Resident Teacher – Geshe Lobsang Yonten
Geshe Lobsang Yonten was born in Zanskar, a remote part of northern India that is historically and ethnically Tibetan. At the age of ten he chose to become a monk joining the local monastery and studying there for five years. Upon completing the exams at his local monastery he travelled to South India to begin the twenty-six year program of scholarly study to become a Lharampa Geshe at Drepung Gomang Monastery. This degree is the highest monastic degree in the Gelug School of Buddhism. During these 26 years he was tested on his knowledge of Buddhist philosophy in front of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Geshe Yonten is a member of a small group of monks selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to study English, western philosophy, and science so that he may teach, collaborate and study with scientists, philosophers, educators and others across the world. Geshe Yonten is specially appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be Tibetan Buddhist Centre Resident Teacher.
Our Regular Guest Teacher
Professor Geshe Ngawang Samten
Vice Chancellor, Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi
Professor Samten possesses a rare combination of the schooling on modern lines as well as the Tibetan monastic education system. He had his monastic education at Gaden Shartse Monastery at Mundgod in Karnataka. He obtained Geshe Dhorampa and later Geshe Lharampa degree, equivalent to Ph.D. degree in the modern system.
He began his academic career as Research Assistant at Sarnath Institute and became Head of the Research Department devoted to the restoration of the lost Buddhist texts into Sanskrit, based on the classical Tibetan translations made in ancient times jointly by the Indian and Tibetan Pundits. This unique research activity evinces his erudition both in the classical Tibetan and Sanskrit languages as well as the rare translation skills. As a result of his outstanding achievement in his field, he was promoted to the position of Professor of Buddhist Philosophy. He is also actively engaged in Hindi translations of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit and Tibetan. Professor Samten, with his special interest in the philosophy of Nagarjuna, published the definitive critical edition of the Ratnavali with its commentary as the result of his post-graduate research. He is credited with important publications, such as a critical edition of Abhidhammattha Samgaho, a critical edition of Sanskrit and Tibetan versions of the Pindidrita and the Pancakrama of Nagarjuna, and co-authored The Ocean of Reasoning, an annotated English translation of the commentary on Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamaka Karika by the Tibetan master thinker Tsong-Kha-Pa, published by Oxford University Press. The Ocean of Reasoning is acclaimed far and wide.
Desi Rinpoche
The Sixth Desi Rinpoche : Ngawang Lobsang Choeki Nyima His Eminence, Desi Rinpoche Ngawang Lobsang Choekyi Nyima is the 6th incarnation of Desi Sangye Gyatso, who received special care and patronage from the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and became, perhaps, the most prominent scholar of Tibet with his scholarship on Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan medicine, Tibetan astrology, secular sciences and administration being unparalleled and unrivalled. Desi Sangye Gyatso later became the third regent (Desi) of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and was instrumental in the construction of the Potala Palace. Desi Rinpoche studied at the Drepung Loseling Monastic University, considered the Tibetan version of the ancient Nalanda University in India. He was awarded the Geshe Lharampa Degree after completing successfully the 6year integrated Common Gelugpa Examination and having stood for debate in the three centres of excellence in Tibetan Buddhist studies, viz Sera, Drepung and Gaden Monastic Universities. Presently, Desi Rinpoche serves in the Private Office of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama at Dharamshala