Lama Sonam Dramdul

Lama Sonam was born in the Pema Köd region and at the age of 9 traveled to the Mysore region of southern India to attend the Nyingma Buddhist monastery and Buddhist studies center of Namdroling under the direction of H.H. Penor Rinpoche. At Namdroling, Lama Sonam studied traditional forms of Tibetan calligraphy, grammar, poetry, traditional Buddhist temple music, as well as sacred ritual and dance. He then studied at the Nyingma Institute of Higher Buddhist Studies at Namdroling Monastery with an emphasis on Buddhist Madhyamika sutras. After graduation, he was appointed by H.H. Penor Rinpoche as the master of monastic discipline in the main Namdroling Monastery. In 1997, he was sent to Taiwan to serve at the Palyul Nyingma Center. Lama Sonam came to the United States in 2000 and has assisted Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche at the Vairotsana Foundation Centers in California. Currently, Lama Sonam is in residence at the Vairotsana Foundation Center in Garden Grove, California.