally under the tutelage of 1st Yongzin Ngawang Zangpo in Tibet. And there are similar great stories of multiple tulkus in other lineages.

However a number of people including myself, sometimes have reservations about multiple reincarnations in our current times. Historically, only rarely multiple incarnations have happened.

In Feb 2009, I was in Dehradun for the five months Rinchen Terzoe teachings. One morning Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Satrul Rinpoche suddenly visited me and officially requested me for the search of Adeu Rinpoche's reincarnation and thus handed me this immense responsibility. They also showed me a letter from Adeu Rinpoche written to a monk in Nangchen Garh. The letter mainly discussed the monastic matters, and there was a small section where he hinted on his reincarnation. I prayed long and hard to my root guru for a long time, and finally based on Adeu Rinpoche's own wishes and his final letter, I handed over the confirmation letter along with newly composed long life prayer to Tsoknyi Rinpoche.

Offering long life prayer to Adeu Yangsi Rinpoche	Offering Long Life Buddha to Adeu Yangsi Rinpoche	Adeu Yangsi Rinpoche posted with Tsoknyi Rinpoche and his father Satrul Rinpoche

On 7th March, 2010, Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche took the letter to Nangchen Garh and officially opened the letter in front of the monks and held a small ceremony to celebrate his announcement. The next day, they called me from Xining and told me that the ceremony went very auspiciously. I was very much overjoyed to receive that news.

Now I am looking forward to meeting him soon, and will gradually plan to transmit all the precious teachings and instructions that I have received from his previous incarnation.

I am also excited that the reincarnation of Sengdrak Rinpoche has been recognized and will be enthroned by by HH Gyalwang Drukpa in the 2nd Annual Drukpa Conference in Druk Amitabha mountain. I am looking forward to meet him as well. I am moved by an informal request from his private assistant Wangchuk (through Roshan Lal Negi), who also wishes to send young Sengdrak Rinpoche to Dechen Choekhor for traditional spiritual training as all his predecessors have done so too.

Sendrak Rinpoche offered all his limited possession to Adeu Rinpoche during his visit to Nepal to request for the complete transmission of Dechen Choekhor Lineage of Drukpa Kagyu

I plan to request this matter to HH Gyalwang Drukpa, and I am sure His Holiness will consider it since he understands that the survival of any lineages like Dechen Choekhor is dependent solely on the tulkus of their own lineage.

Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche, 24th March 2010