Za Rinpoche

I am Za Rinpoche and I was born in 1968 in exile. As a child, I was wishing to become a teacher when I grow up.Surprisingly it happened one day that my father and some elders handed me a letter from His Holiness the Dalai Lama saying, "Choejor Dhondup(my birthname), I am going to recognize you as the sixth reincarnation of the ZaChoeje Rinpoche." In that instant, my life changed and I enter into the path of spirituality.My predecessor, the fifth ZaChoeje Lama 1928-1962, had died in a Chinese prison when the Communist revolution took over Tibet.After my enthronement ceremony and a blessing from His Holiness, I furthered my spiritual training at Drepung Monastery in India. I received the Geshe Lharampa degree in 1996, equal to a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhism. In 1997, I entered into Gyumed Trantric Monastery to further my Tantric studies.After touring around America in 1998, I traveled to Phoenix and I found myself personally drawn to the desert.I decided to settle here and in 2001, I, together with some Dharma friends, founded Emaho Foundation. www.emahofoundation.org In 2005, me and my co-author Ashley Nebelsieck decided to write a book "The backdoor to Enlightenment" together. In 2006 we got a book deal from Random House and we just finished editing it in June 2007. It will be releasing in December 2007 in English, Spanish, German and Portuguese. www.backdoortoenlightenment.com