The first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche Lodro Thaye

The second Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche Khyentse Ozer

The third Jamgon Kongtrul Karma Lodro Chokyi Senge

The fourth Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche Choki Nyima

Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche is the fourth highest Lama within the Karma Kagyu lineage (after the Gyalwa Karmapa, Tai Situpa and Goshir Gyaltsabpa). His accomplishments far out-weight that of numerous masters and his abilities have rarely been equaled in our world.

In India, Rinpoche’s past incarnations included the Buddha’s attendant Ananda who was responsible for the establishment of the nuns' order and also for memorizing all the Buddha’s teachings.

As the Aryadeva, the disciple of Nagarjuna, he taught the Middle Way Doctrine and cleared away misunderstandings concerning the dharma.

As the translator Vairotsana, who accompanied Guru Rinpoche, he brought numerous dharma scriptures to Tibet and transmitted them to the Tibetan people. Vairotsana attained the rainbow body at the time of his death.

In Tibet, Rinpoche had numerous incarnations. These included:

Khyunpo Naljor (990-1139), the founder of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition. He was taught under the Indian female masters Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. His lineage is one of the eight transmission lineages of Tibet.

Sakya Pandita (1182-1251); one of the five founding fathers of the Sakya tradition. By one years old he was able to speak Sanskrit language and became a well known author. He received the Sakya transmission from Dragpa Gyaltsen and became the supreme temporal ruler of Tibet. He created the prototype for the Mongolian alphabet. He stopped the Mongols from waging barbaric battles and also prevented the Mongols from committing genocide against the Chinese.

Longchenpa (1308-1363), a manifestation of Manjushri, deeply practiced the Sakya, Kadampa, Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. He also was close to the 3rd Gyalwa Karmapa and composed hundreds of literary works.

Taranatha (16th-17th Century) was the jewel of all Tibetan historians and preserver of the rare Jonang tradition which upheld the "Emptiness of Other" (Shentong) view of the Middle Way Doctrine. He also upheld numerous tantras such as the Kalachakra.

Rigdzin Terdag Lingpa (1646-1714) was an unrivaled child prodigy and Terton who established the Mindroling lineage. Mindroling became the most respected and highly prestigious institute of the Nyingma tradition. He was a teacher and disciple to the 5th Dalai Lama. He was a teacher to all the Abbots of the Nyingma lineage and to the Sakya Trizin.

Jamgon Kongtrul was predicted in the Samadhiraja Sutra, in the termas of Padmasambhava and in the Larkauatara Sutra.