Sakyong Mipham

Sakyong Mipham was born Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo in Bodh Gaya, India on the 15th day (full moon) of the 10th Lunar month, in November 1962, although his mother was uncertain of the exact Western date. His father, Chögyam Trungpa, was a Buddhist monk who escaped from Tibet in 1959 at age 20. His mother, Könchok Paldrön, was a nun who met Trungpa in 1959 in Tibet and was among those who escaped with him to India. For several years, Mukpo lived with his mother in Bir, a Tibetan refugee colony in northwest India. At age seven, he went to live with his father at Samye Ling in Scotland. He resided there until Social Services could conduct a home inspection in the U.S. He trained and ran in nine marathons, including Big Sur, Chicago, and the New York and Boston Marathons in 2005. In 2005 the Sakyong met and married Semo Tseyang Palmo Ripa, daughter of the Tibetan Buddhist Terton Namkha Drimed Rabjam Ripa Rinpoche, a Nyingma master and holder of the Ripa family lineage, who is also seen as the manifestation of Atara Sale. They met when Penor Rinpoche invited the Gesar Lingdro dancers to perform at Namdroling monastery, where the Sakyong was studying. The Sakyong's mother also knew the Ripa family and had close ties to the bride's paternal uncle, though the Sakyong did not meet them until this time. In late 2008 and early 2009 the Sakyong received the Rinchen Terdzo, the complete cycle of terma teachings of the Nyingma school of Buddhism, from Namkha Drimed Rinpoche in Orissa, India. This cycle of teachings had been given to Namkha Drimed Rinpoche by Trungpa in Tibet. In 2009 he began teaching the Scorpion Seal terma, the highest teachings of the Shambhala lineage, to more than 2,000 students. For the next several years he taught extensively on these deep teachings at the four Shambhala retreat centers, Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado, Karme Choling in Vermont, Dorje Denma Ling in Nova Scotia, and Dechen Choling in France. He continued to write and teach on this cycle until 2018. In 2010, his first daughter, Jetsun Drukmo Yeshe Sarasvati Ziji Mukpo, was born. 2010 was also a year of deep retreat and writing for the Sakyong. His father had died at the age of 47, and he marked this milestone by going into retreat in Nepal. While on retreat he wrote volumes of practices and commentaries on the Buddhadharma and his father's Shambhala teachings. The Sakyong came out of retreat to teach, including giving an empowerment at Shambhala Mountain Center in the summer of 2010, and then returned to teaching full time in 2012. Namkha Drimed Rinpoche also bestowed the Nyingma Kama empowerments on the Sakyong, which represent the oral transmission the Nyingma received from India from the time of their arrival in Tibet. The Sakyong received the Gongter, or Mind Terma of the Terton, Namkha Drimed Rinpoche in the fall of 2015. This Gongter of Gesar of Ling teachings is the largest terma cycle of Gesar in the world. Sakyong Mipham has written several books, including the national bestseller Turning the Mind into an Ally, Ruling Your World, Running with the Mind of Meditation, The Shambhala Principle, and The Lost Art of Conversation. His most recent book, Garuda 108 Poems, was released in 2019. In 2018, he stepped back from all teaching and administrative duties to allow for an investigation and public discussion of his alleged sexual misconduct. He resumed teaching with a small group of students in the Netherlands late in 2019, and then in March 2020, instructing a group of 108 students in Nepal. His teachings have continued regularly in person and online since then. ==Shift in Shambhala==

In 2000, the Sakyong began talking about Shambhala Buddhism as a single entity and path, with no separation between spiritual and secular. In 2004 at Vajrayana seminary at Shambhala Mountain Center, he received and introduced the Primordial Rigden Ngondro, titled the Magical Heart of Shambhala. The next year, he held the first Rigden Abhisheka, an empowerment to practice the Vajrayana teachings of Shambhala. Later that year, thangka painter Cynthia Moku, under the Sakyong's direction, released the first Thangka of the Primoridal Rigden deity. The changes to the Shambhala curriculum and the introduction of the Shambhala teachings as a Buddhist path led to some confusion in the community. Many thought the Sakyong misunderstood what his father had intended with these teachings. There were complaints about the replacement of the primary thangka of Vajradhara with the Primordial Rigden from the organization's meditation centers. The curriculum was also changing as older programs Trungpa initiated were replaced by shorter, more accessible ones. The Sakyong also stopped teaching his father's Kagyu teachings, which he held and had offered through the 1990s. In 2009 the Sakyong sent a letter to the community providing guidelines and restrictions on inviting teachers from other lineages to teach at Shambhala centers. This, he said, was to help us "know who we are" as a community. Students saw this as another change from how his father had done things. In response, older students began to migrate to other teachers who taught Trungpa's Kagyu practices. Many resented the direction in which he took the organization. By the time of the #MeToo sexual abuse scandals, older students had decided that they were following the Shambhala Vajrayana of the Sakyong, or had found other teachers. ==Controversies==

