Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche at Odsal Ling

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche was born in Nepal in 1975. His mother was a descendant of two Tibetan kings and his father was the late Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, one of the most renowned Dzogchen teachers of the  twentieth century. Rinpoche's three older brothers are also accomplished Buddhist teachers. To cope  with his anxiety, Rinpoche began meditating at six-years-old. Shortly thereafter, Rinpoche began  learning from his father the various forms of meditation and began studying at the Sherab Ling  Monastery in India.  

When he was eleven-years-old, Rinpoche was invited to live at Sherab Ling Monastery, the seat of Tai  Situ Rinpoche and one of the most important monasteries of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche studied the teachings that were brought to Tibet by the great Indian Buddhist translator  Marpa and the rituals of the Karma Kagyu lineage with the retreat master of the Sherab Ling Monastery,  Lama Tsultim. At twelve-years-old, Tai Situ Rinpoche enthroned Rinpoche as the seventh incarnation of  Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. 

When he was thirteen-years-old, Rinpoche began a three-year retreat at the Sherab Ling Monastery in India led by Saljey Rinpoche, a renowned meditation master. Following the three-year-retreat, Rinpoche was appointed the meditation master of the next three-year retreat. He is the youngest known lama (teacher) to ever hold the Retreat Master position. In the role of Retreat Master, Rinpoche was  responsible for guiding senior Buddhist monks and nuns through the intricacies of Buddhist meditation  practice. 

Rinpoche attended Dzongsar Monastic College to study the classical philosophies of the Buddhist tradition under the renowned Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk. At twenty-years-old, Tai Situ Rinpoche  appointed Rinpoche to be the functioning abbot of the Sherab Ling. For the next five years, Rinpoche  established a monastic college at the monastery, worked as an assistant professor, and served as a retreat master for a third three-year retreat. After he completed his studies, Rinpoche studied under Nyoshul  Khen Rinpoche, a grcat yogi and scholar of Buddhism. 

Rinpoche teaches all over the world and is the spiritual leader of Tergar Meditation Centers and Meditation Groups on five continents. 

Rinpoche is the author of two bestselling books. His first book, The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret  and Science of Happiness, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into over twenty languages. Rinpoche's most recent books are Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the  Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism; Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom; and an illustrated children's book, Ziji: The Puppy that Learned to Meditate. 

In 2011, Rinpoche disappeared from his monastery in India and embarked on a four-year traditional  wandering, solitary meditation retreat without any food, money, or even a toothbrush. He spent  summers in the Himalayas in caves and at Buddhist pilgrimage sites such as Tso Pema and Ladakh, and  winters in Buddhist and Hindu holy places in India and Nepal. Rinpoche resurfaced in November 2015.