Pema Norbu Rinpoche, the eleventh throne holder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, was born in 1932 under auspicious signs in the Kham region of eastern Tibet. At the age of four Rinpoche took refuge at the Palyul monastery and began his Buddhist studies. Rinpoche studied with many lamas, benefiting most deeply from his great master, the Second Chögtrul Rinpoche. It was Chögtrul Rinpoche and the fourth Karma Kuchen Rinpoche who enthroned His Holiness. In 1963, following a difficult and dangerous journey from Tibet, with only 300 rupees and a handful of monks, Pema Norbu Rinpoche began building the Namdroling Monastery on land that had been donated by the Indian government. In time, the Namdroling monastery would grow to become the largest Nyingmapa teaching center in the world with close to 5000 monks and nuns. Rinpoche worked tirelessly to spread and strengthen Buddhist practices throughout the world. Eventually His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as requested by the entire Nyingmapa Community, appointed him as the Supreme Head of the Nyingma School in 1993, following in the footsteps of HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and HH Dudjom Rinpoche. In 1997 he founded the Palyul Retreat Center in the small rural community of McDonough, NY. His Holiness taught the traditional retreat course Liberation is in the Palm of Your Hand from the first retreat in 1998 until 2008.

His Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche attained Paranirvana at 8:20 PM on March 27, 2009.

“I don’t have any quality or power but still I will do my aspiration prayers for all of you that you could carry through your practices and not have any obstacles and be successful with your practices.” – Kyabje Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche