Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche

Rabné (Consecration) and Teaching
Wednesday 3o October and Thursday 31 October

For Rigpa Sangha only

The completion of the temple at Dzogchen Beara is cause for our whole Sangha to celebrate. To mark this great achievement and endow the temple with the blessings of all the buddhas, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche and his monks will lead an elaborate two-day consecration practice (Rabné).

This practice will shower blessings not only on the temple, but on all the practitioners fortunate enough to attend, removing obstacles to their path and bringing them good fortune and success. Additionally, as an auspicious tendrel on this very special occasion, Orgyen Tobgyal has kindly consented to teach.

Rinpoche has said extraordinary things about the importance of the temple for Ireland and for the world, for the protection and liberation of sentient beings, and for the future of the teachings of the Buddha. It is our shared good fortune as Rigpa students, to have this precious opportunity to be with him in October when he blesses what we have accomplished together, the completion of Sogyal Rinpoche’s last project, for the benefit of all beings.

Your Support is Greatly Appreciated

Dzogchen Beara is a not-for-profit charity. The fees are set at a minimum to cover the costs of the weekend but we have many other daily expenses to keep the centre open and to support our spiritual community. Please consider making a donation where indicated on your online booking form.

We still need a lot of financial help to complete the Temple. If you can make a donation or sponsor some aspect of the Temple’s sacred architecture and ornamentation, or would like to purchase a calligraphy especially created by great Tibetan Masters to support the Temple, please do so here.

All donors’ names are written on a scroll which will be placed inside a gilded casket and enshrined in the Temple during the inauguration ceremony which we hope will happen in 2025. You can make a gift in your name or the name of a loved one or friend, or of somebody who has passed away.

Accommodation

Please note that all our onsite accommodation is now fully booked.

Catering

Delicious two course vegetarian lunches, with soup and bread in the evenings. Cooked with love at Dzogchen Beara, using homegrown and organic ingredients whenever possible. Tea and coffee.

Fee

Fee €210
Concession €108

Dzogchen Beara has a policy of not turning anyone away for financial reasons.
Please email info@dzogchenbeara.org to discuss flexible payment options or request assistance from our retreat fund.

Accommodation

There is no on-site accommodation available.
A list of hostels, B&B’s self-catering accommodation and hotels in the local area is available here.

Meals

Vegetarian lunches and light evening meals are provided. The cost is included in your fee.

Registration

Online booking here

Enquiries by email or + 353 (0) 27 73032

Visitor Information

Read our visitor information here.

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche was born in 1951 in Nangchen region of Kham in Eastern Tibet. He is the son of the Third Neten Chokling Rinpoche. Although he is known as Gyalchen Tulku, the activity emanation of Taksham Nüden Dorje, he was not formally recognised as a tulku—incarnate lama—in his younger years, because it was said that this would create obstacles to his life. He is the elder brother of Khyentse Yeshe Rinpoche, Jamyang Gyaltsen and Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and is affectionately called Abu Rinpoche (Abu meaning ‘older brother’ in the Kham dialect of Tibetan). At the end of the 1950s he left Tibet and went to Sikkim with his parents where he lived for a few years. People say that he used to follow his father wherever he went. In 1967 Chokling Rinpoche started the Tibetan settlement of Bir in Himachal Pradesh, North East India. It was on the way from Delhi to Bir that His Eminence died tragically in a car accident in 1973.

After the passing away of his father, Rinpoche took care of his monastery—Pema Ewam Chögar Gyurme Ling Monastery—in Bir. He raised the young reincarnation of his father, the 4th Neten Chokling Rinpoche, before passing over to him in 2004 full responsibility for a monastery that had become famous throughout the Tibetan world, particularly among the Nyingma school, for its expertise in elaborate Vajrayana rituals, Rinpoche’s specialty.

Rinpoche also attended Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for many years, and it was with him that he first went to the West. After he first taught in Dordogne, France, at Pema Wangyal Rinpoche’s centre, his mother heard that his teachings had been recorded, and asked for the tapes. When she listened to them, she was amazed at her son’s knowledge, because she had never really seen him study. Rinpoche is well known for his incredible memory and the depth of his knowledge, particularly in the field of Vajrayana practices and rituals, and history.

Between 2004 and 2006 Rinpoche went twice to Tibet in order to rebuilt the monastery of his father, Neten Gön. Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche is also a Member of the Tibetan Parliament for the region of Kham, first elected in 2000 and reelected in 2005, and has a reputation as a formidable orator. Nowadays Rinpoche still lives in Bir, and travels occasionally to Europe, America, and Taiwan.

Along with the monks of his monastery, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche has been a regular visitor to Lerab Ling, Dzogchen Beara and Rigpa centres since 1996, where he has taught on many aspects of the Vajrayana, and led many elaborate practices. He has also been closely involved in every phase of the building of the temples at Dzogchen Beara and Lerab Ling and has himself presided over many of the spiritual practices that are an integral part of the building process.