His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, head of the lineage, is its spiritual authority; it is the European headquarter whereas the main monastery of the lineage is located in Darjeeling, India.

His Holiness went regularly to the Centre Plouray to teach and lead retreats. The rest of the year, its representative in Europe, the Venerable Drubpon Ngawang Tenzin Pagsam Yongdu, resides there.

Many great Masters also came in recent years : His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Eminence Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, H.E. Bairo Rinpoche, H.E. Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoch, H.E. Kyabje Gyalwa Dokhampa Rinpoche, H.E Kyabje Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche, H.E. Gyeltshen Trulku Rinpoche, H.E. Kyabje Khenpo Tringa Rinpoche, Trogawa Rinpoche, Lopeun Dralop Rinpoche, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo.

This Stupa named “the good auspicious doors” was built by Bhutanese artists assisted by many volunteers and a few artisans. Designed by His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, it was consecrated in 1997.

There are three statues inside the stupa : the main statue of Guru Padmasambhava is surrounded by Chenrezig and Green Tara’s statues. Both statues of Chenrezig and Green Tara were sculpted by Buthanese artists during the year 2000; they were painted by Ladakhi artists in May 2003.

“A Stupa is not only built for glory and fame, but for its beneficial influence on the sentient beings, the area and the world, so that there will be no obstacles to the spiritual Masters’ compassion activity, in order to maintain the existing intact and pure spiritual tradition, and to connect the Drukpa European Centre of Plouray to the first monastery of the lineage in Tibet, Shedrup Tcheukor Ling in Raloung”
The Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa.

As the number of students attending His Holiness’ and other great Masters’ teachings is regularly increasing, the building of a Spiritual Hall has been foreseen on the Bel Avenir ground. His Holiness has drawn a rough sketch in the TGV train when travelling from Geneva to Paris in September 2001.
Messrs Morvan and Le Solliec, Lord Mayors of Plouray and Gourin as well as Mr. Pierre Bleuzen, architect who realized the final plan as per His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa’s instructions, participated to the inauguration of its building on the 27th April 2002.
His Holiness gave his first teachings in this Hall in September 2002. The Bumpa Ceremony took place on this occasion. 

A prayer was inaugurated in August 2008 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The 6 meters high building which will shelter the prayer wheel is made by Lama Seunam, a specialist in sacred Buddhist art. The prayer wheel is a cylinder about 2 meters high with handles to spin it. The cylinder itself is just a container, the essential being inside : mantras imprinted on paper rolls wound around the wheel axle.

To spin around a prayer wheel means setting in motion the energy of the mantras it contains, spreading and diffusing this energy all around, thinking that it will not only be beneficial to the person who is spinning it but also to the infinity of sentient beings. In this respect, the prayer wheel at Plouray Centre is dedicated to peace and harmony in Brittany and throughout the world.

In Tibet, near every Drukpa monastery, a small temple is built, called « Lama Lhakhang » in which are displayed statues and thangkas of the lineage.

As of today, there are 365 statues within the Lama Lhakhang. They were sculpted in Bhutan and brought all the way here to Drukpa Plouray. It has been a long and meticulous task which has taken over ten years, and which, thanks to the blessing of His Holiness, has now matured to completion.

The Lama Lakhang is not open to visitors.

Conceived by His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, this centre counts eight houses for the retreats.

Individual retreat : opened to the practionners as well as to any person who wishes to temporarily withdraw from his daily life and/or to discover the Buddhist centre. An interview is required prior to a first request.
Collective retreats: during the teachings led by Drubpön Ngawang, the houses are shared on a basis of 4 to 6 persons.

The shop is open every afternoon from 14:30 to 17:30, and in the summer from 14:00 to 19:00 Local Time. Here you will find a large collection of books on Buddhism and spirituality, the Drukpa Lineage practice texts as well as meditation items, recorded audio and video teachings, representations of Buddhist deities, incense, and Asian clothing and crafts.

Videos

In 1984 His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa requested Khenpo Yeshe Cheudar Rinpoche to go to France, near Monaco, in order to found a Dharma centre. Under his impulse, one year later, the Drukpa Plouray Centre in Morbihan was founded.
In 1986, His Holiness came to France for the first time and blessed the Plouray Centre which he instituted as the European Centre of the Drukpa Lineage, giving it the name of « Druk Tupten Tcheukor Ling », « The Dragon’s Garden where turns the Wheel of the Buddha’s Teachings ».
Ever since, His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa has regularly visited the Plouray Centre and the other European Drukpa Centres, conducting retreats and giving teachings. After Khenpo Yeshe Cheudar returned to India, His Holiness appointed Drubpön Ngawang as the representative of the Drukpa Lineage in Europe.In 1994, was held in Plouray, in the presence of His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa and of his parents, Bairo Rinpoche and Mayoumla, the first great empowerment of Chakrasamvara which gathered more than 500 participants.

Under the impulse of Drubpön Ngawang, the "Stupa of Auspicious Doors" was erected It was inaugurated in 1997, in the presence of His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa and his parents, on the occasion of a grand Vajrakilaya Drupchen, following the Drukpa tradition of Kunkyen Padma Karpo.

In Decembre 1999, The Lord of Refuge, Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, came and blessed the Plouray Centre, bestowing his precious Teaching and Yangtik empowerment. In 2001, the Vidyadhara Namkhar Drime Rabjam Rinpoche bestowed the Guru Dewa empowerment.

