Distinguished Visiting Teachers | Western Teachers and Scholars | Tibetan Medical Doctors

Born in 1944 in Dakyab in Eastern Tibet, Togden Rinpoche was recognized as the first incarnation of the great scholar Jamyang Lodoe. At age nine he entered Drepung Loseling Monastery, where he studied until he was forced to flee Tibet when the Chinese communists invaded in 1959. He continued his studies in India and obtained his Geshe Lharampa degree from Drepung Loseling Monastery. He holds many rare transmissions and at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has twice given the transmission of the entire Kangyur (the complete original teachings of the Buddha in 108 volumes). He serves as the Abbot of Gyuto Tantric College.

Born in Tawo, Kham, in eastern Tibet in 1936, Jampa Rinpoche was recognized at the age of three as the reincarnation of the great practitioner and physician-adept Gonpo Rinchen. Jampa Rinpoche was a very close disciple of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, senior tutor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and participated in finding the reincarnation of Ling Rinpoche.
  During his training Rinpoche received teachings from all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including many rare transmissions and empowerments and special healing and divination practices. In 1959 he followed His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile in India, where he completed his studies in Buddhism and in 1978 received his Geshe degree from Drepung Loseling Monastery in south India.

Geshe Thubten Wangyal was born in Nepal, near the border with Tibet. He joined a monastery in Katmandu at an early age, and continued his study of philosophy at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, the private school of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. He has practiced at Drepung Loseling Monastery in India and at Rizong Rinpoche's monastery in Ladakh, where he has spent 12 years in retreat. Here in Atlanta he has served as the director of the Puja Project, teaching classes about Tibetan Buddhist meditation and philosophy, and leading practices at Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., for two years from 1999-2000.

Lhading Rinpoche was born in Lhokha, Tibet in 1947. In 1957 His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized him as the sixth reincarnation of Lhading Lama, a great 17th century adept. He received his spiritual training, beginning at the age of three, at the monastery founded by his predecessor, Lhading Monastery. In 1959 Lhading Rinpoche followed His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile in India and continued his spiritual training at the re-established Drepung Loseling Monastery. He holds the Geshe degree, and has taught extensively both at the monastery and in North America. He has led two of the Mystical Arts of Tibet tours, and is considered a gupta yogi, a great master disguised as a humble and friendly monk.

Lhading Rinpoche has visited us several times, most recently for a two-year period as Senior Resident Teacher from the Fall of 2003 until November 2005, when he gave empowerments and taught Geshe Chekawa’s “Seven Point Mind Training,” Shantideva’s “Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life,” and three complete Foundation Series..

Geshe Lhabu Dhondup is our senior resident teacher for 2006. He was born in Tehor, eastern Tibet, in 1937. At age 17 he entered Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa. In 1959 he went into exile in India and continued his training at the re-established Drepung Loseling Monastery, where he received his Geshe Lharam degree in 1989. Geshe Lhabu-la is a skilled teacher with extensive experience in teaching Buddhist philosophy, epistemology and metaphysics. Over the past year he has taught on chapter six of Shantideva’s “Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,” “Cognition and Awareness (Lorig),” “Exposition of Buddhist Tenets” and the Foundation Series.

Distinguished Visiting Teachers | Western Teachers and Scholars | Tibetan Medical Doctors