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Gerry Wiener is a software engineer working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. He began his Buddhist studies with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1971 and studied under Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche until his parinirvana in 1987. Gerry received teachings from His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje in 1974 and in 1980 during the times His Holiness was visiting the United States. Gerry has continued his Tibetan Buddhist studies under Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche focusing on Tibetan translation and the development of the [http://nitarthadigitallibrary.org/xtf/search Nitartha Digital Library]. ([https://karmapacenter16.org/contact/board-volunteers/ Source Accessed Feb 20, 2022]) +
Gertraud Taenzer is an independant scholar. Her current research interests are old Tibetan wood-slips of the Southern Taklamakan and the Tsaidam Basin and the secular manuscripts of the post Tibetan period (period of Guiyi jun rule) from Dunhuang. Her publications include "The 'A zha Country under the Tibetans in the 8th and 9th Century: A Survey of Land Registration and Taxation Based on a Sequence of Three Manuscripts of the Stein Collection from Dunhuang". In ''Scribes, Texts, and Rituals in Early Tibet and Dunhuang'', edited by Brandon Dotson, Kazushi Iwao and Tsuguhito Takeuchi, 25–43. Wiesbaden: Reichert
Verlag, 2013. ([https://brill.com/display/book/9789004307438/B9789004307438_001.xml Source Accessed Aug 1, 2023]) +
Gesar of Ling, the legendary Tibetan ruler, warrior, and spiritual leader, is the central hero of a vast collection of stories that has been described as the world’s largest epic tradition. In European terms, we could say that Gesar is both King Arthur and Merlin. Like Arthur, he is the exemplary king and warrior who unites and defends his people in times of trouble and great danger. Like Merlin, he is a spiritual leader, but also a magician and trickster. In later centuries, he is also seen as a full-fledged tantric deity and important figure of the Dzogchen tradition.
Versions of Gesar’s story have been told for many hundreds of years by Tibetans and neighboring peoples, such as the Baltis and people of Hunza to the west and the various Mongol peoples to the east and north. As epics do, the stories of Gesar deal with central issues of human existence. They also provide insights into many aspects of Tibetan religion and culture. That is why the appearance of this new translation of Gesar stories is so important and welcome. (Source: [https://www.lionsroar.com/from-folk-hero-to-deity/ Shambhala Publications]) +
Venerable Geshe Dorji Damdul is presently Director - Tibet House, New Delhi. He has undertaken several projects for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, serving as the primary translator for many of his works. Born in 1968, Geshe Dorji Damdul earned his Geshe Lharampa Degree in 2002 from Drepung Loseling Monastic University.
He has a most fantastic analytical mind, and his skillful technique ensures that most practitioners understand the wisdom rooted behind their practice. Geshe La regularly gives teachings at Tibet House and Deer Park Institute. ([https://vidyaloke.in/home/resource-library/our_gurus_and_masters.php Source Accessed Oct 27, 2021]) +
Geshe Drakpa Gelek (1955–2018) was born Lhakpa Tsering to parents in the Keydong, Zongka region in Central Tibet. He sought political asylum in India in the wake of Communist China's invasion and subsequent occupation of Tibet, which until then, preserved one of humankind's most ancient civilizations and traditions. He began his monastic education in one of Tibet's largest center of learning, Drepung Losel-Ling Monastic University, which is now re-established in India. (Founded in 1416 in Tibet, Drepung was the home of the early Dalai Lamas.)
He was formally ordained as a novice monk by His Eminence Drepung Khenchen Pema Gyaltsen and was given the religious name Drakpa Gelek. In 1991, Geshe Drakpa Gelek successfully completed the intensive spiritual studies and training in the five sciences, and graduated with a Master of Metaphysics degree, called Geshe, from Drepung Loseling Monastic University. Following completion of the Geshe degree, he enrolled himself at the re-established Lower Tantric University in Hunsur, India, in 1992. For his skilled communication and originality, he was unanimously appointed as Disciplinarian of the Tantric University. Geshe Drakpa taught Buddhist philosophy and practice at Drepung University from 1991 to 1997, and is well-known for his spiritual insights, knowledge, and debating skills.
He received profound and vast Buddhist teachings from distinguished and accomplished spiritual teachers including His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama's tutors His Eminence Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and His Eminence Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, as well as other realized Buddhist saint-scholars. He received spiritual education in the five major Buddhist philosophy and tenets (such as the Buddhist Science of Debate, the perfection of wisdom, the theory of the Middle Way View, ethical discipline, and the Buddhist science of Cosmology by several of Tibet's renowned saint-scholars and accomplished spiritual masters such as His Eminence Drepung Khenchen Pema Gyaltsen, and His Eminence Shakor Khen Nyima Gyaltsen.
