Lopon Tsechu

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Born	1918 Bhutan
Died	June 10, 2003 Bangkok, Thailand

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche (1918, Bhutan - June 10, 2003) was a great master of Tibetan Buddhism, widely regarded in the Himalayas, with many students in both the East and the West.

As a boy, he was ordained as a monk in the largest monastery in Bhutan, Phunaka Dzong. He trained with important teachers from all of the main Tibetan Buddhist schools, especially the Drukpa Kagyu and Karma Kagyu lineages. After meeting His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa in Bhutan in 1944, Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche became his close student and received from him the transmission of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. Their relationship was such that the 16th Karmapa once said "If I am Buddha, Lopon Tsechu is my Ananda"^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Activity

From his base in Kathmandu, Nepal Lopon Tsechu was a key figure in nurturing the development of Buddhism in Nepal following the occupation of Tibet by China. He exerted a formidable influence throughout the diverse Buddhist community in Nepal and was respected both as a great lama and also a skilled politician.

Lopon Tsechu became the first teacher of Lama Ole Nydahl, one of the most prolific western Buddhist masters, and was a major inspiration behind Lama Ole's work in establishing Diamond Way Buddhism in the West.

At the invitation of Ole Nydahl, Rinpoche first came to the West in 1988 to give teachings and transmissions to many students. Over the next fifteen years Lopon Tsechu ministered to thousands of people in Europe, Russia and America.

In 1997 Rinpoche established the Buddha Dharma Centre, a monastery near the great Swayambhu Stupa in Kathmandu.

Lopon Tsechu built many Stupas, monuments symbolising the Enlightened mind of the Buddha, in both the East and the West. The crown jewel of his career and one of his greatest legacies is the Enlightenment Stupa of Benalmadena, Spain. Inaugurated in 2003, it stands at 33 metres (or 108 feet) tall, making it the largest stupa in the Western world. [1]

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche died on on June 10th, 2003. He was one of the last of his generation of lamas trained in the old Tibet. Lama Ole Nydahl described Rinpoche's death with the metaphor of a majestic oak tree falling in the forest.^{[citation needed]}