We are pleased to announce that Lama Karma Chodrak, the executive director of the International Kagyu Monlam, and Lama Norlha Rinpoche’s cousin, will be attending the North American Kagyu Monlam in July.

Lama Karma Chodrak was born in 1954 in Goche, in the region of Nangchen, Tibet. When he was five, the khenpo of Goche Monastery, Karma Tsultrim, cut his hair and gave him the Buddhist Refuge vows. In 1959, he traveled to Darjeeling in northeast India and took the novice vows from the Lord of Refuge Kalu Rinpoche. He entered the three-year retreat center in the tradition of the Six Yogas of Naropa, where he had the good fortune to receive the instructions that ripen and liberate from Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche and Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche. 

In 1983, Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche organized recitations  of an important prayer, the Noble Aspiration for Excellent Conduct, in Bodhgaya. Lama Chodrak put great effort into helping organize the event, which was the seed of the Kagyu Monlam Chenmo. In 1984, he went to Kagyu Thubten Chöling, one of Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche’s Dharma centers, where he assisted Lama Norlha Rinpoche in administering and serving the monastery and retreats. 

Beginning in 1994, he took responsibility for the Kagyu Monlam, putting exceptional efforts into the work of finding sponsors, organizing the Monlam, and inviting different Sanghas. With the supervision and support of Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche and Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, the Monlam grew each year. Lama Chodrak was able to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama twice, and His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa every year since his arrival in India. His Holiness asked Lama Chodrak to serve as the executive director of the Monlam, a responsibility he carries to this day. Under His Holiness’ guidance, the Monlam has spread all over the world: currently, Monlams are held in fifteen different countries in Asia and the West.