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Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche
Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche was born in 1939 in Kham, Eastern Tibet. In the early 1950's Lama left Kham and travelled to Lhasa and met H.H. 16th Karmapa and Kalu Rinpoche. Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche then moved to Kalu Rinpoche's Monestary in Bhutan where he lived for 5 years where he did his first 3 year retreat plus helped build Stupas and helped with administration
In 1972 Kalu Rinpoche asked Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche to move to Vancouver to establish a Dharma Center and also a Retreat on Saltspring Island
A Short Biography of Chöjay Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche
High in the Himalayas, the roof of the world, as long as seventy years ago, Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche, at the age of one, always prayed with folded hands towards monks in traditional red robes. His cultivation of virtue in previous lives was manifesting from the inside out towards the monastic life and led his entry into the TsaTsa Monastery, in Kham, Tibet, at the age of eight. Eventually as a teenager, he entered Zhechen Kongtrul's Nyingma Monastery, a college in Eastern Tibet where he took his vows as a novice monk. His studies were of both Sutra and Tantra.
Everything began to change with the infiltration of the communist Chinese into Eastern Tibet. He spent five years with Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche in Bhutan and finally followed him to his monastery in Sonada, near Darjeeling, India. This was where he completed his 3 year retreat. In retreat he cultivated the essence of the practices of the six doctrines of Naropa and Niguma, the development and completion phases of tantric meditations, Mahamudra, and Maha Ati. After completion Rinpoche appointed him as a principal Vajracarya to teach and guide people in Vancouver, Canada.
The Dharma door opened when Pierre E. Trudeau allowed the first 32 Tibetan refugees to settle in Canada. In 1972 Kagyu Kunkhyab Chüling, the North American Seat of Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche was established as a charity with Tsenjur Rinpoche as the first Senior Spiritual Teacher. His activiities were later recognized in 1974 by H.H. Gyalwa Karmapa who bestowed upon him the title " Chöjay Lama " or Dharma Master. Hence-forth his title became " Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche ( Precious One )."
In the 1970s Tsenjur Rinpoche assisted the newly opened Kagyu centers in the USA bestowing refuge vows, Chenrezi initiations, and teachings to many hundreds of students. By 1975 Lama Tsenjur, with his students, purchased 160 acres for retreat facilities on Salt Spring Island. This retreat was named, " Kunzang Dechen Osel Ling." ( Clear Light Park of Profound Bliss ) by Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche. The first 3 year retreat in Canada began in 1982 and there were two more following.
The long term view of the retreat land, outlined by the directors, was to build retreat and seminar facilities and the fourth stage being the construction of a large temple as requested by Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, to benefit the community as a charity.
A house in Burnaby was also purchased by 1978 and twenty years later Tsenjur Rinpoche completed the construction of a temple at the Tibetan Lingstang Colony in Manduwala, India, located near Dehra Dunn. In 2008 he completed a six year retreat in his cabin at KDOL on Salt Spring Island where he continues to practice in retreat.
At Tsenjur Rinpoche's cabin , built in 1985, he has done many monthly retreats. His love of Chenrezi practice and the reading of the large volume of the " Mani Kabum " text have inspired him to recite millions of the " Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hung " mantra. To date he has recited over 45 million mantras along with other daily practices. Truly inspiring............
This short biography has been taken in part from an authentic document of Lama Tsenjur's life, written and certified by Very Venerable Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, on Jan.12, 1980 from Chateau De Plaige, France. Lama Tsenjur Rinpoche has authorized and confirmed this biography as an accurate account of a few details of his life.