Life Events

Dateless periods

Dedication and Aspiration

With love and gratitude to Vidyadhara, Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche,

and to his Vajra Regent and dharma heir Ösel Tendzin,

for the benefit of their present and future students, and all beings.

By hearing, seeing and practicing these teachings of the Vidyadhara through his Vajra Regent,

may we come to realize and embody the lineage transmission.

May we closely protect this planting of Vajrayana and Shambhala vision in the West.

Through the inspiration of their gestures and words, may we cheer up on the spot.

May we not be caught by spiritual materialism in any form.

Now, practicing each moment through this life and beyond, may we free all beings.

1942

June 28, 1943

Early Life

Birth and Death

The Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin was born Thomas Frederick Rich, Jr., to a working-class family in Passaic, New Jersey, on June 28, 1943. He passed into parinirvana on August 25, 1990, at the age of 47.

Calligraphy

January 1, 1951

Early Life

Early Photo

Date is approximate.

Photograph

1968

January 1, 1968

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Five Photos 1966-69

Photos, portraits, a work photo, one with a close friend and a young portrait taken by a noted photographer.

Photograph

Photo with Swami Satchidananda, a book given to (then) Narayana, the front cover inscription, and a group photo before leaving for Los Angeles

December 22, 1969

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Photo with Swami Satchidananda, a book given to (then) Narayana, the front cover inscription, and a group photo before leaving for Los Angeles

Photograph

March 1, 1971

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Meeting Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

The earliest known letter from Thomas Rich to Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, written after their first meeting, circa February 1971. The Vidyadhara is said to have commented afterwords, "He has a heart of stainless steel."

Transcript

September 1, 1971

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Becoming the Dharma Heir

In September of 1971 Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, asked Thomas Rich to be his dharma heir. Below is the inscribed inside cover of "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation,"given to him by the Vidyadhara at this meeting. The Vajra Regent describes this event in detail in a letter he wrote to 1980 Vajradhatu Seminary students, excerpted below. The whole letter is on the Timeline.

Transcript

Calligraphy

May 1, 1972

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Family photo, Milwaukee Airport

Thomas Rich, Lila Rich and their first child, Vajra, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a family visit.

Photograph

Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Narayana at Padma Jong

June 1, 1974

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Narayana at Padma Jong

Thomas Rich, then called Narayana, holding up a calligraphy just done by the Vidyadhara during the "Art in Everyday Life" seminar at Padma Jong. Padma Jong was a retreat center in Dos Rios, California, owned by the community for several years.

Photograph

Visit of H.H. XVI Gyalwa Karmapa to the United States 1974, video, calligraphy, letter, poem and photos

October 1, 1974

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Visit of H.H. XVI Gyalwa Karmapa to the United States 1974, video, calligraphy, letter, poem and photos

The Vajra Regent made an immediate connection with His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa during his first visit to the United States, continuing and deepening through the Karmapa's passing into parinirvana in 1981. When the empowerment of Thomas Rich as Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin took place in 1976, the Karmapa added calligraphy of his own to the official proclamation. Below is a photo of the Vajra Regent with H.H. XVI Karmapa, and the Vidyadhara, with H.E. Jamgon Kontrul, one with Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche taken during the Karmapa's first visit to the United States in 1974, and other photos of His Holiness. There is also a poem written to him by the Vajra Regent after His Holiness' passing into parinirvana, an excerpt from the 1980 letter to seminary students recounting the spirit of that first visit, a brief video clip of a Q and A with the Vajra Regent on a famous teaching given by the Karmapa, and a calligraphy by the Vajra Regent evoking an aspect of the Karmapa Lineage.

March 25, 1976

First Teachings Years and Empowerment

Community Talk Boulder

Karma Dzong, Boulder, Colorado

Timeline of life and teachings