“Using your strengths to gain your freedom.” This was the theme of the first course for 13 to 18-year-olds guided by Lama Jigme Rinpoche at Dhagpo Kagyu Ling from April 26 to May 1, 1992.
“At the time I was doing courses for top management. That’s when I saw there was something missing for the young generation, to help them have a vision,” explains Lama Jigme Rinpoche.
He asked Serge D., a resident at Dhagpo at the time and a substitute history-geography teacher, to take on the project. “Rinpoche would ask me many questions about what was happening in secondary schools and at one point asked me to think about setting up a course for teenagers,” he recalls. This led to a program involving teachings and discussions with Rinpoche in the morning and activities in the afternoon that Rinpoche would sometimes join such as forest walks, and visits to the Lascaux caves, as well as tennis, kayaking, and film screenings. “Everything happened in a very spontaneous way,” Serge remembers.
At the heart of the process was understanding oneself, how one’s emotions work, and using every situation to live with greater freedom and clarity, whether with friends, family, school, dealing with one’s expectations, attractions, or moments of joy or despair.
“Adolescence is a starting point, the time when human qualities start to develop. The mind is then very clear and in discovery mode—it can therefore conceive and imagine anything,” explains Jigme Rinpoche in his first book, published in 1994, Living Free: Advice for Teenagers (only available in French).
“It can be a difficult period because we don’t know how to deal with this newness. Adolescence is also a time when we can start to understand things on our own. But this takes some training, otherwise we react impulsively on the spur of the moment. If we can understand what’s happening to us, we can adjust to situations and better cope with them. [….] In this way, we use every experience that we encounter to find out for ourselves what’s beneficial and what isn’t. We remain aware of what we are doing ,and no matter what experience we encounter, we use it as an enrichment. This is why adolescence is a very important time in life.”
Sylvestre B. was thirteen when he took part in the first course for teenagers in 1992. “My parents had come the year before and with my older fifteen-year-old sister, we would make fun of them. Jokingly, my mother said to us: ‘Well if you want to see for yourselves, there’s a course for young people during the spring break.’ So we said, ‘Alright, let’s go.’” A life path was about to be drawn for Sylvestre. “I arrived at the reception with my family along the little path that had just been laid out, and Jigme Rinpoche was there. I didn’t know who he was. I was just curious.” Seated on cushions in the study room, the young participants met Rinpoche every morning.
“What we call teachings are actually a certain number of instructions aimed at helping us to function better in our daily lives,” Jigme Rinpoche explained to the teens gathered for this first course.
“Here, we’re going to talk about a few things: our emotions and the natural wisdom of the mind. It might sound a little complicated, but we’ll study these by linking them directly to problems encountered everyday.
(Tendrel magazine 29, September 1992)
“He connected easily with youth. We saw him a bit like a teacher, ” Sylvestre recalls. “Everything was very practical. The topics discussed answered questions we had, but not necessarily ones that had been clearly formulated in our minds. It was more like a feeling. We pretty much agreed with what was explained, and it was something we could share with each other, and that alone, when you’re a kid, makes you happy,” he explains. Above all, Sylvestre recalls getting along well with his course mates, leading to several friendships that have lasted until today. “We talked about emotions. We meditated. I still remember Jigme Rinpoche saying: ‘Meditation is here and now.’”
Nourished by this experience, Sylvestre returned to a second teen course in 1994 and then to regular teachings, notably with Lama Gendun. “The turning point was in 1995. I was seventeen and said to myself, ‘Yes, I wish to attain enlightenment.” He moved to Dhagpo in 1997 before embarking on a first traditional three-year retreat at nineteen, in 2001, followed by a second one. “I see this first three-year-retreat as being really based on confidence and youthful energy,” he says humorously.
In 2014, the courses were registered with the French Ministry of Youth and Sports. A team comprising Miro T., Manou C., David C., Olivier C. and Virginia L. supervised the courses, supported by Lama Jigme Rinpoche. But the approach remained the same—to gain clarity, explore one’s inner wealth, and find the keys to a more successful life.
Under the guidance of Jigme Rinpoche, an evolution in the teenage courses is in preparation for Fall 2025—stay tuned….
These photos come from our archives or were collected as part of the research for Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary. We have not been able to identify all the authors. The use of these photos is solely for informational purposes within the context of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their use is limited to this event and our website and is not for commercial purposes.
Tendrel 29_Stage de Jigmé Rinpoché avec les adolescents
These photos come from our archives or were collected as part of the research for Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary. We have not been able to identify all the authors. The use of these photos is solely for informational purposes within the context of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their use is limited to this event and our website and is not for commercial purposes.
