Tamphel, Khenpo Könchok

Khenpo Tamphel(b. 1975 - )

Khenpo Könchog Tamphel was born in 1975 in Ladakh. At the age of nine, he became a novice at Lamayuru Monastery, where he received a basic Dharma educationfor several years. There he also studied and practiced some of the Drikung Kagyü rituals. In 1987 he joined the Drikung Kagyu Institute in Dehra Dun, Indiafor advanced Buddhist studies. There he spent nine years studying the twelve main commentaries of the Masters of Nalanda and the Drikung Kagyu treatises such as the Gong Chig, 'The Heart of the Mahayana Sutras', etc., under the skilful guidance of Khenpo Togdol Rinpoche , Khenpo Könchog Mönlam,Khenpo Könchog Tashi and Khenchen Könchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche . After completing his studies in 1996, he traveled to Europe and Southeast Asia as translator of SH Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. He also taught at Drikung Kagyü Centers in Malaysia, Singapore, North America, Estonia and Latvia.

In the meantime, he took part in a one-year translation course English-Tibetan in Dharamsala and then spent a year studying works by Maitreya at the Dzongsar Institute. for several years he was the resident Khenpo in the Songtsen Library in Dehra Dun. In addition to his teachings in the library, he has translated some rare Drikung Kagyü texts into English and has published some English-language books. Since 2015 he lives in Vienna and works at the University of Vienna. Incidentally, he continues to translate texts from Tibetan into English. (Source Accessed Sept 23, 2020)

Library Items

Buddha Nature Across Asia

The tathāgatagarbha or buddha nature doctrine is centered on sentient beings’ potential for buddhahood—sometimes understood in the sense that all beings already contain a “buddha within.” This notion is found through various strands of early Mahāyāna sources that, notwithstanding their complex and interwoven development, came to share enough common features to summarize them under the doxographical category of Tathāgatagarbha. The chapters contained in this volume represent the latest research into buddha nature theory that covers a range of topics across major Buddhist traditions. These contributions were originally presented as papers during the symposium “Tathāgatagarbha across Asia: The Reception of an Influential Mahāyāna Doctrine in Central and East Asia,” held at the University of Vienna in 2019. This symposium brought together academic scholars focusing on religio-historical developments of buddha nature theory as well as traditional teachers and monastics who offered emic perspectives on the relevance of the concept within the context of their own tradition. The resulting volume, therefore, aims at contributing to the overall better understanding of tathāgatagarbha doxography, both historically and in living Buddhist communities. (Source: WSTB)

Mathes, Klaus-Dieter, and Casey Kemp, eds. Buddha Nature Across Asia. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 103. Vienna: Arbeitkreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien, University of Vienna, 2022.

Mathes, Klaus-Dieter, and Casey Kemp, eds. Buddha Nature Across Asia. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 103. Vienna: Arbeitkreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien, University of Vienna, 2022.;Buddha Nature Across Asia;Buddha Nature Across Asia

Video

Khenpo Tamphel at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium

Drawing on the text entitled A Mahāmudrā Investigation into Confusion: An Instruction for Identifying the Process of Confusion by Jikten Sumgon, Khenpo Tamphel explains how, according to this text, sentient beings and buddhas are related, how confusion arises that leads to saṃsāra, and how recognition of the true nature of sentient beings is the way to enlightenment.

Tamphel, Khenpo Könchok. "The Difference Between a Sentient Being and a Buddha: 'Jig rten gsum mgon’s Instruction on the Process of Confusion." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 47:23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GbYgx3ozDM.

Tamphel, Khenpo Könchok. "The Difference Between a Sentient Being and a Buddha: 'Jig rten gsum mgon’s Instruction on the Process of Confusion." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 47:23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GbYgx3ozDM.;Khenpo Tamphel at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium;Sentient beings;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Drikung Kagyu;'bri gung skyob pa 'jig rten mgon po;Mahamudra;Ngok Tradition;Tsen Tradition;dharmakāya;dharmatā;kunshi;tathāgatagarbha;Khenpo Tamphel;The Difference Between a Sentient Being and a Buddha: 'Jig rten gsum mgon’s Instruction on the Process of Confusion

Affiliations & relations

University of Vienna · workplace affiliation
Songtsen Library · secondary affiliation
Drikung Kagyu · religious affiliation