Our Buddhist Connection

Venerable Zasep Tulku Rinpoche

The spiritual master of the Australian Tang Soo Tao Federation, was born in eastern Tibet in 1948. Rinpoche completed his Acharya (Master’s) Degree in Buddhist philosophy at Varanasi Sanskrit University in 1975, before studying Vipassana meditation and Theravada Buddhist traditions in the forest temples of Thailand.

In 1976, Rinpoche moved to Australia to translate and teach at the Chenrezig Institute for Wisdom Culture in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Queensland. It was during this time that our founder, the late Master Robert Caputo, met Rinpoche, beginning a lasting friendship. In 1980, Rinpoche accepted the invitation of his Canadian students and moved to British Columbia, Canada, where he still resides today.

Since coming to the West, Rinpoche has given numerous teachings, discourses, commentaries, initiations and meditation retreats for all his students around the world, including numerous workshops and retreats for the students of Tang Soo Tao. He has now been teaching in the west for over 30 years and is knowledgeable in six languages: Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Thai, Tibetan and English.

Rinpoche is spiritual director of more than twelve Buddhist meditation centres in Canada, Australia and the United States and we are honoured to have him as our spiritual and meditation master.