Past Resident Teachers | Western Teachers and Scholars | Tibetan Medical Doctors

His Holiness Gaden Trisur Rinpoche Jetsun Lobsang Nyima was born in 1928 in Tsawa Rong, a small village in Kham, Eastern Tibet. He became a monk at age 12 and entered Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa at age 17. In 1959 he followed His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile, where he received his Geshe degree and entered Gyume Tantric College, where he later became abbot. He was also appointed abbot of Namgyal Monastery by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a position he held for six years. In 1995 he assumed the position of the 100th Ganden Tripa (“Holder of the Ganden Throne”), the successor to Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) and supreme head of the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

We have had the rare honor of hosting Ganden Trisur Rinpoche three times to give teachings and empowerments.

Kyabje Rizong Rinpoche is one of the most highly respected lamas alive today. Born in Ladakh, as an infant he was recognized and enthroned as the reincarnation of the Rizong Tulku, and since that time has dedicated his life to the study and practice of the enlightenment path. He joined Drepung Loseling Monastery, Lhasa, in the mid-1940s. In Tibetan spiritual circles he is regarded as a modern-day Milarepa, having lived a life of simplicity and meditation since his youth. Recently he completed a strict three-year retreat in a remote cave of Ladakh so inaccessible that it was snowed in for six months a year. He has served as abbot of Gyume Tantric College and Drepung Loseling Monastery. At present he holds the post of Jangtse Choje Rinpoche and is next in line to become Ganden Tripa, the head of the Gelukpa school.

Rizong Rinpoche has visitied us several times, including a one-year stay from 1996-1997, and most recently in the Spring of 2005, when he taught a month-long course on Lam Rim (The Graduated Stages of the Path), gave several empowerments, and led two week-long retreats. Also during that time he taught at Emory University as a Distinguished Tibetan Visiting Scholar.

Kyabje Denma Locho Rinpoche was born in 1928 in Kham, Eastern Tibet. At the age of six he was recognized as the reincarnation of Gen Locho, a legendary master from the Denma region of Kham and one of the great lamas of Drepung Loseling Monastery. He entered Drepung Loseling Monastery for his education and quickly exhibited exceptional skills of learning and practice. Rinpoche was appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as abbot of Namgyal Monastery, His Holiness’s personal monastery, and also to serve as tutor for the young reincarnation of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, His Holiness’s senior tutor. Although Rinpoche is regarded as a complete master of both Sutra and Tantra traditions, he is especially renowned as a holder of the Tantric lineages, and as a master of the Tantric yogas.

Locho Rinpoche last visited us in the spring of 2004, during which he gave several teachings and empowerments. During that time he also taught at Emory University as a Distinguished Tibetan Visiting Scholar.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Konchok Paksam was born in the Kham region of Tibet and attended Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa at an early age for his classical training in Buddhist philosophy and meditation. In 1959 he followed His Holiness into exile in India and continued his training at the makeshift monastery in Buxadura, where he attained his Geshe Lharampa degree. He then attended a teacher’s training course in the late 60s in Kangra and served for over 25 years as spiritual teacher at the Central School for Tibetans in Dalhousie until 1995, when he was appointed abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 1998 Khen Rinpoche accompanied His Holiness to Atlanta to sign an agreement of affiliation between Emory University and Drepung Loseling Monastery, an affiliation that was inaugurated by His Holiness on May 12, 1998. In 2001 Khen Rinpoche retired from his duties as abbot, and he now resides at Drepung Loseling Monastery, devoting his time to personal practice, training young monks in Buddhist studies, and providing inspiration and guidance to the Drepung Loseling Monastery community.

Khen Rinpoche, Geshe Lobsang Gyatso, is the supreme head and abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery. Born in 1933 in Kham, the eastern region of Tibet, he became a monk at the early age of nine. In 1959 he went into exile in India and once again joined Drepung Loseling Monastery, re-established in south India. He finished his studies and obtained his Acharya degree in 1978, and in 1981 was awarded the degree of Geshe Lharampa (doctorate in the highest grade). Four years later, in 1985, he accepted a teaching post at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies at Sarnath, India. While teaching there he was appointed Abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the year 2000, and has continued to serve the monastery in that capacity ever since. Khen Rinpoche is recognized as an erudite scholar, a master of Buddhist philosophy and psychology and their applications to contemplative practice.

We have been honored to host Khen Rinpoche most recently in the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2006, when he also taught at Emory University as a Distinguished Tibetan Visiting Scholar.

Geshe Palden Drakpa is regarded as one of the greatest living masters of both the Madhyamaka tradition and the science of mind. Born in the Tehor region of Kham, Eastern Tibet, Geshe Palden Drakpa became a monk at Drepung Loseling Monastery while in his early teens. He excelled in his studies and was awarded the Geshe Lharam degree. He served as scholar-in-residence at Tibet House in New Delhi, has represented Tibet in the bi-annual Mind and Life conferences held at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, and has also served as Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Geshe Palden Drakpa most recently visited us from January to May of 2003, when he also taught as at Emory University as a Distinguished Tibetan Visiting Scholar.

Gungbar Rinpoche was born in 1943 in Eastern Tibet. Recognized at an early age as the thirteenth Gungbar Tulku, from 1956 he studied at Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa until fleeing Tibet for India in 1959 after the Chinese occupation of Tibet. In 1975 he received his Geshe Lharam degree from Drepung Loseling Monastery and entered Gyuto Tantric College to study. He then returned to Drepung Loseling to teach. In 1988-89 he led the first group of Drepung Loseling monks on their first Mystical Arts of Tibet tour in North America and accepted the donation of land in north Georgia that was to give rise to Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., in the US. In 1990 he was appointed abbot of Gyuto Tantric College. Gungbar Rinpoche died on April 7, 2001.

Drubthob Rinpoche is the founder and abbot of two monasteries in Nepal that are affiliated with Drepung Loseling Monastery. His name, meaning “Precious Mahasiddha,” reflects his reputation as a fully accomplished tantric master. He was born in Nepal and received his training at Drepung Loseling Monastery in Tibet. He served as the ritual healer to the Dalai Lama’s family in the 1950s and was arrested by the communist Chinese following the invasion of Tibet in 1959. The Communists attempted to hang him several times, but on each occasion after being taken down he revived consciousness. Upon finally being released he settled in Nepal, where he settled and founded monasteries.
Drubthob Rinpoche visited us in 1996 and again for six weeks in 1999.

Geshe Damchoe Gyaltsen is the Director of Institute for Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India. Established by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1973, the Institute is the most prestigious center for advanced Buddhist studies and practice. Geshe Damchoe received his traditional training at Drepung Loseling Monastery where he earned his Geshe Lharampa degree. He is the personal teacher of Geshe Lobsang Tenzin and visited us to teach in 1995 and 1998.

Khenpo Losal Zangpo is a highly regarded tantric master and leading exponent of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in 1950, Khenpo Losal studied Buddhist philosophy and practice for 18 years under various teachers such as HE the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche, Khyentse Chokyi Lodro and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Khenpo Losal now oversees the spiritual and temporal welfare of the Drukpa Kagyu Institute for Higher Studies at Khampagar Monastery in Tashi Jong, the seat of Khamtrul Rinpoche, the head of the Kham division of the Drukpa Kagyu school. This monastery maintains an unbroken tradition of tokdens or “tantric yogis” who are specially selected from among the monastic community and trained in the esoteric “heartdrop” traditions descending directly from Milarepa. Khenpo Losal Zangpo visited us to teach in the Spring of 2001.

Past Resident Teachers | Western Teachers and Scholars | Tibetan Medical Doctors