Songtsen Chanteloube Buddhism

  Beginnings

  The origins of the association go back to the early 1970s, when a small group of Westerners met with Kangyur Rinpoche, a great Tibetan master living in exile in a tiny house in Darjeeling, India. After his death, Kangyur Rinpoche's eldest son, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, who had previously visited France, prepared the way for two great lineage holders of the Nyingma school, Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, to come and teach in Dordogne, France. That was in 1975.

Over the years they returned frequently, to share their unique knowledge and experience with thousands of students from all over the world. Thanks to their inspiration and guidance, this beautiful place in the valley of the Vézère has become a centre of learning and meditation where people from many countries have completed the traditional three-year retreat. At the moment, a retreat is taking place under the guidance of Pema Wangyal Rinpoche.