Background
Tulku Thondup was born in 1939, in Golok, Eastern Tibet, into the family of Malha Cha and Dolma Wangrol. At the age of five, every aspect of his life changed suddenly and dramatically. He was recognized as the reincarnation of Khenpo Konchog Dronme (Khenpo Kome), a celebrated scholar and adept of the Dodrupchen Monastery, a famous learning institution of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Political changes in Tibet caused him to flee to India in 1958, where he stayed for 22 years.
Education
In 1957 Tulku studied at Dodrupchen Monastery in Vajra-charya, and then was a research scholar at Visva-Bharati University in India.
Career
Tulku taught Tibetan and Tibetan literature at Lucknow University in 1967 - 1976 and Visva Bharati University during 1976 - 1980. In 1980, Tulku Thondup came to the United States as a visiting scholar at Harvard University. Since then, he has been living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he engages in translation and writing on Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the Nyingma teachings, under the auspices of the Buddhayana Foundation.
Tulku Thondup has also been affiliated with Mahasiddha Nyingmapa Center of Massachusetts and Chorten Gonpa (Monastery) of Sikkim, India. He has published many original Buddhist works and translations. Tulku Thondup has also traveled throughout North America, Europe and many parts of Asia teaching on his books and holding workshops. Thondup’s books have been published in German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Danish, Swedish, and Hebrew.