TTE Video Library

Born in Tingri, Tibet in 1967, Drubpon Lama Tenzin Sangpo received ordination and a traditional monastic education at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery at an early age. He successfully completed a traditional three-year meditative retreat at the Asura Cave Retreat Centre, and served for many years as the monastery’s main umdze, or recitation master, leading elaborate Buddhist rituals. For 16 years, he served as Resident Lama at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde Germany Austria before being assigned by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche to settle at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde Pyrenees in France in order to guide extensive retreats for Westerners in that secluded mountainous setting.

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche was born in 1951 as the eldest son of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. He has served as the abbot of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery since its inauguration in 1976. Overseeing both the monastery and its affiliate institutions, Rinpoche is responsible for the personal welfare and spiritual education of nearly 500 monks and nuns. Rinpoche is a renowned meditation master and teacher. For over 35 years he has taught audiences in Nepal and around the world. He is the founder and head of a global network of Buddhist centers dedicated to study, practice, and social work. Rinpoche’s vision and mission is to contribute to a world in which the Buddha’s teachings and meditations are available to everyone.

In 1990, Mag. Heidi Köppl left Austria at a young age and arrived at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery where she soon became a disciple of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and his late father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Remaining in Nepal for almost 25 years, she studied under the guidance of both Rinpoches and served as Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s translator. After earning her degree in Tibetology from the University of Copenhagen, she translated such academic works as Illuminating the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva and Establishing Appearances as Divine. Heidi was a faculty member at Rangjung Yeshe Institute and created the ‘Tara’s Triple Excellence’ online meditation program.