unobstructed knowledge of scriptures", the Kagyu equivalent of the Sakya and Gelug's geshe degree.) He simultaneously earned the degree of Acharya, or Master of Buddhist Philosophy, from Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. Dzogchen Ponlop has also completed studies in English and comparative religion at Columbia University in New York City. Works As a witty, humorous and sensitive speaker, he is warmly greeted worldwide; as a teacher and prolific author Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche is well known for his teaching contributions to Bodhi Magazine, Lion's Roar, Buddhadharma, and elsewhere. He has also penned a number of books and articles: 2003: "Brief Histories of the Sixteen Karmapas". in Organizations Nalandabodhi Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of Nalandabodhi, an international Buddhist community with centers in multiple countries around the world. Nalandabodhi provides paths of study, meditation, and mindful activity rooted in the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Vajrayana Buddhism. Nitartha International Nitartha International was founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1994. It is the parent organization for several different projects devoted to preserving traditional Buddhist texts, arts, and educational systems. Activities under the umbrella of Nitartha International include Nitartha Institute, the Nitartha Translation Network, Nitartha International Publications, Nitartha Tibetan-English Dictionary Tools, the Nitartha Digital Library, and the development of Tibetan language fonts and software. Nitartha Institute The Nitartha Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies was founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1996 under the guidance of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. Taught by Tibetan and Western teachers, Nitartha courses are modeled on the Tibetan monastic college system (shedra). Nitartha courses are held online and at various locations around the world. In addition, an intensive annual Summer Institute is held in the US Pacific Northwest that also provides deeper training in meditation, and classes in traditional Buddhist arts and healing. Bodhi Seeds Bodhi Seeds is a humanitarian organization founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche to help with the many needs of monastic and lay communities in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. Bodhi Seeds is currently supporting medical clinics in Rumtek, India, and Legon, Tibet. Dzogchen Ponlop lineage Namkha Ösal ནམ་མཁའ་འོད་གསལ། (?-1726) Pema Sangngak Tenzin པདྨ་གསང་སྔགས་བསྟན་འཛིན། (1731-1805) Namkha Chökyi Gyatso ནམ་མཁའ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱ་མཚོ། (1806-1821?) Jigme Chöying Ösel འཇིགས་མེད་ཆོས་དབྱིངས་འོད་གསལ། (?) Kunchok Tenpe Nyima དཀོན་མཆོག་བསྟན་པའི་ཉི་མ། (?) Jigtral Tsewang Dorje འཇིགས་བྲལ་ཚེ་དབང་རྡོ་རྗེ། (1925–62) Karma Sungrap Ngedön Tenpa Gyaltsen ཀརྨ་གསུང་རབ་ངེས་དོན་བསྟན་པའི་རྒྱལ་མཚན། (1965–present) See also Rangjung Rigpe Dorje,16th Karmapa Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche References External