The renowned Buddhist teacher, scholar, and author passed away on the morning of December 29.

Tulku Thondup, one of the most influential and revered Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the West, has died. Born in Golok, Eastern Tibet, Tulku Thondup was recognized as the reincarnation of Khenpo Khonch Dronme, a distinguished scholar from Drodupchen Monastery. After being forced to flee Tibet in 1958, Tulku Thondup settled in India, where he taught Tibetan and Tibetan Literature at Lucknow University and Visva Bharati University before coming to the United States to teach at Harvard University as a visiting scholar. 

Tulku Thondup was a celebrated teacher, translator, scholar, and author who was dedicated to the preservation of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, focusing primarily on the teachings of the Nyingma school. He was especially appreciated for his healing meditations. He was a prolific writer, making invaluable contributions to the study and practice of the dharma. Among his notable works are Masters of Meditation and Miracles and The Heart of Unconditional Love: A Powerful New Approach to Loving-Kindness Meditation, which has been published in eighteen languages.

Shambhala Publications shared a statement in remembrance of Tulku Thondup. It reads, in part:

Tulku Rinpoche was one of the last of the great masters of his generation, and his deep wisdom, humility, humor, and ever-present kindness were a constant source of respite in a world filled with so much suffering. […] The Mahasiddha center in Massachusetts which Tulku Thondup was very close with wrote that Rinpoche’s faithful and perfect companion Lydia said that Tulku did not want prayers for his rebirth. She said people should say whatever prayers with […] He was very much a lama’s lama, and few passing through anywhere near New England would miss an opportunity to pay a visit and receive the wisdom of one of the great scholars and masters of our day.

Here are some articles by Tulku Thondup from the Lion’ Roar archives: