Lama Michel Tulku Rinpoche

First Encounter With Lama Gangchen Rinpoche

Lama Michel Rinpoche (born in 1981 in San Paulo, Brazil) – Losang Nyendrag Jangchub Chopel – བློ་བཟང་རྙེན་གྲགས་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཆོས་འཕེལ།, “Illustrious Mind Spreading the Dharma of Enlightenment,” is the spiritual son of T.Y.S Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche and the holder of the NgalSo Ganden Ngengyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He is responsible for and the spiritual guide of twenty NgalSo centres worldwide, eight foundations, and the Help in Action non-profit Foundation, initiated by Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche during his forty years in the West. He is also the United Nations representative for the Lama Gangchen World Peace Foundation (United Nations ECOSOC NGO).

At the tender age of five, Lama Michel Rinpoche first met his root Guru, T.Y.S. Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche. During this occasion, Lama Michel took refuge with him and received the Tibetan name Jangchub Choephel བྱང་ཆུབ་ཆོས་འཕེལ།, meaning “One who Increases the Dharma of Enlightenment.” Lama Michel describes his first meeting with Lama Gangchen as “falling in love: ‘I didn’t want to be separated from Him.'” Since this first encounter with Lama Gangchen Rinpoche, he demonstrated a deep bond with Him and later actively participated in His life projects.

Tulku – The Reincarnation of a Buddhist Master

Recognised at the age of eight as a tulku – the reincarnation of a Buddhist master – by prestigious masters like Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche himself, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kachen Losang Zopa Rinpoche (abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in India), Lama Gosog Rinpoche (abbot of Sera Me Monastery in India), Ven. Geshe Yeshe Wangchuk Rinpoche, he was enthroned and publicly recognised at the age of twelve.

In the company of Lama Gangchen and under his guidance, he undertook pilgrimages to the most sacred places in India, Nepal, and the major Gelugpa monasteries in Tibet, accompanied by his parents and disciples from around the world.

In 1993, he visited the Stupa-Mandala of Borobudur in Indonesia for the first time, and in the same year, he received his first vows and the name Losang Nyendrag བློ་བཟང་རྙེན་གྲགས། from Ven. Kyabje Dragon Rinpoche at Samten Ling Monastery in Nepal, as well as the first initiation of Anuttarayoga Tantra and the initiation of Yamantaka Vajrabairava from Gelek Rinpoche.

At the age of twelve, after a period of silence and reflection on life and the path to choose, Lama Michel Rinpoche decided to follow the example and inspiration of his Master and expressed the decision to enter the monastery (Sera Me Monastic University, founded in 1419 by a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa) to pursue traditional monastic studies. In the same year, he received commentary on Guru Puja and Lam-Rim from H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.

His enthronement and recognition as the reincarnation of Drubchok Gyalwa Samdrub, a great yogi and master of philosophy from the Tibetan monastery of Gangchen Chöpel Ling, took place in the monasteries of Sera Me, Tashi Lhunpo, and Kailash Pura in southern India, where Lama Michel embarked on traditional philosophical studies for tulku in the Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhist tradition, under the spiritual guidance of three of the most illustrious contemporary masters: Ven. Kachen Losang Zopa Rinpoche (abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery), Ven. Geshe Thubten Rinchen (principal philosophy teacher at Sera Me Monastery), and Ven. Geshe Thrinley Thobgyal (abbot of Gyume Monastery), living under the guidance and care of Geshe Tenzin Wangdak – “Gen Lhagpa-la.”

During the annual holidays, Lama Michel Rinpoche reunited with his Guru and traveled with Him around the world, further demonstrating his teaching abilities, commitment, and progress in philosophical studies.

In 1994, a year after entering the monastery, he traveled to Brazil, where he was first welcomed as a Lama, teaching at the Centro de Dharma da Paz Shi De Tchö Tsog.

In 1999, at the tantric college of Gyume Monastery, he received teachings on the creation of mandalas and ceremonial and artistic stupas, as well as on major ceremonies such as Rabne Chenmo རབ་གནས་ཆེན་མོ། – a grand blessing ceremony – and yangchok སྦྱངས་ཆོག། – the main practice for guiding in the bardo – from Master Gen Chime Dorje.