Geshe Drakpa received rare oral transmissions of the entire texts of the Buddha's actual teaching, the Kangyur in 1999 and 2000, and the complete works of the founder of the Gelukpa sect, Je Tsongkhapa Rinpoche, and his two heart-disciples saint-scholar Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Je. He also received explanatory transmission of "The Great Commentary of the Kalachakra Tantra" from His Eminence Kyabje Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, and the complete oral transmission of the 225 voluminous Buddhist spiritual commentaries, the Tengyur, written by the great masters from India and Tibet, from the accomplished hermit His Eminence Paknang Rinpoche.
Geshe-la spend many years living in solitude in spiritual retreat in the high mountains in Dharamsala where the headquarters of the Tibetan Government in-exile is based. He received empowerments and experiential teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and occasionally from other spiritual teachers. He has taught general Tantra and Kalachakra Tantra grounds and paths to the monks of Namgyal Monastery, the personal monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, during their regular annual summer retreat. In recent years he traveled to the United States, South Korea, Spain, Belgium, and France to give teachings.
Geshe-la passed away in India in December, 2018. ([https://www.tbcwp.org/geshe-drakpa-gelek-archive.html Source Accessed Dec 1, 2023])
Born in 1977 in Ngayul in the Amdo region, he became a monk at Jonang Se Monastery when he was young and learned reading, writing, and rituals under Khar Lama Sherab Chophel. Having finished the training, he followed the tradition of the monastery and entered into three year retreat under Lama Kunga Thukje Pal in order to take up the practice of the six yogas of Kālacakra. In 1998, he arrived in India and joined Gomang College in Drepung Monastery and completed the full study of the five treatises. He sat for Grand Geluk Examination and also successfully passed the defense for the Lharam Geshe degree. Following this, he attended the Gyuto College for Tantric Studies and passed the exams. He is currently lecturer at Jonang Monastery in Parping, Nepal. +
Geshe Gedün Lodrö (1924–1979) entered Drebung Monastic University near Lhasa at the age of nine as a novice monk. He gained the degree of geshe in 1961 in exile in India as the first among three scholars who were awarded the number one ranking in the highest class. A scholar of prodigious intellect, he was famed for his wide learning and ability in debate. In 1967, the Dalai Lama sent him to teach at the University of Hamburg, where he learned to speak German fluently and became a tenured member of the faculty. He served as Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia in 1979. ([https://www.shambhala.com/catalog/category/view/s/geshe-gedun-lodro/id/726/ Source Accessed July 24, 2023]) +
Geshe Jampa Gyatso (1932–2007) was the resident teacher at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy from 1980 until his death. He was holder of the Lharam Geshe degree from Sera Je Monastery, the Ngagram Geshe degree from Gyu Me Tantric College, and the Acharya degree from the Sanskrit University of Varanasi. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/geshe-jampa-gyatso/ Wisdom Publications]) +
Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen was born in 1968 in a small village in the Tsawa region of Kham, part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. At sixteen he became a monk in the local monastery but wishing to engage in more extensive Buddhist education, went to Zogong monastery in Chamdo for his studies of Buddhist philosophy.
In 1989 his second attempt to escape to India succeeded and he attended the Kalachakra Initiation in Varanasi; after an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama he went to Sera Monastery in South India, where after twenty-three years of study and debate he obtained the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa in 2008. Upon completing the traditional year at Gyurme Tantric College he returned to Sera, where he taught the youngest monks the basic philosophical subjects and acted as disciplinarian at his house, Tsawa Khamtsen.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche first invited Geshe Gyaltsen to become an FPMT resident teacher in 2009, but he had to decline the invitation at that time. In 2012 he accepted Rinpoche’s request to teach the FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery. While waiting for his visa for France, Geshe-la had his first experience of teaching Westerners at Root Institute in Bodhgaya, and finally took up his teaching post at Nalanda in early 2014, when he joined the abbot, Geshe Lobsang Jamphel, as resident teacher at Nalanda Monastery. Geshe-la currently teaches has completed the five year residential FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda for a second time, and will be the teacher of Nalanda’s second FPMT Masters Program, to start in 2023.
Geshe Gyaltsen is known both at Sera Je and at Nalanda Monastery as humble and very learned. At Nalanda Geshe-la has become highly appreciated for his clear and fluent teaching style, and the wonderful ability to explain the teachings in a way to which students can easily relate. ([https://fpmt.org/education/programs/basic-program/teachers/ Source Accessed Sep 16 2024])
[https://shop.fpmt.org/FPMT-Basic-Program-Online-Engaging-In-the-Bodhisattva-Deeds-Part-1_p_3533.html Click here for Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen's teachings on the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'']
Born in 1980 in Tibet, he moved to India in 1995 and joined Gomang College in Drepung Monastery. He studied Buddhist texts, including the five great treatises, under many qualified teachers. Having completed his higher education in 2008, he sat in the Grand Geluk Examinations from 2009 and successfully finished the Karam, Lopen, and Lharam Geshe Examinations in six years. In 2015, he joined Gyume Tantric College to undertake tantric studies and successfully completed the program after three years in 2018. He currently serves as lecturer/teacher at Gomang College. +
At the age of 13, he joined Shugding Monastery in Tibet and memorized prayers and ritual texts. When he was 20, he joined Sera Monastery in Lhasa and learned language and logic. At 23, he left Tibet and arrived at Sera Monastery in India to pursue education in Buddhist studies. He stood 3rd in his exams on the Middle Way and Perfection Studies and carried out research on logic and epistemology as part of his Lharam Geshe training and sat the exams for it. He also stood 3rd in the examination in tantric studies. In 2020, he sat in the final defense for the Lharam Geshe degree. In addition to his regular academic achievements, he also won the first prize in a literary competition in Tibet, was the sole prize winner for literary composition during the international commemoration of Tsongkhapa, and also received many other prizes for literary writings. He served as the 11th President of the Khampa Literary Society and has authored many works including a commentary on ''Pramāṇasiddhi'' and two books of poetry entitled ''Sweets of the Mute.'' He is currently a researcher. +
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (Tibetan: བཀལ་བཟང་རྒྱ་མཚོ།, Wylie: bskal bzang rgya mtsho) (b. 1931) is a Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author. He is the founder and former spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), an "entirely independent" modern Buddhist order that presents itself to be a tradition based on the teachings of the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, which has grown to become a worldwide Buddhist organization which claims to have 1,300 centers around the world, most study and meditation centers, with some retreat centers. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelsang_Gyatso Source Accessed Mar 3, 2021]) +
Geshe Langri Tangpa (Tib. དགེ་བཤེས་གླང་རི་ཐང་པ་, Wyl. dge bshes glang ri thang pa) (1054-1123 ), aka. Langthangpa Dorje Senge (གླང་ཐང་པ་རྡོ་རྗེ་སེངྒེ་glang thang pa rdo rje seng+ge) — a famous Kadampa master and disciple of Potowa Rinchen Sal, who is best known for composing the ''Eight Verses of Training the Mind''. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Geshe_Langri_Tangpa Source Accessed Nov 8, 2024]) +
Venerable Geshe Lhakdor is the Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. Geshe La was born in western Tibet and came to India, completing advanced degrees at the University of Delhi and Punjab and continuing on to complete a full Geshe degree at Drepung Loseling Monastic University in south India. He has held many posts in support of the Dharma, as well as translating many texts, some from Tibetan to English, and some from English to Tibetan including:
*Shantideva's Compendium of Precepts (Shikshasamucchaya)
*The Three Essential Meanings (Nyingpo Donsum)
*Tsongkhapa's Three Principal Aspects of Path
*Words of Manjushri by the Fifth Dalai lama (into English)
*Versified Lamrim by Dvagpo Ngawang Drakpa (Into English)
*Universe in a Single Atom (into Tibetan)
**Co-translator, co-editor, co-producer (partial list)
***The Way to Freedom, by HH Dalai Lama, HarperCollins (USA)
***The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace by HH Dalai Lama, HarperCollins
***Awakening the Mind and Lightening the Heart by HH Dalai Lama, HarperCollins
***Stages of Meditation by HH Dalai Lama, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca NY, USA
***His Holiness's Commentary of Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom (into Tibetan)
***Kindness, Clarity and Insight by HH Dalai Lama (into Tibetan)
***His Holiness's Commentary on Nagarjuna's Letter to the Friend (into Tibetan)
***His Holiness's Extensive Commentary on Thogme Zangpo's 37 Bodhisattava Practices. +
Born in the Tsang region of Tibet in 1923, Geshe Lhundub Sopa was both a spiritual master and a respected academic. He rose from a humble background to complete his geshe studies at Sera Je Monastic University in Lhasa with highest honors and was privileged to serve as a debate opponent for the Dalai Lama’s own geshe examination in 1959. He moved to New Jersey in the United States in 1963 and in 1967 began teaching in the Buddhist Studies Program at University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he professor emeritus. In 1975, he founded the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin, site of the Dalai Lama’s first Kalachakra initiation granted in the West. He is the author of several books in English, including the five-volume comprehensive teaching, ''Steps on the Path to Enlightenment''. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/geshe-lhundub-sopa/ Source Accessed April 10, 2020]) +
