Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, also called Tulku Ugyen Topgyal, is a Tibetan Buddhist lama who was born in Kham in Eastern Tibet in 1951, living in exile in India.
Background
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, born in 1951 in Nangchen in Kham, Eastern Tibet is the eldest son of the 3rd Neten Chokling Rinpoche. In 1967, his father, the 3rd Neten Chokling Rinpoche began the construction of a Tibetan settlement in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, North East India, and died in India in 1973 right after a car accident.
Career
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche then took over the care of the monastery in Bir. His father"s reincarnation, Neten Chokling was born August 10, 1973 in a modest family in Wandipodzong, in Bhutan, and was recognized by the 16th Karmapa as well as by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. At the age of 7, he was taken to the monastery of his predecessor in Bir.
Between 2004 and 2006 Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche visited Tibet twice to rebuild Neten Gön, the monastery of his father Neten Chokling. and is an excellent orator.
He is also an actor, and played the role of Geko (master of discipline of the monastery) in Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche"s film The Cup (1999).
Membership
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche was a Member of the Tibetan Parliament for the region of Kham from 1994 to 1996 and was reelected in 2001 and 2006 to the 13th and the 14th Parliament in exile.