His Holiness Penor Rinpoche
His Holiness (H.H) Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche (1932-2009) was the 11th throne holder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the supreme head of the Nyingma school from 1993 to 2001, following H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and preceding H.H. Minling Trichen Rinpoche. Penor Rinpoche also received all of the transmissions for the Kangyur (the translated words of the Buddha) and Tengyur (the translated, authenticated explanations of them). He stayed in retreat for four years, during which he received all the transmissions of the Palyul tradition from his guru, Chotrul Rinpoche, a high lama from the Palyul monastery. In 1959, when he was in his late twenties, H.H. Penor Rinpoche fled Tibet, then subsequently
established Namdroling Monastery in Southern India. Namdroling has become the largest Nyingma monastery in the world, where many khenpos, monks, and nuns receive a university-level education in Buddhist philosophy and practice.
Some of these great masters are interconnected in remarkable ways. For example, at the age of 21, H.H. Penor Rinpoche received the cycle of Tendrel Nyesel (a ceremony called Interdependence for Clearing Away Faults), one of Lerab Lingpa’s great terma revelations. Lerab Lingpa was the previous incarnation of His Holiness (H.H.) Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. Years later, H.H. Penor Rinpoche went to Larung Gar at the invitation of H.H. Jigme Phuntsok, and subsequently in 1990, H.H. Jigme Phuntsok went to India at the invitation of H.H. Penor Rinpoche. Likewise, in the late 1990’s, Khentrul Rinpoche studied in Namdroling Monastery and was granted his second khenpo degree directly from H.H. Penor Rinpoche, whom he considers one of his principal teachers.