Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana

Vajrayana

Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 master, scholar, poet, teacher, and head of the Nyingma

Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...

 school of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

 from 1987 to 1991.
He was born in the Denhok Valley at Kham

Kham

Kham , is a historical region covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibetan Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China's rule over mainland China , most of the region was...

 Derge, Eastern Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 in 1910 to a family directly descended from the ninth century King Trisong Detsen

Trisong Detsen

Trisong Detsän or Trisong Detsen ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན , was the son of Me Agtsom and one of the emperors of Tibet and ruled...

. His father was a minister to the King of Derge. When he was seven years old, he was publicly recognized as one of the reincarnation

Reincarnation

Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...

s of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo , also known as Pema Ösal Do-ngak Lingpa, was a renowned teacher, scholar and tertön of 19th century Tibet. He was a leading figure in the nonsectarian Rime movement.-Biography:...

 by Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche (1871–1926) at Shechen

Shechen Monastery

The Shechen Monastery is one of the primary monasteries of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, in Tibet. It is located in Derge between Nangdo and Dzogchen Monastery...

, one of the six principal monasteries of the Nyingmapa school.