12th Gyalwang Drukpa

Who is 12th Gyalwang Drukpa?

The Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen, is the head of the Drukpa Lineage school, which is one of the independent Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Drukpa lineage was founded in 1206 after Drogon Tsangpa Gyare, after he saw nine dragons fly into the sky from the ground at Namdruk. He is known as the First Gyalwang Drukpa and is recognized as the indisputable emanation of Naropa.

Jigme Pema Wangchen is the twelfth and present incarnation of the Gyalwang Drukpa. He was born while his parents were on pilgrimage in Tso Pema, Himachal Pradesh, a sacred place of Padmasambhava, during the festival and a major ceremony of lama dances and a holy feast celebrating Guru Padmasambhava's birthday, in 1963. His father, Zhichen Bairochana, is a Dzogchen Master, these days commonly called Bairo Rinpoche. His mother, Kelsang Yudron, commonly known as Mayumla, came from Lhodrak, in southern Tibet.

The name Jigme Pema Wangchen was given right after his birth by Dudjom Rinpoche, at that time head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism: