1st Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye

Prophecies dating back up to Buddha Shakyamuni predicted the birth and deeds of the 1st Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye the Great. This was to affect all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the Bön religion and united them in the Rimé movement, of which he was a cofounder.

Growing up in an environment of Bön practitioners, which he left after a difficult childhood and youth, the young adult Jamgön Kongtrul quickly came into contact with Buddhist teachings and became a disciple of the 9th Situpa and the 14th Karmapa, who transmitted the complete teachings of the Kagyü school to him.

His more than 60 teachers also included important representatives of the Nyingmapas and Sakya school, such as Tertön Chögyur Lingpa and Khyentse Rinpoche. Jamgön Kongtrul united a huge variety of qualities in his mind – he was a prolific writer, a unique yogi, teacher, master, physician, tertön, peacemaker, and so more. With unending diligence, he showed all different kinds and levels of dharma activity. He treated everyone equally and all ranks of people, including poor farmers benefited from his advice.