༄༅།།སློབ་དཔོན་ཟླ་བ་གྲགས་པ་ལ་ན་མོ།།
ཨེ་མ་ཧོ༔
ལྟ་བའི་དེ་ཉིད་རྟོགས་པའི་དགོངས་པ་ལ།།
སྒོམ་པའི་འོད་གསལ་སྙིང་པོའི་རྩལ་རྫོགས་པ།།
སྤྱོད་པ་ཕྱིན་དྲུག་མཛད་པའི་ཐུགས་དམ་ཅན།།
ཨེ་ཝྃ་སློབ་དཔོན་ཙནྡྲ༌ཀིརྟི་རྗེ།།
སྐུ་ཚེ་བརྟན་ཅིང་བཞེད་དོན་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་ཤོག།
ཤྲཱིཿ གླིང་པས་སོ།། སྤྱི་ལོ། 28/2/2025
Download the Full Biography of Pelden Dawa Dakpa (pdf)
Early Life and Lineage
Dawa Dakpa was born in the year of water monkey in the tenth day of eight Tibetan lunar calendar in Tashi Thangay, a serene village in Samdrup Jongkhar, Eastern Bhutan, into the noble lineage of Penchen Tongla Katshelpa. The village of Tashi Thangay itself carries a profound spiritual legacy—its name was given by Dawa Dakpa’s great-great grandfather, Katshelpa Rinpoche, a revered spiritual master. At that time, the village suffered from a severe lack of water. Through deep meditation and sacred rituals, Katshelpa Rinpoche invoked blessings that brought forth a spring, providing the villagers with a lasting source of water that continues to flow to this day. Another precious gift to the community was a holy spring known as Gomchen Ree, offered by Dawa Dakpa’s grandfather, which remains a sacred site revered by the villagers even today.
His father, Tenzin Gyurmed, was a deeply devoted Ngakpa (Yogi) who chose to dedicate his life to retreat and meditation, while his mother, Yangdon, was a devoted practitioner of Ngondro (Guru Yoga). Dawa Dakpa grew up in an atmosphere of profound faith and spiritual discipline. He is one of five sons, all of whom chose the monastic path. Dawa Dakpa is the second eldest among them. Sadly, his father passed away when Dawa Dakpa was fifteen, and his mother passed away in 2023, leaving behind a strong spiritual legacy.
Journey to Monastic Life
From an early age, Dawa Dakpa displayed extraordinary devotion and a deep yearning for spiritual life. At just six years old, he pleaded with one of his uncles to take him to a monastery, but his father, believing him too young, declined. Driven by a powerful inner calling, young Dawa Dakpa secretly followed his uncle to India without his father’s permission. Recognizing his unwavering faith, his uncle took him under his care and brought him to Jangsa Dechen Choling Monastery, India. The monastery, built in 1678, is one of the oldest centers of the Dudjom Tersar Lineage within the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. It is led by Venerable Kunzang Dorji Rinpoche, the head of Jangsa Goenpa, Vajrakilaya Temple, and the Jangsa Animal Saving Trust, who is also the cousin of His Holiness Trulku Jigme Choedra, the 70th Je Khenpo of Bhutan.
Monastic Education and Academic Training
Under the guidance of his teachers, Dawa Dakpa spent eighteen years studying Sutras and Tantras, developing mastery in Buddhist philosophy, meditation, logic, grammar, ritual arts, and sacred dance. At the age of twenty-two, he earned the title of Lopen (Teacher) in recognition of his academic and spiritual excellence. He taught young monks for one year, guiding them in Buddhist philosophy. Following his teaching service, he worked for three years as a personal writer and assistant to Kunzang Dorji Rinpoche, sacred texts and assisting in the preservation of important teachings. To expand his academic knowledge, he later pursued higher studies at the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, Varanasi, India, where he completed two bachelor’s Degrees—one in Bachelor of Arts and another in Bachelor Education. Following his graduation, he spent several years in meditation retreats at various holy sites, including cremation grounds, mountain caves, and sacred locations, cultivating profound realization and inner peace.
Empowerments and Transmissions Received
Dawa Dakpa has received an extensive range of teachings, transmissions, and empowerments from renowned masters across the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
Formal Studies and Teachers
1. Studied The Thirty Verses by Sambhotra under Trulku Dawa Zangpo, Khenpo Jigme Wangdi, Lopen Tshewang, and Lopen Lhundrup Namgyel and Lopen Tashi Tsering.
