Rigpa’s Monastic sangha attend 6-week Kama transmissions at Mindrolling Monastery, India
Rigpa Monastic Community
Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche with members of Rigpa’s monastic community at Mindrolling Monastery
At the invitation of Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, members of Rigpa’s monastic sangha are honoured to be participating in a gathering of over 5000 lamas, monastic and lay practitioners to receive the precious Kama transmissions bestowed by Kyabjé Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche.
The Kama Transmissions, or Oral Lineage of Transmissions, are the treasury of teachings and practices of the Nyingma school passed down in an unbroken chain from the time of the Buddha from master to disciple. Preserved with the utmost care at Mindrolling, the Kama contains the profound transmissions which are the very life-force of the Dharma. These transmissions are exceedingly rare to encounter, and their continuity ensures that Buddhadharma remains pure, continuous, and free of any degradation.
Kyabjé Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche with members of Rigpa’s monastic community at Mindrolling Monastery
In this auspicious Diamond Jubilee year, marking sixty years since the founding of Mindrolling Monastery in India, the precious Kama transmissions, the very lifeblood of the Nyingma lineage, are being bestowed at Mindrolling Monastery by Kyabjé Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche. These transmissions have been completely organized and fully supported by Kyabje Minling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, the 12th generation of the Mindrolling Lineage, and the Mindrolling Monastery.
Khandro Rinpoche is also one of Rigpa’s Spiritual Advisers and extended an invitation to our monastic community to participate in this auspicious event. Tenpa Rabgye, Tenzin Jigme, Ane Samten, Ane Sangye Chozom, Ane Sonam and Ane Tsultrim are attending the transmissions, while some of the monastics offered to stay in Lerab Ling to hold their activities there.
To gather at Mindrolling and receive the Kama is an inconceivable blessing—an opportunity as rare as it is precious, ensuring the pure continuity of the Buddhadharma and carrying its liberating power into the hearts of beings for generations to come.
Our monastics’ account of their visit to Mindrolling Monastery for the Nyingma Kama Transmission
“We are a group of six monastics from Lerab Ling, deeply honoured to have been invited by Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche to attend the Nyingma Kama transmissions. With heartfelt gratitude, we wish to thank Rinpoche and the entire Mindrolling sangha for their immense kindness and generosity.
The transmissions—both wang and lung—are being bestowed by Kyabjé Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche at Mindrolling Monastery in Dehradun, India. They are taking over a period of about 49 days, continuing until mid-January.
The atmosphere is extraordinary: gathered in and around the magnificent Stupa Temple are many revered Rinpoches, Tulkus, Khenpos, Löpons, monks, nuns, Ngakpas, and lay practitioners. In total, around 5000 people are taking part. Despite the scale, everything is impeccably organised, carried out with remarkable care, discipline, and generosity toward all participants.
To be included in this vast and profoundly meaningful event brings in us deep gratitude for Sogyal Rinpoche. It is undoubtedly due to his deep connection with both Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche and Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche that these two masters of the Nyingma lineage extend such great care to our whole Rigpa sangha. We are humbled to be part of this karma and to receive such precious transmissions within the Nyingmapa lineage.
This journey is also a rare and precious opportunity for us to be together as monastics in a different context. It allows us to observe, learn from, and appreciate the way practices, rituals, and preparations are upheld with such dedication within the Mindrolling tradition. Khandro Rinpoche has opened the doors of the monastery to us with great warmth, and we are joyfully working and sharing our time alongside the Mindrolling international sangha—building friendships and developing deep connections.
Throughout our stay, Khandro Rinpoche has generously offered us guidance and advice, for which we are sincerely grateful. We have also had the delightful opportunity to spend quality time with our friends from Shechen—Ven. Sean, Khenpo Gyurme Dorje, Lopön Jigme, and others—and to meet many new people. This experience is truly enriching. It enables us to build bridges between East and West, between our different lineages and communities, and to establish strong and meaningful ties for the future.”
Learn more about the Kama teachings
When Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoche bestowed the Kama transmissions in 1962, he gave an extensive teaching on the significance and history of the kama teachings. His teachings, translated by Padmakara, can be found in the book ‘Counsels From My Heart’ and gives us a fuller appreciation for the significance of these teachings.
