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.

Rinpoche passed away on September 14, 2008 at Drepung Loseling Monastery in Mundgod, India. He remained in "Thukdam" meditation for 18 days showing amazing signs of his being a highly accomplished meditator. This was witnessed by doctors, researchers, and thousands of devotees.

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

The 102nd Ganden Tripa, Kyabje Rizong Rinpoche was born in Ladakh in 1927 and was recognized and enthroned as a child as the reincarnation of the founder of the illustrious Rizong Hermitage.

In the mid-1940’s he joined Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa for his higher training, remaining until the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. He then joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile community in India. He was appointed by His Holiness as Abbot both of Gyumed Tantric Monastery and of Drepung Loseling Monastery, two of the greatest seats of Tibetan spiritual knowledge. In 2010 he was appointed the 102nd Ganden Tripa, the supreme head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

Rinpoche has made the practice of meditation his principal focus in life and has conducted numerous extensive retreats, including a three-year tantric retreat on the Yamantaka mandala in a remote hermitage in Ladakh.

Through his achievements in practice and scholarship, he represents the pinnacle of the Sutra and Tantra traditions. Renowned for his tantric powers, he is frequently called upon by H.H. the Dalai Lama to lead ceremonies for healing and other similar purposes.

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 visited 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. His most recent visit was in 2008 where he led a teaching on "Tantric Grounds & Paths".

Khensur 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 Khensur 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 Khensur 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.

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. Khensur Rinpoche was the previous supreme head and abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery and 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 Khensur 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, 1998 and 2008.

Professor Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe was born in Lhokha, Central Tibet and became a monk of Drepung Loseling at the age of 13. He excelled in his studies, and eventually received his Rabjamba Degree in 1958, and later was awarded Geshe Lharam, the highest academic degree offered in the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism at Drepung Monastic University. He served as a lecturer at the School of Buddhist Philosophy, Leh, Ladakh and at Sanskrit University in Sarnath. He is currently a professor of Mool Shastra (Indian Tradition of Buddhist Philosophy) at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, the only Tibetan university in India. Professor Thabkhe is regarded as one of the most eminent scholars of both the Madhyamaka tradition and the Indian Buddhist studies. His monumental works include translation of “The Essence of Good Explanation of Definitive & Interpretable Meanings (Lek-Shey Nying-Po)” by Tsong Kha Pa into Hindi, as well as “A Commentary on the Rice Seedlings (Salistamba) Sutra” by Vasubhandu. He has also facilitated the completion of numerous research works including a complete translation of Lama Tsong-kha-pa’s Lam rim chen mo “Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment".

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