Origins
Kangyur Rinpoche
The origins of Chanteloube go back to the early 1960s, when a small group of Westerners met Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche in Darjeeling, where he was living with his family and all the precious books he had managed to save from the Chinese invasion. Most of the European students who travelled to India to study with this great master had heard of him through a book and documentary by Arnaud Desjardins, called ‘Le Message des Tibétains’.
The difficulties of obtaining visas in order to practise near Kangyur Rinpoche in Darjeeling were such that his Western students requested him to come to Europe in order to teach and establish the Dharma there. Kangyur Rinpoche agreed to do so. In 1972, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, who was living nearby in Kalimpong, India, was planning his first visit to the West. Kangyur Rinpoche considered Dudjom Rinpoche a highly accomplished master, and in particular they had both had the same root teacher, Thrinle Jampai Jungne, Jedrung Rinpoche of Riwoche, so he sent his eldest son, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, to request Dudjom Rinpoche to include France in his journey to the West and to give teachings to the group of students living there. Soon after, Dudjom Rinpoche first visited the grounds of Chanteloube.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Trulshik Rinpoche
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was another contemporary master who was very close to Kangyur Rinpoche. Along with Kalu Rinpoche and Bokar Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche received the Nyingma Gyübum, the entire Taksham collection, and other rare transmissions from Kangyur Rinpoche. Kangyur Rinpoche also received transmissions from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, such as the Nyingthik Yabzhi. Kangyur Rinpoche passed away in January 1975 before being able to fulfill his wish to visit the West. That same year, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche requested Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche to come to the West to teach Kangyur Rinpoche’s students. They arrived in Paris on December 16, 1975. During that first visit, they travelled to France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, the USA, and Canada. It was during Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s visit to France that Pema Wangyal Rinpoche accepted the request of Kangyur Rinpoche’s students to establish a study centre, in order to further his father’s activities and make it possible for them to receive teachings from Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The study centre was established in an old French farmhouse called Chanteloube, located in the countryside of the Dordogne.
The ground of the retreat centre nearby was blessed by Dudjom Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and H.H. the 16th Karmapa, who had also been requested by Kangyur Rinpoche to include the Dordogne in his visit to the West to teach his students there.
Although Kangyur Rinpoche passed away before he could visit the West, his wife, Jetsün Jampa Chökyi, otherwise known as Amala, settled in the Dordogne with the rest of her family in 1980. She continued to spend most of her time in retreat and inspired everyone with her gentleness, humility and profound presence.
After his first visit in 1972, Dudjom Rinpoche regularly taught in the Dordogne until his demise in 1987. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche taught at Chanteloube from 1975 to 1990 and visited 17 times in those 15 years. It is thanks to the extraordinary aspirations of these teachers that many great masters continue to come and teach in the Dordogne, such as Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, one of the most senior teachers of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, who holds all the lineages of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche.
Particularly in the summers, Tibetan masters of various Tibetan Buddhist traditions are invited to give teachings (please see visits by teachers for a list of lamas who have taught or who regularly teach at Chanteloube).
The centre draws its inspiration from Tibet’s non-sectarian (ri-mé) movement and is open to all Buddhist traditions. A strong emphasis is placed on the fact that true wisdom can only develop hand in hand with love and compassion.
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