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.

Currently he is the Supreme Head and Abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery in India.

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.

Gala Rinpoche was born in 1980. At the age of 10 joined the Tibetan Children’s Village School at Dharamsala, India, and completed his high school education from the same school. At the age of sixteen, Rinpoche was recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 7th reincarnation of Gala Tulku, a reincarnated teacher from the Batha Monastery in Kham Dege, Eastern Tibet. The young Rinpoche was formally enthroned at Drepung Loseling Monastery that same year and started his profound Buddhist studies and practice. He received his novice vow from His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Drepung Monastery, and also received his full-ordained vow from His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his temple in Dharamsala. He was trained and tutored by the most renowned masters of this age including Rizong Rinpoche Thupten Nyima (current Ganden Throne Holder), His Eminence Denma Lochoe Rinpoche, His Eminence Gungbar Rinpoche and so on. This young Rinpoche pursued his rigorous studies for decades and completed his learning in the Five Main Treatises of Buddhist Studies, which included logic, ethics, and psychology. Rinpoche completed his monastery study in 2009 and got his Geshe degree the same year. Rinpoche also served the Drepung Loseling Monastery in various capacities; he was the editor of DRELOMA (Drepung Loseling Magazine) and the chief member of Loseling New Temple Inaugural Ceremony Preparation Committee. He launched the new Loseling website and created a monastery bio data of the monks. Drepung Loseling Monastery requested Rinpoche to travel to western and Asian countries to teach the Dharma and lead the cultural tours of the Mystical Arts of Tibet. He represented the monastery as spokesperson, group leader, translator and had the opportunity to share Buddhism for western audiences and present a series of lectures and public talks at various universities, museums, festivals, spiritual and community centers. Currently Rinpoche resides in Atlanta and serves as resident teacher at Drepung Loseling Monastery Center.

Geshe Dadul Namgyal was an exceptional scholar and practitioner with extraordinary English language skills in communicating the Dharma at all levels. He received his Geshe Lharam, the highest degree of learning in Tibetan Buddhism, from Drepung Loseling Monastery in 1992. In addition to serving as the Editor of Lhaksam Tsegpa, a journal produced by the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, and Editor of Dreloma, a Drepung Loseling publication, he has also played a key role as a convener, interpreter, and speaker for numerous conferences and forums exploring the interface of Buddhism with modern science, western philosophy and psychology, and other religious traditions, on both a national and international level.

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