Ngak’chang Rinpoche
Ngak’chang Rinpoche is the founder of the international Nyingma organization known as Sang-ngak-chö-dzong. Rinpoche was recognized by Dudjom Rinpoche as the reincarnation of Aro Yeshé, the son of the extraordinary female Lama and treasure revealer, Khyungchen Aro Lingma. Ngak’chang Rinpoche’s main teachers were Kunzang Dorje Rinpoche and Jomo Samphel, Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche and his first Lama, Lama Yeshe Dorje. Between 1970 and 1984, Ngak’chang Rinpoche spent extended periods in the Himalayas receiving teachings and transmissions from many of the most revered teachers of the Nyingma Tradition. During this time he accomplished all the traditional practices, and received all the necessary empowerments and transmissions, of a Nyingma Lama. Hailing from a financially disadvantaged background, he funded his trips entirely through factory work and manual labour in Britain. He completed—in varying sections—four years in solitary retreat – often living in extremely basic conditions with little to eat. With the encouragement of his Lamas, he began teaching in 1979. In 1989, he was awarded a doctorate in Tibetan Tantric Psychology from the University of West Bengal. He has been a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in California and has contributed articles to several books, journals, and magazines on the subject of Vajrayana Psychology. He has given several keynote presentations at international psychology conferences for the British Psychological Society, and the Association of Transpersonal Psychology in the USA. Ngak’chang Rinpoche is the author of six books, many co-written with Khandro Déchen. He is a Vajrayana calligrapher, poet, thangka painter, multi-talented Vajrayana craftsman, and exponent of Yogic Song and Lama-dance. Ngak’chang Rinpoche and his wife, Khandro Déchen are the parents of two children. They make it a priority in their teaching activities—as a couple—to help students to view their relationships and family lives as spiritual practice.