Kalu Rinpoche
Kalu Rinpoche (Karma Rangjung Kunchab) was the great holder of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage and one of the most consequential transmitters of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, teaching on three continents from the 1970s.
Life
Born in Kham, he entered Palpung monastery as a child and completed the traditional three-year retreat at fifteen? — undertook his first long retreat young, later directing Palpung’s retreat system for decades. After 1959 he settled at Sonada near Darjeeling, and from 1971 taught worldwide — founding retreat centers in France (Dashang Kagyu Ling), Canada, and the United States, and giving the first full traditional three-year retreats outside Tibet.
Teachings/Works
His special charge was the Shangpa Kagyu — the lineage of Niguma, the great female siddha — alongside the Karma Kagyu Mahamudra transmissions; his teachers included the sixth? — he was among the teachers of the young16th Karmapa? — his role in recognizing and teaching tulkus (including the young 16th Karmapa’s circle) shaped a generation.
Legacy
The Kagyu and Shangpa retreat centers he founded continue the retreat tradition he transplanted; his reincarnation (recognized 1990s) continues at Sonada.
Verification notes
- Life is documented in Kagyu biographies and institutional records.
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).