Trogawa Rinpoche

Early training
Dr. Samphel Norbu Trogawa Rinpoche was one of the most respected senior practitioners of Tibetan medicine of our present time. He was born in 1932 in Lhasa, Tibet. At an early age he was recognized as the incarnation of the famous lama physician Drag-Lhong Gomchen Paljor Gyaltsen by H.E. Reting Rinpoche, the regent of Tibet at that time.
The first incarnation dates back to Trappa Ngoshe (1012-1090 C.E.) the great terma revealer of the main medical text, known as the Gyu Zhi.

Rinpoche was mainly educated in Lingbu monastery at Gyantse until the age of fifteen. He then travelled to Lhasa for medical training from the renowned Dr. Rigzin Paljor Nyerongsha, a holder of the Chagpori lineage teachings, who himself had studied under Dr. Jampa Thubwang Taykhang, the private physician of the 13th Dalai Lama.
To become a Tibetan doctor Rinpoche completed a rigorous nine year apprenticeship under Dr. Rigzin Paljor Nyerongsha.

In 1956 Rinpoche travelled to India following his main spiritual teacher, Jamyang Kyentse Chokyi Lodro, an accomplished non-sectarian (Rime) lama under whose guidance he practised intensively. Later, Rinpoche studied dharma and meditation from many high lamas and since then practised medicine and meditation throughout the Himalayan region.

Teaching at TMAI
In 1964 Rinpoche joined the new Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute (Men-Tsee-Khang) in Dharamsala at the request of HH the Dalai Lama. He can be seen in this capacity in the film Message of the Tibetans made by Arnaud Dejardins. In 1967 he had to retire on account of ill-health and then went into retreat. During this time he realised that the Chagpori lineage was in danger of disappearing, since he was one of the very few of those physicians who had left Tibet, and so he decided to try and preserve that special tradition and established a new institution in exile.