ZaChoeje Rinpoche

For more than two decades, ZaChoeje Rinpoche has shared thousands of teachings, workshops, empowerments, and heartfelt conversations with students around the world. From large public gatherings to quiet moments with individuals seeking guidance, Rinpoche's wish has always remained the same: to help people understand the true essence of Dharma and bring it meaningfully into everyday life.

With warmth, humor, compassion, and deep wisdom rooted in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Rinpoche teaches in a way that is both accessible and profound. He reminds us that Dharma is not something distant or abstract, but something alive within our daily relationships, challenges, joys, and struggles. Through teachings on mindfulness, love and compassion, bodhichitta, wisdom, and the nature of mind, countless students have found encouragement, healing, clarity, and a deeper sense of purpose.

Whether speaking in meditation centers, universities, churches, homes, or community gatherings across the world, Rinpoche continually encourages us toward greater kindness, honesty, inner peace, and universal responsibility — helping us discover that genuine spiritual practice begins with opening the heart for the benefit of all beings.

Za Choeje Rinpoche, Tenzin Lobsang Dhamchoe, was born in 1968. Rinpoche grew up on a small farm with his grandparents in Southern India. The local village Lama presented Him the birthname of "Choejor Dhondup" (Accomplished Spiritual Abundance). As a young boy, Rinpoche discovered a love for Tibetan folktales and spent many hours reading ancient stories to elders in his village. His enthusiasm for Tibetan literature inspired him to join the Tibetan Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, Varanasi, India, in 1982.

A year into His studies, at the age of 16, His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama recognized him as the 6th reincarnation of Hor Choeje Rinpoche of Eastern Tibet. He was formally enthroned in 1983 as the 6th Za Choeje Rinpoche at Tehor Khamtsen in Sera Monastery. Under the guidance of His Holiness and Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, He received extensive training in the traditional Tibetan Buddhist method of listening, contemplation and meditation.

In 1985, Rinpoche joined Drepung Loseling Monastic University, in South India, and studied the "Five Major Buddhist Treatises" under the supervision of Master Khensur Rinpoche Yeshe Thupten, Venerable Shakor Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Nyima, and Tehor Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Nyima. Graduating first of his class, he received the Geshe Lharampa degree in 1996, after completing the full monastic curriculum.

In addition to Rinpoche's monastic training, He received hundreds of empowerments and initiations in the Vajrayana tradition from the great Masters Kyabje Lochoe Rinpoche and Kirti Tsenshap Rinpoche. He also received the entire oral transmission of Kan-gyur and Ten-gyur scriptural texts from Master Kyabje Pannang Rinpoche. In 1997, Rinpoche joined Gyumed Tantric College to further his training of highest Yoga Tantra and its ritual practices.

Rinpoche came to the United States for the first time in 1998 to lead the Mystical Arts of Tibet Tour, sponsored by the Richard Gere Foundation. During the summer semester, he taught Tibetan culture and philosophy at Emory University in Atlanta. Rinpoche was further invited to speak at many other universities throughout the country.

In 2001, Rinpoche, together with some well-wishers and Dharma students, founded Emaho Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona, where he currently resides. Emaho's three-fold mission is to assist with individuals' spiritual development, to support humanitarian projects and to preserve Tibetan culture. Rinpoche has taught in the United States, Japan, New Zealand, and many other countries. His style of conversing, with laughter and openness, generates a comfortable environment for all people. One of the simplest yet most profound pieces of advice he often gives is "don't struggle over the struggles." His unique skill of teaching, and his ability to apply these teachings into daily life, has helped many spiritual practitioners throughout the world.

Rinpoche wrote The Backdoor to Enlightenment in 2008. This was followed by Deep Resilience: Tibetan Wisdom for Building Inner Strength in 2021 and Glorious, Precious: A Handbook for Guru Yoga Practice in 2024. These books were based on the content of two of Rinpoche's teaching series.

In 2006, Rinpoche made a historical visit to Tehor Region in Eastern Tibet. Thousands of people, dogs and goats along with 400 horsemen greeted him escorting his car down the narrow dirt road, the traditional welcoming ceremony. Villages filled with joy as they celebrated his homecoming with several days of picnic and dances. Although his main activity is teaching Dharma, Rinpoche also supports the Monastic and Lay community of the Tehor region in Eastern Tibet. He travels extensively, teaching throughout the world, doing humanitarian projects, and supporting individual spiritual growth.

"Since I hold the title of ZaChoeje Rinpoche, it is my responsibility to look after the people of Tehor and give them guidance for their future and their children's future. Some of the monasteries in the Tehor region, which were founded by my predecessors, have been rebuilt on the outside, but are still in need of much more work to make them complete. Healthcare in that region is severely outdated with common illnesses resulting in death or permanent damage. Educational facilities are sparse and many families are unable to afford to send their children to school. It is my goal to continue, as my predecessors have, to provide assistance to the people of Tibet, especially now in these difficult times when the future of Tibetan culture and heritage is on the verge of collapsing."