Lama Sonam Zangpo (1888–1982) was a highly revered master of the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma traditions in Bhutan.
He was the father of Semo Jamyang Choden, who married Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, the eldest son of Dudjom Rinpoche. Together they had several children, including Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, of whom Lama Sonam Zangpo was both the maternal grandfather and one of his principal teachers.
Lama Sonam Zangpo himself belonged to a distinguished social lineage: he was the son of Sonam Delma and the step-son of the first King of Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck. Despite his noble birth, he famously chose a life of extreme simplicity. He is said to have declined the official position of Chögyal (religious king) and preferred to live in jungle retreats rather than in the royal palace.
He served as the personal spiritual preceptor to the royal family. It is said that even the Queen of Bhutan would personally drive into the wilderness to deliver offerings to him at his remote retreat huts.
As a young man, Lama Sonam Zangpo traveled from Bhutan to Kham in eastern Tibet to study under the great yogi Drubwang Shakya Shri (1853–1919), a legendary master renowned for his austere yogic life and profound “sky-like” wisdom.
Lama Sonam Zangpo was recognized as a “Heart Son” (thugs sras) and became one of Shakya Shri’s most realized disciples. He spent many years at Shakya Shri’s austere meditation encampment at Khyibuk, specializing in the Six Yogas of Naropa and Mahamudra. After his guru’s passing, he remained at Khyibuk for another decade, guiding the community and editing several volumes of Shakya Shri’s teachings.
Sonam Zangpo lived like the masters of old, preferring remote wilderness over established institutions. His community functioned as a Gar—a roaming religious encampment—moving between remote sites every few years rather than settling in a fixed monastery. He never spent a day in the “worldly atmosphere of towns,” instead remaining in secluded places such as Tsari, the hidden valley of Khenjong, and Taktsang. Throughout his life, he maintained a strict schedule of four daily practice sessions as a togden yogi.
Lama Sonam Zangpo held the rare “whispered transmissions” (nyan gyud) of Shakya Shri and valued meditative realization over institutional status. He later assumed responsibility for the upbringing and training of Shakya Shri’s grandson, Apho Rinpoche, transmitting Mahamudra and Dzogchen to ensure the continuity of the lineage.
In Bhutan, Lama Sonam Zangpo founded the Chökyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang and played a key role in the construction of the Thimphu Memorial Chorten. His present incarnation is Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche, widely known as “Meme Lama,” who currently serves as the abbot of the Chökyi Gyatso Institute.
Another recognized incarnation is Trulku Kunga Jigme, who underwent nine years of traditional study at the Paro Sangchen Chökor Buddhist University in Bhutan and is active in Bhutanese monastic circles.
