Michael Conklin was born in Portland, Oregon, in the 1940s. Later in life, he moved to California and earned a degree in philosophy from UC Berkeley. He eventually settled in San Francisco, where he, his wife, and a Dharma friend, Paul Terry, opened a gourmet cheese shop.

In the early 1970s, Kalu Rinpoche, a renowned Tibetan meditation master, traveled to the West, establishing many Dharma centers throughout Europe and the United States. In 1974, Michael, his wife Tara Sullivan, Sanje Elliott and many others helped Rinpoche establish a center in San Francisco.

In the late 1980s, Kalu Rinpoche requested Lama Tsang Tsing, a Sikkimese-born lama, to lead a traditional three-year retreat in Marcola, Oregon. Michael enrolled in the retreat, while Tara volunteered as the retreat cook.

In 1993, Lama Michael left San Francisco and accepted an invitation to serve as Resident Lama of the Kalu Rinpoche center in Portland, Oregon.

Following Kalu Rinpoche’s passing in 1989, many of his senior students began studying with Venerable Bokar Rinpoche in West Bengal, India. In 1996, Bokar Rinpoche visited Portland and encouraged Lama Michael and the Portland community to establish a retreat center.

In 2001, the community purchased 240 acres near Goldendale, Washington. After more than a decade of fundraising, planning, and development, Lama Michael led a traditional one-year retreat there. From 2015 to 2018, he co-led a cloistered three-year retreat with another early student of Kalu Rinpoche, Lama Tara of Victoria, British Columbia. Before and between these longer retreats, Lama Michael, Lama Lekshe, and other teachers led numerous shorter retreats on the land.

Lama Michael devoted more than five decades of his life to the study, practice, and teaching of Tibetan Buddhism. He was deeply respected for his ability to manifest beneficial Dharma activity, his tireless one-on-one work with students, and his sparkling sense of humor.

Lama Michael, whose name is Karma Sonam Rinchen, passed away on April 30, 2026. His influence continues through the many students he guided, the communities he helped establish, and the practices he worked so diligently to preserve and transmit.