2. Completed Preliminary Practices by Patrul Rinpoche and studied the Nine Successive Vehicles to Enlightenment and Buddhist Philosophy under Kunzang Dorji Rinpoche.
3. Undertook advanced Sutra and Tantra studies at Jangsa Dechen Choling Monastery and Vajra Temple, focusing on philosophy, meditation, logic, language, grammar, and sacred mask dance.
Major Empowerments and Transmissions
1. Nyingthig Yabshi from H.H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche (Sikkim, India)
2. Benefits of Chanting Compassion Buddha Mantra from H.H. Jadrel Sangay Dorji Rinpoche
3. Sampa Nyur Drupma from H.H. Dungsay Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
4. Dudjom Tsasum wang and Throema Wangchen (Trodhikali Supreme Initiation) from H.H. Dudjom Sangay Pema Zhepa Rinpoche and H.E. Garab Rinpoche
5. Boddhisattva teaching from H.H. 14th Dalai Lama
6. Vajrakilaya Empowerment from H.H. Sakya Gongma Rinpoche
7. Dudjom Yokma Sung Bum from Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (2003)
8. Dudjom Sung Bum Gongma from Trulku Theglo Rinpoche (2007)
9. Longchen Dzod Dun, Kama Wang-Lung (Empowerments and Oral Transmissions), Jamyang Khentse Wangpo,s Wang (Empowerment) and Mipham Kabum Wang-Lung (Empowerments and Oral Transmissions) from H.E. Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche.
10. Patrul Sungbum Wang (Empowerments) from H.E. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
11. Six Bardos and Abhidharma teaching from Lopen Thekchok Rinpoche.
12. Words of My Perfect Teacher teachings from Yangthang Rinpoche and Lama Jamyang
He also received guidance and blessings from Zhenphen Rinpoche, Throyo Rinpoche, Lama Chimi, Lama Jangchub, Lama Jamyang, Lama Koenchok, and Khenpo Karpo.
Dzogchen Teaching and Connection with H.H. Awam Pandrita Khenchen Lama Rinpoche
A profound chapter in Dawa Dakpa’s spiritual journey began with his connection to His Holiness Awam Pandrita Khenchen Lama Rinpoche, the head of the Awam Lineage. Recognized at the age of three by H.H. Sera Yangtrul Rinpoche as the reincarnation of Padma Dragngag Lingpa, Rinpoche is a highly accomplished master of Dzogchen and Dream Yoga, and a principal lineage-holder of both the Padma Dragngag Lingpa Terma Cycle and the Dudjom Tersar Tradition. During a retreat at Paro Taktsang in the Dolay Phug Cave, Dawa Dakpa experienced a lifechanging vision. While meditating, he momentarily dozed off and dreamt of H.H. Khenchen Lama Rinpoche, who appeared before him wearing orange and white robes and said, “Dawa Dakpa, Yar Lang”—meaning “Wake up” in Tibetan. Upon waking, Dawa Dakpa felt a powerful spiritual blessing, despite never having met or heard of Rinpoche before.
Months later, he travelled to Bangkok, Thailand, with one of Rinpoche’s students and met H.H. Khenchen Lama Rinpoche in person for the first time, recognizing him as the master from his vision. A year later, Dawa Dakpa received Dzogchen teachings directly from him and Rinpoche gave Dawa Dakpa a prophetic letter and conferred the dharma name ‘Pelden Dawa Dakpa’, instructing him to travel to Australia to flourish the Awam Lineage and continue spreading the teachings of wisdom and compassion. He also composed a Long-Life Prayer for Dawa Dakpa, symbolizing recognition and transmission of blessings.
Establishment of Awam Chandra Kirti Ling
Honouring his teacher’s instruction, Dawa Dakpa founded Awam Chandra Kirti Ling, a Buddhist centre dedicated to the study, preservation, and practice of the Awam lineage. The centre provides a sacred space for meditation, teachings, and retreats, fostering compassion, wisdom, and mindfulness. Through his compassionate leadership and deep devotion to the Dharma, Dawa Dakpa continues to guide practitioners across the world. His vision is to preserve the authentic teachings of the Awam Lineage and ensure that the light of Buddha’s wisdom continues to benefit future generations.