Choseng Trungpa Rinpoche is the 12th and current Trungpa tülku

Trungpa tülkus

The Trungpa tülkus are a line of incarnate Tibetan lamas who traditionally head Surmang monastery in Kham . The 3 heads of Zurmang Kagyud are known as GharTengTrungSum , and the lineage holder of Zurmang Kagyud is Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche. There have been twelve such Trungpa tulkus...

. He was born on February 6, 1989 in Pawo village, in Derge, eastern Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, and recognized by Tai Situ Rinpoche in 1991. He was enthroned a year later at Surmang Monastery

Surmang Monastery

Surmang refers to a vast alpine nomadic and farming region, historically a duchy under the King of Nangchen, with vast land holdings spreading over what is today the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province. In Tibetan King of Nangchen's realm was called the "nyishu dza nga" or the 21...

 by Damkar Rinpoche, a high Kagyu

Kagyu

The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...

 lama and the younger brother of the monastery's late abbot (and Choseng Trungpa's predecessor), Chogyam Trungpa

Chögyam Trungpa

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was a Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, the eleventh Trungpa tülku, a tertön, supreme abbot of the Surmang monasteries, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and originator of a radical re-presentation of Shambhala vision.Recognized...

 Rinpoche.

He has studied the traditions of Surmang under the tutelage of the late Lama Kenla, (1932–2003), and received his early monastic education at the shedra

Shedra

Shedra is a Tibetan word meaning "place of learning" but specifically refers to the educational program in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries. It is usually attended by monks and nuns between their early teen years and early twenties. Not all young monastics enter a shedra; some study...

 at Palpung Monastery

Palpung Monastery

Palpung is the name of the congregation of monasteries and centers of the Tai Situpas as well as the name of the monastic seat in Tibet in Dege. Palpung means "glorious union of study and practice"...

. He currently studies at Surmang Namgyal-tse.

The name Choseng is a contraction of Chokyi Sengay , which means "Lion of Dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

."

In 2001, he met for the first time with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Jampal Trinley Dradul is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and Shambhala International, a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers, monasteries, a university, and other enterprises, founded by his father, the Buddhist teacher...

, the son of his previous incarnation, Chögyam Trungpa.