Pacific Region Yeshe Nyingpo, Chagdud Gompa Foundation, Vajradhatu International and Kunzang Odsal Palyul Changchub Choling, as well as other sponsors, are pleased to announce the first visit to the West H.H. Khenpo Jigmey Phuntsok who is the present incarnation of Terton Sogyal. He is considered to be a living mahasiddha who has performed many miracles and miraculously revealed many terma in this and previous lives.

In previous lives H.H. Khenpo Jigphun was Nanam Dorje Dudjom, the most prominent disciple of Guru Rinpoche, Rigdzin God Dem Chenrevealer of the heart treasure of Guru Rinpocheand the master of hidden treasures, Lerab Lingpa. The Buddha actually prophesied Khenpo's incarnation in this life in the Manjushri root tantra. Guru Rinpoche also prophesied in Clear Magic Mirror, Lerab Lingpa will be reincarnated in lower Kham in the Bird Year. Lerab Lingpa himself prophesied his rebirth by means of the seven unchanging characteristics, all of which were fulfilled with Khenpo Jigmey Phuntsok's birth. At his birth, he recited the mantra OM AH RA PA TSA NA DHI seven times and wore the placenta like the robes of a monk.

H.H. Khenpo Jigphun displayed many siddhis even as a child. At a very young age, he revealed many terma, including sadhanas and statues, and accomplished reading and writing in several days after revealing the sadhana of Orange Manjushri. He became a monk at age sixteen and was fully ordined at twenty-two. Though he is well-known for extraordinary accomplishment in all aspects of monastic life, he is best known as an adept in the oral instruction of dzogchen teachings.

In 1987, with ten thousand Tibetan pilgrims, H.H. Khenpo Jigmey Phuntsok visited the great Five-Peaked Mountain in China, where he prayed in front of a relic stupa for the flourishing of the Buddha's doctrine and for the benefit of all beings. At that moment in the sky, people saw a vision of Manjushri, sacred letters and rainbows. In the same year, a statue of the Buddha dropped from the sky on Khenpo Jigphun as he meditated and he has left footprints and fingerprints in stone several times.

In 1990 he met with H.H. the Dalai Lama for the first time in Dharamsala, India, where they acknowledged the close relationship between the 13th Dalai Lama and the previous Terton Sogyal. Khenpo Jigphun gave His Holiness many gifts of terma, including a nine-eyed zi stone which had belonged to Yeshe Tsogyal and a small statue of Vajrapani which had been revealed by the previous Terton Sogyal and was supposed to have been given to the 13th Dalai Lama. His Holiness the Dalai Lama requested and received the initiation of Phurba Gurkhukma and then gave H.H. Khenpo Jigphun an extremely auspicious statue of Amitayus, the Buddha of Long Life. They spent several days together and exchanged many gifts and teachings.

Throughout the Communist Chinese occupation of Tibet, H.H. Khenpo Jigmey Phuntsok has continued to spread the Dharma and has actually attracted Chinese followers. Amidst adverse conditions, he had maintained and inspired undefiled morality within the monastic communities and has continued to build and restore monastic institutions and retreat centers all over Tibet.

Through his miraculous activities and dzogchen teachings, H.H. Khenpo Jigmey Phuntsok is an inspiration to Buddhists of all sects, from H.H. the Dalai Lama to the simplest monk in the mountains of Tibet. Beginning in July, this great teacher will inspire Buddhist students in the United States. He will give dzogchen teachings and empowerments on the west coast, in Boulder, Washington, D.C. area and on the east coast. Write or call Chagdud Gonpa, California, 707-944-8280 or 707-944-1907; Vajradhatu, 1345 Spruce, Boulder, CO 80302; KPC, 18400 River Road, Poolesville, MD 20837, 301-428-8116; John Giorno, 222 Bowery, NY, NY 10012, 212-966-7574; or Malcolm Smith, 92 Inman St., Cambridge, MA, 617-492-1341 for a schedule of events in each location.