Geshe Lobsang Tenzin combines the knowledge worlds of both East and West in a way that exemplifies Drepung Loseling Monastery’s mission.

Born in northern India, Geshe Lobsang was chosen at age fourteen to study at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, the private school of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. In 1985 he entered Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka, Southern India, to continue his studies, and in 1994 he received the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest level of learning in Tibetan Buddhism. At the suggestion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Lobsang also completed a Ph.D. at the Institute for Liberal Arts at Emory University. His dissertation examined western scientific and Tibetan Buddhist understandings of the emotions and their impact on health.

As Founder and Spiritual Director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc. in Atlanta GA, Geshe Lobsang has overseen its development since its inception in 1991. He has taught courses in Buddhist philosophy, psychology and meditation, and has succeeded in bringing some of the most highly respected scholars in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to visit and teach. This has led to a complete range of programs at the Monastery for all levels of students and practitioners.

Geshe Lobsang is also active at Emory University, where he is a Professor of Practice at the Department of Religion and director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership. He has contributed to the development of a number of programs linking Emory University with Tibetan institutions of higher learning in India. He is also engaged in collaborative research at Emory on meditation and its impact on health. A paper based on this research was published in the Fall of 2008 in Psychoneuroendocrinology, an academic journal dedicated to the study of human behavior and psychiatric illness.

To download a copy of the article "Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress" please click here.

Geshe Lobsang is committed to community service and outreach activities. He is regularly invited to lecture around the country, and is a frequent participant in interfaith dialogues.