The Venerable Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche was born in 1955 in Eastern Tibet. At the age of two, he was recognized by His Holiness the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu lineage, as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg tulkus. He was enthroned as the Abbot of Tra'gu Monastery in Tibet, and following the Chinese invasion of his country, was taken to safety in India. There he continued the rigorous training prescribed for tulkus born with responsibilities as major lineage holders in the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. Rinpoche went to Australia in 1980 in order to make the teachings and practices of the Kagyu tradition available there. He established the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in 1982 and regularly conducts courses and retreats in the practice and theory of Buddhism for the Institute. Rinpoche has traveled widely, giving lectures and seminars on Buddhism and related topics in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Europe.