Teachings with Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche

Khenchen Pema Sherab was born in 1936, at Riphu, in the Dergé region of Eastern Tibet. He started to study at the age of eight, learning to read and write Tibetan with his uncle, Lama Chözang, while he was herding cattle. At fourteen, he went to Lhasa and studied under masters and scholars of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1953 he received ordination from Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. In Lhasa, he also met Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and served as his attendant for about ten years, fleeing with him to Bhutan and then India in 1959. Over the years, he received many teachings from him, including the Guhyagarbha Tantra, and Longchenpa’s Treasury of Pith Instructions. During the 1950s he also stayed for long periods at Nenang Monastery and Tshurphu, the monastery of the Karmapas, which at that time was home to many great Kagyü masters who had escaped from the troubles in East Tibet. While on pilgrimage in Central Tibet, he met Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö at Tsering Jong, the seat of Jikmé Lingpa. While in India, he also studied with Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsöndrü, and from Kyabjé Trulshik Rinpoche he received the vows of a fully ordained monk, and also various empowerments and teachings.

In 1968, at the request of Kyabjé Penor Rinpoche he went to Namdroling Monastery to teach. Though the shedra was not yet established at that time, Khen Rinpoche taught the monks for several years. The shedra was finally established in 1978 and from then until 2003, for 25 years, Khenpo Pema Sherab taught there tirelessly while also managing the institution.

Khenpo Sonam Tsewang is a khenpo at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute (NNI), the advanced centre for Buddhist philosophical study at Namdroling Monastery, Bylakkuppe, India. He received the lopön degree from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the year 2010 and was enthroned as a khenpo at Namdroling Monastery in 2011 by His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche. Khenpo has served Namdroling Monastery for many years.
Khenpo has worked for the late His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche in translating their teachings from Tibetan to English. He has translated and published English books such as How to Follow a Spiritual Master, The All-Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder: The Outer Liberation Story of Terton Migyur Dorje and Drops of Nectar. Khenpo travels extensively with his teacher, Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche during his teaching tours around the world.