Rigpa Birmingham

Rigpa is a Tibetan word, which in general means ‘intelligence’ or ‘awareness’. In Dzogchen, however, the highest teachings in the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, rigpa has a deeper connotation, ‘the innermost nature of the mind’. The whole of the teaching of the Buddha is directed towards realizing this, our ultimate nature, the state of omniscience or enlightenment — a truth so universal, so primordial, that it goes beyond all limits, and beyond even religion itself.

Inspired by this, Sogyal Rinpoche gave the name ‘Rigpa’ to his work and to the vehicle he has developed to serve the Buddha’s teaching in the West. Now an international network with centres and groups in eleven countries around the world, Rigpa seeks:
> To make the teachings of Buddha available to benefit as many people as possible,
> To offer those following the Buddhist teachings a complete path of study and practice, along with the environment they need to explore the teachings to their fullest.