Visiting Teachers

Geshe Gendun Gyatso

Medicine Buddha & Tara Retreats - December 2009

Geshe Gendun Gyatso is a rare find in the Buddhist Chaplaincy profession in that he performs traditional Buddhist services in Western medical facilities. Geshe Gendun Gyatso was born in Tibet in 1961 and escaped to India in 1963. At the age of eight he became a Buddhist Monk at Sera Je Monastic University in India. He studied logic and epistemology, the study of the nature of knowledge. In 1981, he was fully ordained by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. He studied in the Geshe Program for twenty-five years including Tantric Study at Gyumed Tantric College in India. In 1993 he was awarded his doctorate degree in Buddhist Studies as a Doctor of Buddhist Philosophy (Geshe). He is now fluent in English as well as his native Tibetan language and numerous Indian dialects. For more information please visit his website: www.healingdharmacenter.org.

Choden Rinpoche

Great Medicine Buddha Empowerment - June 2009

Choden Rinpoche was one of seven children born to a noble family in Dahi, the Khampa region of Eastern Tibet. Rinpoche's connections to past spiritual masters were evident from early childhood in his exemplary conduct and superior intelligence as well as in the miraculous signs often witnessed in his presence. Reting Rinpoche, the Regent of Tibet, officially recognized the small boy as the living reincarnation of the previous Choden Rinpoche, who had been one of the finalists in the search for the 13th Dalai Lama's reincarnation. At the age of seven, Rinpoche took novice ordination from His Holiness Pabongka Rinpoche. His Holiness reportedly said, "I found your name in Ganden Monastery's Golden Stupa." His Holiness named the child Losang Gyalten Jikdrel Wangchuk. Since his novice ordination, Rinpoche has been observing his monastic vows just as one protects one's own eyes.