The late Geshe Lobsang Dargyay was trained at Drepung Monastery in Tibet. He got his doctorate in Buddhist and Tibetan Studies from the Ludwig Maximilians Universität and held teaching and research positions in Vienna, Hamburg, and Calgary. Geshe-la was the first Tibetan to receive a doctorate from a Western university. He passed away in 1994. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/geshe-lobsang-dargyay/ Source Accessed Sept 23, 2020])
For a more complete biography, see [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xzc6AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11&dq=Freedom+From+Extremes/In+Memoriam:+Geshe+Lobsang+Dargyay+(1935-94)by+Eva+Neumaier&source=bl&ots=a2vMqwcDeb&sig=ACfU3U1uAhLezrS11HGmbnKtWcEX30VAsQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4m_PKy4jnAhUJGc0KHXxeDagQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Freedom%20From%20Extremes%2FIn%20Memoriam%3A%20Geshe%20Lobsang%20Dargyay%20(1935-94)by%20Eva%20Neumaier&f=false "In Memoriam: Geshe Lobsang Dargyay (1935–94)"] by Eva Neumaier, in ''Freedom from Extremes: Gorampa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness'' (Wisdom Publications, 2007), xi–xiv. +
Geshe Dawa was born in Mexico City. He was a Buddhist monk for 15 years receiving full monastic vows (Gelong vows) from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Geshe Dawa learned Tibetan language in the College for Higher Tibetan Studies SARAH in Dharamsala India and later traveled to South India to join Drepung Loseling Monastic University where after more than a decade of advanced studies, he graduated as the first Hispanic Geshe ever. During H.H. Dalai Lama´s visit to Mexico in 2013, Geshe Dawa collaborated as his assistant translator. ([https://compassion.emory.edu/cbct-compassion-training/certified-teachers/international.html Source Accessed Apr 14, 2022]) +
Born in 1979 in Sogshod in Kham, as a young boy he went to a local school and learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. After joining Sog Tsenden Monastery and learning prayers and rituals, he moved to India in 1997 and joined Sera Je Monastery to undertake the program of Buddhist Studies, including the five great treatises, for 18 years. Throughout his education, he ranked at the top in his cohort during the examinations, including those for the certificates of the Middle Way and Perfection Studies. He also learned grammar and poetry and published various writings in magazines and newspapers and taught grammar to many students. In the course of his study, he was also selected for the special occasion of prestigious debates called Rigchung Tshoklang, Tshenphud Damcha, Rigchen Tsoklang, and Kartro Tsoglang. In 2009, he sat for his examinations on the Middle Way in the presence of H.H. the Dalai Lama, and between 2015 and 2020, he sat for the Grand Geluk Examinations and attained first position among the Lharam Geshes during the exams. In 2021, he undertook tantric studies at Gyume Tantric College and passed his exams in first position. He received numerous teachings from various lamas, including H.H. the Dalai Lama, and participated in many learned conferences and seminars. Since 2009, he has been serving as a lecturer at Sera Je Monastery. +
Geshe Lobsang Jordhen is a graduate of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Dharamsala. Since 1989 he has been religious assistant and personal translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. (Source: ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', viii) +
Geshe Tengye was born in Lhatse, Tibet, in 1927. He went to the local monastery at the age of six. He followed a traditional path of in-depth monastic Buddhist study until the 1959 Chinese takeover of Tibet. He went into exile in India and continued his geshe studies at Buxa Chogar, the camp for refugee monks in Buxa Duar, West Bengal, India. Despite illness and hardship, Geshe Tengye received the lharampa geshe degree in 1969.
In 1980, at the request of FPMT co-founder Lama Thubten Yeshe, Geshe Tengye became the resident teacher at Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY), the newly established FPMT center located in the south of France near Toulouse. Due to Geshe Tengye’s infinite patience, wisdom, and compassion, IVY has grown into a large and flourishing Dharma center. ([https://fpmt.org/fpmt-community-news/geshe-losang-tengye-passes-away-at-institut-vajra-yogini/ Source Accessed Apr 6, 2021]) +
