One of Bhutan’s most revered spiritual masters, His Eminence Ngawang Tenzin, former Dorji Lopen of the Zhung Dratshang, Bhutan’s Central Monastic Body, and a recognized tulku in the Drukpa Kagyu lineage, peacefully entered Parinirvana on 6 September. He was 87 years old. 

According to local media sources, His Eminence Ngawang Tenzin passed peacefully at his hermitage at Drangay Goenpa Monastery near the city of Paro at 11:11 a.m. on 6 September, the 25th day of the seventh month in Bhutans lunar calendar.

“He is currently abiding in the profound state of luminous samadhi, known as thukdam,” the Zhung Dratshang noted in a public statement on 7 September.

“In accordance with this, His Eminence Laytshog Lopen Rinpoche, together with the sangha community, gathered at the Grand Assembly Hall of Tashichho Dzong in Thimphu to offer aspiration prayers and light thousands of butter lamps,” the Zhung Dratshang said. “These prayers and offerings were dedicated to the complete fulfillment of the late Dorji Lopen Rinpoche’s noble aspirations and to the unobstructed progress of his journey toward ultimate realization.”

The Dorji Lopen is the most senior of the five Lopen Lhengyes—minister-ranking learned masters who support and assist the Je Khenpo, the chief abbot of the Zhung Dratshang. As well as leading the official monastic order of Bhutan, the Zhung Dratshang is one of the two pillars of the kingdom’s system of governance. It is constituted as the principal institutional carrier of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage, and is headed by the Je Khenpo, who is the country’s most senior religious authority under the Constitution of 2008.

Writing for Bhutan’s Kuensel newspaper, the renowned Buddhist scholar, author, and thought leader Lopen Karma Phuntsho shared:

His Holiness Ngawang Tenzin, whom some of us endearingly called Jojo Rinpoche emulating his cousin’s grandchildren, was born on the full moon day of the 10th month of Earth Hare, 1939, in Jagarthang, a village not far from the famous Tiger’s Nest. This iconic Buddhist shrine had great significance in his life as he was considered a rebirth of Drupthob Jinpa Gyaltsen, a master of the 17th century who became the first lama of this holy place under the new state of Bhutan. The night before his birth, his grandfather dreamt of a man placing a golden statue of Buddha Amitayus in the family shrine. As a child, he would sit on thrones, pretend to perform rituals, show respect to statues, treat beggars with kindness, and be moved to tears by priests singing hymns. He would chant mantras in his dream and dream of Buddhas.

His Eminence Ngawang Tenzin entered the monastic sangha at the age of nine at Paro Rinpung Rabdey, where he received teachings from several eminent Buddhist masters. He subsequently dedicated more than seven decades of his life to the study and practice of Buddhism and in service to the monastic body.

He received his Dharma name Ngawang Tenzin as a novice monk at 11 years old, continuing his studies until the age of 19, when he pursued higher Buddhist studies at Nalanda Monastery in Talo, and later Kunga Choeling and Tango Monasteries, then continued his education in Nepal and India under eminent masters, before entering extended retreat.

His Eminence Ngawang Tenzin received extensive instruction in Mahamudra and Dzogchen from numerous accomplished masters, including the 68th Je Khenpo Tenzin Doendrup, the 69th Je Khenpo Geshe Gendun Rinchen, as well as revered Tibetan masters Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kyabje Penlop Khen Rinpoche, and Kyabje Jadrel Rinpoche.

He was appointed Dorji Lopen of the Zhung Dratshang at 48, a position. he held for some eight years before devoting himself to retreat and spiritual practice.

In 1999, he renovated the 16th century monastery Drangay Goenpa in Paro and established a small center for Buddhist training, where he spent his later years immersed in meditation, prayer, and guiding his disciples.

The former Dorji Lopen also shared the Buddhadharma internationally, offering teachings and empowerments during visits overseas, and sharing the traditions of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage with international practitioners.

“His Holiness’s demise is mourned by thousands of disciples and devotees in Bhutan, the Far East, the US, Europe, and India,” Lopen Karma Phuntsho remarked, “and his spiritual legacies will continue to live on through the leading Drukpa Kagyu figures, most of whom are his disciples, and thousands of Bhutanese, Tibetan, Chinese, and Western students whose lives he has shaped through his presence and precious teachings.”

Bhutan, nestled in the rarefied air of the Himalayan foothills and sandwiched between the two political and economic heavy hitters India and China, is the world’s last remaining Vajrayana Buddhist country. The spiritual tradition is embedded in the very consciousness and culture of this remote land, where it has flourished with an unbroken history that dates back to its introduction by Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, in the eighth century. Almost 85 per cent of Bhutan’s population identify as Buddhists, with Hinduism accounting for the majority of the remainder. Most of Bhutan’s Buddhists follow either the Drukpa Kagyu or the Nyingma schools of Vajrayana Buddhism.

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