Ven. Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoché
Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoche is a master of the Kagyüpa and Nyingmapa religious orders in Tibet, renowned for his knowledge and deep compassion.
In the 19th century the great scholar Jamgön Kongtrül wrote an important book, 'The Hundred Great Treasure Revelators', in which he listed the Tibetan masters who, over the centuries, worked to re-disseminate the practice cycles that had remained hidden to the general public for a time (due to their unsuitability for the times and beings).
Rigzin Jatsön figures in this list of revelators/discoverers of spiritual treasures – termas in Tibetan – and Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoche is the contemporary incarnation jointly recognized by the hierarchs Trülshik Rinpoche (Nyingma) and Taï Situpa (Kagyü).
His main teacher was the illustrious Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche, an influential lama in the monasteries of the region of Nangchen (Eastern Tibet). He played an important part in the discovery of the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje.
At the age of nine, Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoche entered Japa, a Kagyü monastery. There he studied various Buddhist treatises under the guidance of Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche. He also trained in religious chanting, ritual music and dance, and torma making, among other things. After completing his monastic studies, Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoche went on the traditional three-year and three-month retreat, at the end of which he received his monastic ordination from the 12th Taï Situpa.
In terms of practice cycles, Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoche studied Chöd (the Cut), Mahamudra(nature of the mind) and the Six Doctrines of Naropa (yogic physiology). He also had the rare opportunity to receive the complete transmissions (initiations, authorisations of the texts, practice instructions) of all the Five Treasures of Jamgön Kongtrül.
It was with the illustrious Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche that he received and studied the two sections of the practice of the Great Completion (Dzogchen), trekchö (cutting through rigidity) and thögèl (crossing the peak).
His deep attraction to meditation led him to perform many Nyungne retreats (practice of Chenrezi with a thousand arms combined with fasting), Chöd, realization of Yidams,Mahamudra and Dzogchen.
Among his many activities, Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoche worked tirelessly to ensure that a retreat center for monks and a second one for nuns could be built and made functional.
Finally, thanks to the generous donations of his students, he regularly buys back animals that are destined to be sold in the markets after being slaughtered; he then sets them free so that they can end their lives peacefully.
Rigzin Jatsön Rinpoché currently resides in Taiwan where he directs several centers for Dharma study and practice. He is regularly invited to Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands), where he works to spread the Buddha's Teaching, driven solely by the aspiration to end the suffering of all living beings!