Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1988 to 1991, he is also considered an eminent proponent of the Rime tradition. As the primary custodian of the teachings of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Dilgo Khyentse was the de facto custodian of the vast majority of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. He taught many eminent teachers, including the Dalai Lama. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, his personal effort was crucial in the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism. Biography Early life, ancestry He was born in 1910 in the Denhok Valley at Kham Derge, Eastern Tibet, to a family directly descended from the ninth-century King Trisong Detsen. His father was a minister to the King of Derge. When he was seven years old, he was publicly recognized as one of the reincarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo by Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche (1871–1926) at Shechen, one of the six principal monasteries of the Nyingmapa school. During the next few years Dilgo Khyentse received full schooling from various tutors, in addition to training in meditation, and in the study of the dharma in general, and of tantra specifically. His root guru was Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche, and Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (1893–1959) was his other main spiritual master. After he completed what is known as the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro), Khyentse spent most of the next 13 years in silent retreat in remote hermitages and caves near his birthplace. He married Khandro Lhamo, a woman from a modest family, after he became ill following an austere retreat. His teacher had prophesied that a cure for his illness would be marriage, despite the fact he was uninterested in it. Lhamo became a well-known expert in Tibetan medicine, a supporter of Shechen Monastery and his life-long companion. Buddhist studies Dilgo Khyentse spent 20 years in retreat. After completing a retreat at the age of 28, Khyentse spent many years with Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. After receiving from Khyentse Chokyi Lodro the many empowerments of the Rinchen Terdzo (the collection of Revealed Treasures or termas), Dilgo Khyentse requested to spend the rest of his life in solitary meditation. But Khyentse Chokyi Lodro answered, "The time has come for you to teach and transmit to others the countless precious teachings you have