Karl Brunnhölzl

Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl was born in Munich, Germany and worked for 20 years as a physician. A Buddhist since 1983, he received his initial training in Buddhist philosophy and meditation, as well as Tibetan language, in a six-year course in higher Buddhist philosophy at Kamalashila Institut in Wachendorf, Germany (1986 to 1991). He was awarded the degree of Dharma-Tutor (Tib. skyor dpon). Beginning in 1988, he studied for eleven years at the Marpa Institute For Translators in Kathmandu, Nepal (director: Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche). He also studied Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit at Hamburg University, Germany (1988–1990 and 2001–2005). Since 1989, Karl has served as a translator, interpreter, and Buddhist teacher mainly in Europe and Asia. Since 1999, he has also acted as one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute (director: Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche) in the USA, Canada, and Germany. From 2000–2007, he taught regularly at the Vidyadhara Institute in Gampo Abbey, Canada. In 2005, Karl was appointed by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche as one of five senior Western teachers of the Nalandabodhi sangha and received the title Mitra (‘spiritual friend’). He teaches weekend seminars and longer courses in Nalandabodhi centers in Europe, North America, and Asia, as well as in other Buddhist communities.

Since 2004, Karl has been a full-time author and translator from Sanskrit and Tibetan. In 2006, he moved to Seattle where he worked for Nalandabodhi, Nitartha, and the Tsadra Foundation (until 2016). He worked for Causa from 2017 to 2023, and he returned to live in his hometown of Munich in 2021. In 2019, Karl was awarded the Khyentse Foundation Prize For Outstanding Translation for his groundbreaking, three-volume publication of Asaṅga’s Mahāyānasaṃgraha and its Indian commentaries (A Compendium of the Mahāyāna). He has published more than twenty books on Buddhism in English and German, such as The Heart Attack Sutra (Snow Lion Publications), A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart, and Sounds of Innate Freedom (Wisdom Publications). Karl is at home in many aspects of Buddhism, but his main interests are Yogācāra, the teachings on buddha nature, the mahāsiddha tradition with its songs of realization (dohās), Vajrayāna, and Mahāmudrā. In particular, he is dedicated to the works of the Karmapas and other major Kagyü masters, such as Khenchen Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, in order to make their timeless and authentic teachings available to contemporary audiences through study and practice.