This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Rigpa was founded in London in 1979 by Sogyal Lakar, known as Sogyal Rinpoche, as a center for the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism in the Nyingma school of Vajrayana. Sogyal Lakar was also the author of the widely read Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which introduced many readers outside Tibetan Buddhism to its teachings on death and dying.
The organization grew over the following decades to operate centres in more than forty countries, with its United Kingdom operations registered under the charity name Rigpa Fellowship, charity number 279315, a reach few Western Buddhist organizations of its era achieved.
In 2017, following allegations of abuse from current and former students, Sogyal Lakar resigned as spiritual director, a role he had held for nearly four decades. He died in Thailand in August 2019, two years after resigning and without facing criminal charges. Rigpa continues to operate today as a registered UK charity with its reporting up to date, though under continuing regulatory attention, and its national associations in other countries operate as separate charitable bodies.