Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche
Title	Rinpoche
Personal
Born	Sonam Gyaltsen Lakar; 1947; Trehor, Kham, Tibet
Died	28 August 2019 (aged 72); Bangkok, Thailand
Religion	Tibetan Buddhism
School	Dzogchen, Nyingma
Senior posting
Teacher	Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
Reincarnation	Tertön Sogyal
	Students Patrick Gaffney, Christine Longaker, Charles Tart, Arabella Churchill;
Website	rigpa.org

Sogyal Rinpoche (Tibetan: བསོད་རྒྱལ་, Wylie: Bsod-rgyal; 1947 – 28 August 2019) was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and former spiritual director of Rigpa — an international network of over 100 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world — and the author of the best-selling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has been printed in 30 languages and 56 countries.^[1] Before his retirement, in the wake of abuse allegations in 2017,^[2] he had been teaching for 40 years in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.^[3]

Sogyal Rinpoche had been accused of sexual and physical assault and abuse, as well as misusing charitable funds, with allegations stretching back to the 1970s.^[4]^[5] In 2017, Rigpa announced these allegations would be investigated by an outside party and a report has now been published, upholding most of the allegations.^[6] Sogyal Rinpoche did not respond to the report but stated that "I am clear in my own mind that I have never, ever, acted towards anyone with a motive of selfish gain or harmful intent."^[7]

^ "Tibetan_Book_of_Living_and_Dying". 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Rigpa.org: Sogyal Rinpoche". Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.
^ Brown, Mick (2 February 1995). "The Precious One". The Telegraph Magazine.
^ Brown, Mick (21 September 2017). "Sexual assaults and violent rages... Inside the dark world of Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "Rigpa Announces Plans for Independent Investigation of Abuse Allegations". WHAT NOW?. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Cite error: The named reference mort was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] "Tibetan_Book_of_Living_and_Dying". 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007.

[:0-2] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] "Rigpa.org: Sogyal Rinpoche". Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.

[4] Brown, Mick (2 February 1995). "The Precious One". The Telegraph Magazine.

[5] Brown, Mick (21 September 2017). "Sexual assaults and violent rages... Inside the dark world of Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 January 2018.

[6] "Rigpa Announces Plans for Independent Investigation of Abuse Allegations". WHAT NOW?. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.

[mort-7] Cite error: The named reference mort was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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