In 2018, Buddhist Project Sunshine, an organization founded as a survivors' network for former Shambhala Buddhist members, reported multiple allegations of sexual assault in the Shambhala community. Sakyong Mipham issued a letter to the community, saying: In July 2018, Naropa Institute removed Sakyong Mipham from its board following the allegations of sexual misconduct. In August 2018, Buddhist Project Sunshine released another report containing further allegations against Sakyong Mipham that included sexual encounters with minors, a charge the Sakyong has denied. In December 2018, the Larimer County, Colorado Sheriff's Office opened an investigation of the allegations of sexual assault. The investigation was closed in February 2020, with no charges being filed. In February 2019, Shambhala International's interim governing council issued a report by Wickwire Holm, a Canadian law firm, that detailed two credible allegations of sexual misconduct against Sakyong Mipham. Later that month, six members of his Kusung, the Shambhala body protectors, wrote an open letter corroborating a pattern of physical and sexual misconduct and other concerns. Sakyong Mipham subsequently said he would cease teaching for the "foreseeable future". He returned to teaching in March 2020, leading a pilgrimage to Nepal and instructing a group of 108 students. == Lineage of Sakyongs ==

The Lineage of Sakyongs is the Mukpo family lineage of Chögyam Trungpa. The Sakyong is the second in the family to hold this title and has the responsibility of propagating the teachings of Shambhala. This tradition emphasizes confidence in the basic goodness of all beings and teaches courageous self-rulership based on wisdom and compassion. The term "Sakyong" literally means "earth-protector" in Tibetan. Sakyongs are regarded as chögyals (Sanskrit dharmarajas)—"kings of truth" or "dharma kings"—who combine the spiritual and worldly paths. This Shambhala path is specifically meant for lay practitioners. In Tibetan Buddhism, the first Dharmaraja of Shambhala, Dawa Sangpo, was said to have been empowered directly by the Buddha. Dawa Sangpo recognized that he could not give up his throne and responsibilities to pursue the path of a monastic. Thus he requested teachings that could allow him to continue to rule his kingdom while practicing the dharma. The Blazing Jewel of Sovereignty is the ritual empowerment for the Sakyong. Trungpa was the first in this lineage of Sakyongs to receive this empowerment. He is called the "Druk Sakyong", or "Dragon Earth-Protector". He received this ritual empowerment from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado . Sakyong Mipham was first empowered as "Sawang" by his father in 1979. The empowerment of the Blazing Jewel of Sovereignty was conferred upon him by Penor Rinpoche in May 1995. In April 2023, this empowerment was bestowed upon Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche's eldest daughter, Jetsun Drukmo Rinpoche, who will succeed him as lineage heir. ) ==Family==

Sakyong Wangmo and family The Sakyong's consort is called the Sakyong Wangmo. The current Sakyong Wangmo is Sakyong Mipham's wife Khandro Tseyang Ripa Mukpo, the daughter of Terton Namkha Drimed Rabjam. The Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo married in a public ceremony on 10 June 2006 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Khandro Tseyang was officially empowered as Sakyong Wangmo by Penor Rinpoche at a ceremony in Halifax in August 2008. The Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo have three daughters. The first, Drukmo Yeshe Sarasvati Ziji Mukpo (Lady Dragon Wisdom), was born on 11 August 2010. The second, Jetsun Yudra Lhamo Yangchen Ziji Mukpo, was born 12 March 2013. The third, Dzedrön Ökar Yangchen Ziji Mukpo, was born on 10 April 2015. == Bibliography ==