View source for Gelek Rimpoche

{{Infobox religious biography
| honorific-prefix = 
| name             = Nawang Gehlek Rimpoche
| honorific-suffix = 
| native_name      = སྐྱབས་རྗེ་དགེ་ལེགས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།
| native_name_lang = Tibetan
| image            = Gelek Rinpoche.jpg
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| caption          = Gelek Rinpoche, October 2014
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| nationality      = Tibetan
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| birth_date       = {{birth date|1939|10|26|df=y}} 
| birth_place      = [[Lhasa]], [[Tibet]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2017|02|15|1939|10|26|df=y}} 
| death_place      = [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], United States 
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'''Kyabje Nawang Gehlek Rimpoche''' ({{bo|t=སྐྱབས་རྗེ་དགེ་ལེགས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།|w=skyabs rje dge legs rin po che/}}) was a [[Tibetan Buddhist]] [[lama]] who was born in [[Lhasa]], [[Tibet]] on 26 October 1939. His personal name was Gelek; ''kyabje'' and ''[[rimpoche]]'' are titles meaning "teacher" (lit., "lord of refuge") and "precious," respectively. He was a [[tulku]], an incarnate lama, of [[Drepung Monastery|Drepung Monastic University]], where he received the scholastic degree of [[Geshe Lharampa]], the highest degree given, at an exceptionally young age.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tworkov|first1=Helen|title=A Lama for All Seasons:  An Interview with Gelek Rinpoche|url=https://tricycle.org/magazine/lama-all-seasons/|website=tricycle.org|publisher=Tricycle Magazine|accessdate=31 December 2017}}</ref> The [[14th Dalai Lama]] said, "he completed his traditional Buddhist training as a monk in Tibet prior to the [[Incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China|Chinese Takeover]]."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OraABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT14&dq=Good+Life,+Good+Death:+Tibetan+Wisdom+on+Reincarnation|title=Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation|last=Gehlek|first=Nawang|publisher=Riverhead Books|year=2001|isbn=9781573221962|location=New York|pages=Foreword}}</ref>

Gelek was a nephew of the [[13th Dalai Lama]], [[Thubten Gyatso]]. He was tutored by many of the same masters who tutored the current (14th) Dalai Lama, [[Tenzin Gyatso]].

In 1959, Gelek fled to India from Tibet and gave up monastic life. He was one of the first students of the [[Young Lamas Home School]]. He is the founder and president of [https://www.jewelheart.org/ Jewel Heart], "a spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian organization that translates the ancient wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism into contemporary life."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Art and Impermanence |work=[[Rubin Museum of Art]] |accessdate=2013-08-18 |url=http://www.rmanyc.org/programs/tp/1.cfm |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008154257/http://www.rmanyc.org/programs/tp/1.cfm |archivedate=October 8, 2007 }}</ref>

He moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1987 to teach Buddhism. He became an American citizen and founded Buddhist communities in Ann Arbor, Chicago and New York City. <ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/12/28/a-woman-who-married-god-a-chess-playing-priest-and-10-more-fascinating-religious-figures-who-died-in-2017/|title=A woman who married God, a chess-playing priest and 10 more fascinating religious figures who died in 2017|author=Daniel Silliman|date=28 December 2017|publisher=|accessdate=7 January 2018|via=www.washingtonpost.com|format=web}} published as {{cite news|title=Intriguing religious figures who died in '17|date=January 6, 2018|publisher=[[The Daily Gleaner]]|page=B7|format=print}}</ref> 

Beat-poet [[Allen Ginsberg]] was among the more prominent of Jewel Heart's members.
Ginsberg met with Gelek Rinpoche through the modern composer [[Philip Glass]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lifeline |work=Allen Ginsberg dot org |accessdate=2013-08-18 |url=http://www.allenginsberg.org/lifeline.php/2.cfm |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927063343/http://www.allenginsberg.org/lifeline.php/2.cfm |archivedate=September 27, 2007 }}</ref> Allen and Philip jointly staged benefits for the Jewel Heart organization.  Professor [[Robert Thurman]] and [http://www.nalandainstitute.org/pages/f-director.html Joe Liozzo] are also Jewel Heart members and frequent lecturers.

Gelek Rinpoche died on February 15, 2017 in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] after undergoing surgery the previous month.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Office of Tibet Mourns the Passing of Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche|url=http://tibetoffice.org/media-press/news/office-tibet-mourns-demise-kyabje-gelek-rinpoche|website=tibetoffice.org|publisher=The Office of Tibet, Washington, DC|accessdate=31 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Biddlecombe|first1=Wendy Joan|title=Tibetan Buddhist Lama Gelek Rimpoche Has Died|url=https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/tibetan-buddhist-lama-gelek-rimpoche-died/|accessdate=December 31, 2017|publisher=Tricycle|date=February 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Meade Sperry|first1=Rod|title=Remembering Gelek Rimpoche, Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author (1939-2017)|url=https://www.lionsroar.com/remebering-gelek-rimpoche-tibetan-buddhist-teacher-and-author-1939-2017/|website=lionsroar.com|publisher=Lion’s Roar Foundation|accessdate=31 December 2017}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*''Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation'', (foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama), Riverhead Books, 2001, {{ISBN|1-57322-196-1}}
*''The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing From the Female Buddha'' (with Brenda Rosen), New World Library, 2004, {{ISBN|1-57731-461-1}}
*''Essentials of Modern Literary Tibetan: A Reading Course and Reference Grammar'' (with Melvyn C. Goldstein, Lobsang Phuntshog),{{ISBN|978-0520076228}}, {{ISBN|0520076222}}                

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.jewelheart.org/gelek-rimpoche/ Biography of Gelek Rimpoche], from Jewel Heart
*[https://www.jewelheart.org/remembrance/ Remembering Gelek Rimpoche], from Jewel Heart
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_fxhhrB8d4/ Gelek Rimpoche White Tara Guided Meditation], Gelek Rimpoche leads a guided meditation on the healing and compassionate activity of Tara.
*{{Cite web
 |title=An Audience With Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche 
 |work=Official Website of His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche 
 |accessdate=2013-08-18 
 |url=http://v7.tsemtulku.com/news/ladrang-news/an-audience-with-kyabje-gelek-rinpoche/ 
}}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{Cite web
| title = The Four Noble Truths: Online Retreat with Gelek Rimpoche
| work = Tricycle Magazine
| accessdate = 2013-08-18
| url = http://www.tricycle.com/online-retreats/four-noble-truths
}}
*[http://appinoproductions.com/americanrimpoche/#.WCqCVdyREo8 ''American Rimpoche]'' documentary film about the life of Gelek Rimpoche
*[https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/rubin-museum-show-to-trace-francesco-clementes-indian-inspirations/ "Rubin Museum Show to Trace Francesco Clemente’s Indian Inspirations"] New York Times article describes Clemente's "series “Clemente x 8,” is a group of 90-minute discussions between Mr. Clemente and eight people he regards as masters in other fields: the musicians Patti Smith and Nas; the chef Eric Ripert; the directors Alfonso Cuarón, Robert Lepage and David Chase; the architect Billie Tsien; and Gelek Rimpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama to whom Mr. Clemente is particularly close."


[[Category:Gelug Lamas]]
[[Category:Lamas]]
[[Category:Buddhist writers]]
[[Category:Tulkus]]
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet]]


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===Page is sourced from===

[https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Gelek%20Rimpoche www.encyclopediaofbuddhism.org Gelek Rimpoche]