In 2003, the large teaching hall was inaugurated by His Holiness, in presence of his parents and the second Thuksay Rinpoche. On that occasion, a second Vajrakilaya Drupchen took place. Around six hundred students and disciples of His Holiness attended this great spiritual event.

In May 2004, the Plouray Drukpa Centre was officially recognised as a religious congregation by the French government. On that occasion His Holiness named the new Congregation "Pel Drukpay Tcheutsok".

In 2008, His Holiness the Dalaï Lama came to Drukpa Plouray during his visit to France. He gave a teaching and a public conference which gathered over 5,000 people.

Since 1999, many Masters have come to the Drukpa Plouray Centre to give teachings, among whom : His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Eminence Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, H.E. Bairo Rinpoche, H.E. Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche, H.E. Kyabje Gyalwa Dokhampa Rinpoche, H.E Kyabje Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche, H.E. Gyeltshen Trulku Rinpoche, H.E. Kyabje Khenpo Tringa Rinpoche, Trogawa Rinpoche, Lopeun Dralop Rinpoche, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo.
It is immensely fortunate for the students and disciples to have received over a period of more than 20 years such a wealth of Teachings from His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa and so many other great Masters of the Drukpa Lineage.

Vidéo

Drubpön Ngawang's ancestors were all excellent practitioners and some of them were even realised masters of Dzogchen in Bhutan, the country that still has the good fortune of holding the blessing of Guru Padmasambhava. In addition, his familial lineage has a great reputation of containing heroic personages in many respects. In regard to Drubpön Ngawang himself, his father was told by the late Dudjom Rinpoche that his son should be given to Thuksay Rinpoche, and I think that this was very significant in that His Holiness had foreseen that Drubpön's activities would be beneficial to many beings. As everyone can see, Drubpön Ngawang is a great helper to the Masters from whom he took teachings. This actually means that he has and is developed in his practice successfully. He has no interest to show or to talk about his realisation or anything about his own positive spiritual qualities. That in itself is a great quality according to my understanding, due to the fact that, unfortunately, we can easily be deceived by certain inauthentic masters who have many beautiful things to say about themselves. The only reliable way to judge a Drubpön is through his genuine moral practices, his Guru devotion, his simplicity of living and his skill of dealing with others. One must take time, I think, to confirm the Drubpön's qualities as being truly positive or negative.

We call Drubpön Ngawang 'Ngawang Chenpo' as 'Chenpo' in Tibetan means big. I remember that even when he was around 10 years old, he was quite big. He had a tall body with a beautiful plump face as he still has today. Anyway, that is his appearance, but I think he also has an enormous space in his inside which, when he was younger, allowed him the wonderful time that he had with his Guru, the late Thuksay Rinpoche, whom he served for more than 15 years, day and night. People would not even have an inkling of how hard, emotionally and physically, it is to serve a traditional master in a genuine way, unless they have read of Marpa, Milarepa or read some other genuine Master's biography. It is very rare and only truly fortunate people can joyfully serve their Master full time without a day of rest or a fracture of a doubt as did Ngawang! It is true that many of us have the fantasy of serving a Master from some romantic picture that is created in the temporal mind. However, that particular romance is hardly achievable for most common beings. I have seen many of them having a big problem in their head after having the fortune of serving their master, and subsequently, if they are smart enough, they will step back. If not, they will get burned by their impure vision of the Master and their doubt in the teachings. They will look down upon Dharma friends and sustain the special pride of being a special person. As a result of this negative impact, the activities of the Master will be disturbed and beings will not be benefited as the Master had planned.

Therefore, I would say that one has to be especially fortunate like Drubpön Ngawang to have completed such service with no difficulties in his mind at all. I can be the only witness, if you like, of his positivity of life with our Guru. His tolerance, simplicity, understanding and diligence in fulfilling the Master's wishes everyday with no questions at all really made me feel so appreciative. Not only that, he has achieved the same amount of benefit as tens of preliminary practices through his genuine service that he offered to his master. Therefore, he was one of the first and very few people to whom I taught high tantric practices. I had no doubt in teaching him whatsoever. Also, he did everything that was told to him to be done perfectly with one-pointed devotion. In fact, I was told by our great Guru, the late Thuksay Rinpoche, as one of his instructions just a few months before he passed away to take him as my student and guide him in meditation, with the additional prophecy that "Ngawang will never betray you and will hopefully serve you continually like he did me," and further requested me, "Do not forget to keep him within your love." Having that in my mind, I have a great trust in his helping me and my activities in running centres and guiding my other students who are in need of spiritual support.

"This brief description of Drubpön Ngawang's life and activities was written by me for website publication and is by no means a definitive account of his life as there are countless things I could say about him from my life with him, yet I would not like to tire your eyes. What I have written is to inform people and evoke their genuine motivation to be good practitioners of the Dharma in order to benefit all beings."

The Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa

Facebook of Drubpön Nawang

Drubpön Ngawang's Youtube channel

Here is the list of teachings given by Venerable Drubpon Ngawang Tenzin available on Drukpa Plouray's YouTube channel.

Film about the life of Drubpon Ngawang Tenzin: THE HARVEST OF ASPIRATIONS