Remembering Gelek Rimpoche, Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author (1939-2017)

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BY ROD MEADE SPERRY| FEBRUARY 15, 2017

The Tibetan lama and author of books including Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation, has died. As posted on his Facebook page:

Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche, our dear teacher and friend, passed away this morning at 6 AM. We will keep him in our thoughts today and every day.

Information regarding arrangements will be posted on the Jewel Heart International Facebook Page as we receive it and we ask you to respect the privacy of his immediate family at this time.

Born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1939, Rimpoche [whose name was sometimes spelled “Gelek Rinpoche,” “Gehlek Rimpoche,” or variations thereof] trained at Drepung Monastic University, earning his geshe degree. He fled Tibet for India in 1959, and became director of Tibet House in Delhi, India. In the late 80s he founded Jewel Heart, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based center “dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism and to bringing the practice of this rich tradition within the context of contemporary life to everyone.” A lively center, Jewel Heart attracts and serves practitioners of all levels, and is informed by a board and advisors that includes luminaries such as Amy Hertz, Jonathan Rose, Richard Gere, and Philip Glass — who serves as Board chair and once wrote an exclusive composition as a fundraiser for the sangha. Poet Allen Ginsberg was also a member of the community.

https://www.lionsroar.com/remebering-gelek-rimpoche-tibetan-buddhist-teacher-and-author-1939-2017/

http://www.jewelheart.org/gelek-rimpoche/

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1. Om Ami Dewa Hri

May Rinpoche have an easy passage through the bardo and be reborn in auspicious circumstances into a loving family.

Om Ami Dewa Hri