Drukpa Lineage - Contemporary Organisation

Contemporary Organisation

The Lho Drukpa (Southern Drukpa) are led by the Je Khenpo (an elected office, not a tulku lineage), who is the chief abbot of the Central Monk Body.

The Chang Drukpa (Northern Drukpa) are led by Jigme Pema Wangchen, the 12th incarnation of the Gyalwang Drukpa. In Kham, Khamtrul Rinpoche traditionally has been the most prominent Drukpa Lineage master, and still commands a huge following in Kham.

Unlike previously where the lineage was divided geographically into Northern, Middle and Southern Drukpa, the Drukpa Lineage masters today often cross these traditional borders and communicate to strengthen the lineage and the teachings. In April 2009, the first of a yearly event known as the Annual Drukpa Council (ADC) was held on Druk Amitabha Mountain in Kathmandu, Nepal. More than 40 masters of the lineage from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet attended this event and over 10,000 lay practitioners and at least 1,000 monks and nuns or more met on this occasion. This was the first time an annual event for the Drukpa Lineage involving all the three major branches will be held, as a concerted effort to reunite the strengths of the Drukpa Lineage and to mend the historical connections of different monasteries and organizations. The Second ADC will be held between 6 and 15 April 2010 on Druk Amitabha Mountain again and the date and location for the subsequent gatherings will be discussed.

In July 2007, when the lineage celebrated its 800-plus-years' legacy in Shey, Ladakh, more than 100,000 attended the event that included celebrations and prayers, as well as mask dancing by 300 nuns. This event, boasted of the first firework in the Himalayas, the first 800 sky lanterns being lit in the Himalayas and the first 12,000 bio-degradable balloons sent to the sky, was covered by international media The event, especially the "Firework Extravaganza" was attended by non-Buddhists in the region and caused the first traffic congestion in Ladakh that lasted for more than three hours. A documentary video based on the celebration, jointly commissioned by Hemis and Chemdrey Monasteries and narrated in Ladakhi by the locally famous Padma Shri Murup Namgyal, known as "Root and Lineage" was an immediate sold-out, it was deemed the best seller in Ladakh .

Recently, under the instruction of His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, over 5,000 trees have just been planted in the barren Shey compound where the Druk White Lotus School is located and another 25,000 trees are on the way to be planted, all done under the initiatives of "Live to Love", an engaged spiritual movement launched by His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa in March 2007. All of the funds were raised solely by His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa through his Trusts in Europe and United Kingdom. As of June 12, 2008, the first "Live to Love in Action" activity in support of the First Annual Drukpa Council raised over HK$450,000 for the victims in Myammar and Sichuan. A personal supporter of His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa donated Chinese RMB10million for the earthquake victims in Gansu, neighboring Sichuan, in support of the idea of "Live to Love" initiatives.

The Drukpa Lineage under the guidance of its spiritual masters, in particular His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, has established centers across the world, especially in Europe.