A Short Biography of Khenchen Appey Rinpoche
Khenpo Appey Rinpoche
The Most Venerable Khenchen Appey Rinpoche, Ngakwang Yönten Zangpo, was born in 1927 in Serjong, near Dégé in Eastern Tibet. Although he was recognized as the incarnation of a Kagyü master, his father, who was a staunch Sakyapa, placed him in the village’s Sakya monastery at the age of eight. When he was 13 years old he began studying Buddhist philosophy at Serjong Monastic College.
At the age of 22, after nine years of intensive study under the tutelage of Lama Lodrö, Appey Rinpoche went to Dzongsar Shédra, Tibet, to continue his philosophical studies. Founded by Jamyang Khyentsé Chökyi Lodrö in 1917, this shédra was the most renowned monastic university for the study of philosophy as taught by all the Buddhist traditions.
At Dzongsar Shedra he also received the esoteric teachings of the secret mantra vehicle from Jamyang Khyentsé Chökyi Lodrö and was appointed as a senior revision teacher. Following his graduation from Dzongsar Shédra, he went to Litang in Eastern Tibet to meet the great master Dézhung Ajam Rinpoché. There he received many rare and valuable teachings on the tantras which he later transmitted to his disciples and to many high lamas.
Jamyang Khyentsé Chökyi Lodrö
“[He was] a realized Dharma master, a most kind and compassionate human being”
At the age of 25, he was enthroned as the abbot of Serjong Monastery (pictured below) and conducted philosophical classes there for a period of four years. In 1956, at the age of 30, he embarked on a very long journey to the great Ngor Evam Chöden monastery in Central Tibet, where he received full bhikshu (Tib. gelong) ordination as well as many special teachings of the Ngorpa lineage. The Ngor abbots immediately recognized Appey Rinpoche’s mastery of Dharma and appointed him head khenpo of their philosophical institute. He taught there for approximately two years before going into exile in Sikkim in 1959.
Appreciating Rinpoche’s scholastic achievements, the Queen Mother of Sikkim asked him to work at the National Library in Gangtok, and he continued in that post for several years. In 1963, His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin had relocated to the Dehradun area in Northern India and invited Appey Rinpoche to join him as his principal tutor. Both His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin and Appey Rinpoche wanted to establish an academy where monks could study Buddhist philosophy. With this in mind, the Sakya College was founded in 1972 and eventually established in its permanent location on the road to Hill Station Mussorie, near Dehradun. From 1972 to 1985, Khenchen Appey Rinpoche was fully responsible for teaching the classes, supervising the administration and raising funds for the college.
HH 41st Sakya Trizin with Khenpo Appey Rinpoche
Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, HH 41st Sakya Trizin, and Khenpo Appey Rinpoche
When many of his students had reached a high level of proficiency and Sakya College was fully established, Khenchen Appey Rinpoche requested permission from His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin to go to Nepal. At first, no one knew exactly where he had relocated, but it was later discovered that he had gone to Pharping, a renowned pilgrimage destination for Mantrayana practitioners, to devote himself to meditation. He spent five years in secluded retreat practice there, and as people became aware of his presence and wisdom he began receiving more and more requests to teach.
The Venerable Appey Rinpoche made several teaching trips to Singapore. In the course of traveling abroad and giving teachings, he became increasingly aware of the need for a school that would make the Dharma accessible to foreigners. While he was on one such trip, a strong supporter and faithful disciple, Madam Doreen Goh, suggested developing a Buddhist study center for non-Tibetan speakers and offered financial backing for such a project. Things then moved quickly and in 2001, the International Buddhist Academy was officially inaugurated by His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin in Tinchuli, Kathmandu.
Rinpoche established the Academy’s initial goals and launched it by teaching one of the first courses himself. The main goal was to teach the Buddhadharma; making it accessible to international students in an authentic and profound way. His second priority was to translate the holy teachings and their commentaries into English, Chinese and other languages. These two goals led naturally to the publishing and distribution of texts.
The International Buddhist Academy (IBA) in Kathmandu, Nepal
In 2007, Khenchen Appey Rinpoche expanded IBA’s mandate to include a multiyear “School of Leadership” for post-graduate monastic scholars to learn leadership and language skills. In 2008, a new program for non-Tibetan speakers to participate in a two-year “School of Translation” intensive training program was developed. His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin has encouraged both the IBA monastic scholars and the IBA translation intensive participants to develop their abilities to work together on translation teams and in research projects.
Khenchen Appey Rinpoche also visited his home monastery in Eastern Tibet, where he gave teachings and funded the refurbishing of the ancient ruined monastic college and a new dormitory for the monks. He also provided funds for the construction of a new multi-storey assembly hall. He completely furnished these buildings, providing among many other important resources one thousand eight-inch Buddha statues from Nepal for the assembly hall and a significant collection of the complete publications of the great Dégé printing press for the monastic college. He also renovated the monastery’s old retreat centre and provided his monastery with an endowment fund from which annual grand pujas and other important ritual observances are still being sponsored.
Through various means, Khenchen Appey Rinpoche was able to collect many rare manuscripts of the Sakya and other schools for the IBA’s library. He invested a great deal of his time and resources in collecting these precious texts, digitizing, publishing and distributing them to monasteries, monastic schools, and libraries in many parts of the world.
Another of Rinpoche’s significant contributions was designing a curriculum for the Vajrayana Institute, a monastic college that was newly founded by His Eminence Luding Khen Rinpoche, in India.
Rinpoche retired to a private residence in Boudha, near both IBA and the great stupa. He always made himself available to those who sought his guidance, continuing to give private teachings, especially to lamas and khenpos. He was renowned for the precision, vastness, and inspirational power of his teachings.
Out of sincere humility, Khenchen Appey Rinpoche avoided the attentions of admirers. He did not want people to prostrate to him and preferred that people not call themselves “students” of his, but rather “Dharma friends.” For his personal letterhead, he simply used the letter “A” without any ornament to embellish his identity.
In 2009, Rinpoche manifested an illness in the form of cancer in his esophagus. He underwent treatment but never fully recovered from the strong side effects. In 2010, he compassionately hinted at the inevitable approach of his death, when he said to some of his students, “This disease is not going to go away. I am creating lots of trouble for many people.” He passed away peacefully in late December while in control of the process.
Venerable Khenchen Appey Rinpoche lived a most meaningful life, dedicated exclusively to the Buddhadharma.
Remembering Khenpo Appey Rinpoche
HH Sakya Trichen on Khenpo Appey Rinpoche.
Words about Khenpo Appey Rinpoche from his disciples.