Lower realms

Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, the first Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor (1457-1525) was the root teacher of the 8th Karmapa Mikyo Dorje (1507-1554). He founded the byang chub chos 'khor gling monastery in Kham. The 2nd and 3rd Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoches stayed mainly in the Surmang (zur mang) monastery of the Trungpa Rinpoches. The 4th Sangye Nyenpa (dge legs rgya mtsho) left Surmang and founded the great monastery of Benchen in Nangchen/East Tibet in a region named Ga. The present 10th Sangye Nyenpa was born in 1964 in Bhutan, and resides in his monastery in exile in Kathmandu/Nepal. In recent years he fully reconstructed the monastery of Benchen in Tibet.

• 1st Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bkra shis dpal 'byor (1457-1525)
  
• 2nd Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, lung rtogs rab brtan
  
• 3rd Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, dge legs snying po
  
• 4th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, dge legs rgya mtsho
  
• 5th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bde legs snying po,
  
• 6th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bsgrub rgyu'i bstan dar
  
• 7th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, shes rab snying po
  
• 8th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bkra shis grub mchog
  
• 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, dge legs grub pa'i nyi ma, (d.1962)
  
• 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, bstan pa'i nyi ma (b.1964)
  

Main Lineages

• Kagyu
  
• Karma Kagyu

Internal Links

• Kagyu

External Links

For more information see the Benchen website