TRALEG KYABGON RINPOCHE was born in 1955 in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet. At about the age of two, he was recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg Tulkus, and enthroned as the Supreme Abbott of Thrangu Monastery.
In 1959 Traleg Rinpoche had to flee his native land. Rinpoche escaped with his party to Bhutan and from there to Rumtek, the headquarters of His Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa in Sikkim. He subsequently underwent the rigorous training prescribed for tulkus born with the responsibilities as major lineage holders. This included many years of instructions in both Drukpa and Karma Kagyu traditions, five years at the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India, and several years at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India.
In 1980 Traleg Rinpoche went to Australia where he established the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in Melbourne. In 1984 Rinpoche inaugurated the annual Buddhist Summer School, which serves as the forum for many important social and religious issues. Rinpoche is the spiritual director of E-Vam Institute in Melbourne, Australia; Nyima Tashi in Auckland, New Zealand; and other affiliated centers.
In North America, Traleg Rinpoche has established and is the spiritual director of the E-Vam Buddhist Institute in New York.
In addition to a strict traditional Buddhist training, Traleg Rinpoche has received a comprehensive Western education, holding a degree from La Trobe University, and he is currently engaged in academic research for a Doctoral dissertation.
Since 1989, Traleg Rinpoche has taught at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and visited the North American Affiliates of KTD. On the occasion of Traleg Rinpoche's first visit to KTD, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche dictated an introduction that was presented to the centers on his arrival. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche's introduction is titled A Brief Explanation.
