His Eminence Choden RinpocheThe great yogi and scholar His Eminence Choden Rinpoche showed the aspect of passing away on 11 September, 2015, while in his residence at Sera Jey Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karntaka, India. Choden Rinpoche, the second in his tulku-lineage, was well-known not only for being an incredible scholar and author but also for being a tantric master, an incredible meditator whose life story is as equally impressive as it is inspiring. Please read a more detailed account of Rinpoche's life story on his biography page.

As his students anxiously await his quick return, so that he might continue to benefit sentient beings, we are commemorating his life as well as helping further his contributions to others in the construction of the Choden Rinpoche Enlightenment Stupa, which you can read more about on the Plans and Progress page.

We are building this stupa for four primary reasons:

1) To serve as a reminder of the vast holy activities of His Eminence Choden Rinpoche and also a reminder that, just as a stupa is constantly blessing those who come across it, Choden Rinpoche, in his extreme dedication to others, never wasted a single moment in anything but pure Dharma practice, free of the eight worldly concerns.

2) To serve as an inspiration, planting the seed of enlightenment in the mental continuum of all who think, hear about or see this stupa, and in so doing to be an object of accumulating merit and purifying misdeeds.

3) To help bring peace and harmony to the entire world and all sentient beings within it, every single one of them our dear mother. Keeping with this reason, the stupa will, in addition to being a stupa, serve as a large temple, and we intend for the complex to include a free health care clinic as well as a free school.

4) To encourage that Choden Rinpoche reincarnate quickly, and that we are able to quickly find his reincarnation, who will be the third Choden Rinpche, so that the blessings, teachings and mission of Choden Rinpoche can quickly continue without obstacles.

As his students our participation in this project, either through our labor, or fiscal contributions, or our prayers, allow us to reinforce our karmic bonds with Choden Rinpoche, so that we might have the fortune to receive teachings at his lotus feet again and again in all future lives until samsara is empty!

 

Geshe Gyalten Tsetan Geshe Gyalten
Founder, Awakening Vajra
Heart Disciple of Choden Rinpoche

 

This website is still a work in progress, but it will be updated as we move forward into the new phases of this stupa construction. Thank you for your patience as it continues to grow.