Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen (Tibetan: ཁུ་ནུ་བླ་མ་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱལ་མཚན, Wylie: khu nu bla ma bstan 'dzin rgyal mtshan; 1894/early 95 – February 20, 1977)[1] was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and teacher in the Rimé tradition, a Dzogchen master, and a teacher of several important Rinpoches of the late 20th century, including the 14th Dalai Lama.
[2] Khunu Lama was born in 1894/early 1895 in the village of Sunam which lies in the present-day Kinnaur district of India, in the Western Himalayas.
He also received preliminary spiritual instruction in Tibetan Buddhism at village Lippa in Kinnaur, under a student of the famous 19th century teacher Sakya Shri.
Khunu Lama died at the age of 82 at Shashur Monastery in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachel Pradesh on February 20, 1977, while teaching the final page of Gampopa's Jewel Ornament of Liberation.
The 14th Dalai Lama's "respect for him was profound: He would prostrate to Rinpoche in the dust when they met at the Great Stupa in Bodh Gaya."
[6] A foremost scholar of Sanskrit and Classical Tibetan "as a prerequisite to the study of the religious texts" who "gained a reputation for extraordinary scholarship," Khunu Rinpoche traveled widely in Tibet and India disseminating essential teachings of Buddhist philosophy, and was known for shunning attention.
[7] His students include Drikung Khandro, Khenpo Konchok Gyaltsen, Lamkhen Gyalpo Rinpoche and the 14th Dalai Lama.
"[3] Among several teachings that the Dalai Lama received from Khunu Rinpoche was the celebrated Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Shantideva.