The Gelug is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan philosopher, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples.
The Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism was an 11th century Buddhist tradition founded by the great Bengali master Atiśa (982-1054) and his students like Dromtön (1005–1064), a Tibetan Buddhist lay master. The Kadampa stressed compassion, pure discipline and study.
The Ganden Tripa, also spelled Gaden Tripa, is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the school that controlled central Tibet from the mid-17th century until the 1950s. The 103rd Ganden Tripa, Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin died in office on 21 April 2017. Jangtse Choejey Kyabje Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Palsangpo is the current Ganden Tripa.
Geshe or geshema is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks and nuns. The degree is emphasized primarily by the Gelug lineage, but is also awarded in the Sakya and Bön traditions. The equivalent geshema degree is awarded to women.
Monlam also known as The Great Prayer Festival, falls on 4th–11th day of the 1st Tibetan month in Tibetan Buddhism.
Lhundub Sopa was a Tibetan monk.
Geshe Sonam Rinchen (1933–2013) was born in Trehor region of Kham in Eastern Tibet in 1933. He died in Dharamshala, India, 5 October 2013.
Khensur Rinpoche, Geshe Tashi Tsering is a Tibetan teacher in the Gelug tradition. He lived and taught in the West for many years in Australia, New Zealand, India and Tibet.
Serme Khen Rinpoche Geshe Tashi Tsering BEM is abbot of Sera Mey Monastic University in India. From 1994 to 2018, he was the resident Tibetan Buddhist teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London.
Thupten Jinpa Langri is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, former monk and an academic of religious studies and both Eastern and Western philosophy. He has been the principal English translator to the Dalai Lama since 1985. He has translated and edited more than ten books by the Dalai Lama including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, A Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus, and the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium.
Sonam is a given name. It is a Tibetan name meaning "merit". Separately, it is also a name in various Indo-Aryan languages.
Established in early 2003, the Indiana Buddhist Center (IBC) serves the public by providing accurate information on the religion and philosophy of Buddhism in the lineage of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. It is a federally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit Buddhist institute located in central Indiana that facilitates meeting places for meditation, prayer, retreats, and religious services for Budd hists and those interested in Buddhist Dharma. It provides a center for spiritual services that are Buddhist in nature. The IBC serves as a place of common meditation and gathering for Indiana Buddhists and those sympathetic to the Dharma. The center engages in events that further the understanding of Buddhist philosophy in the form of regular teachings and special events. Most activities are held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The center is located on two and a half acres of a beautiful park-like property. IBC offers instruction on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Geshe Lharampa Jinpa Sonam is the resident Spiritual Director and Tenzin Namgyal serves as resident translator.
Tabo Monastery is located in the Tabo village of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It was founded in 996 CE in the Tibetan year of the Fire Ape by the Tibetan Buddhist lotsawa (translator) Rinchen Zangpo, on behalf of the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge, Yeshe-Ö. Tabo is noted for being the oldest continuously operating Buddhist enclave in both India and the Himalayas. A large number of frescoes displayed on its walls depict tales from the Buddhist pantheon. There are many priceless collections of thankas, manuscripts, well-preserved statues, frescos and extensive murals which cover almost every wall. The monastery is in need of refurbishing as the wooden structures are aging and the thanka scroll paintings are fading. After the earthquake of 1975, the monastery was rebuilt, and in 1983 a new Du-kang or Assembly Hall was constructed. It is here that the 14th Dalai Lama held the Kalachakra ceremonies in 1983 and 1996. The monastery is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a national historic treasure of India.
There is a small Mongolian community in India, comprising mostly Buddhist monks and scholars as well as international students from Mongolia.
Sershul Monastery (སེར་ཤུལ་དགོན།) is situated on the Tibetan Plateau at an elevation of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). The Tibetan Buddhist monastery is located in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, near where the borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province meet.
Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche is a Tibetan tulku. The best-known incarnation is the sixth incarnation, Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Thinley, a Tibetan buddhist scholar and teacher.
The Third Trijang Rinpoche, Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981) was a Gelugpa Lama and a direct disciple of Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo. He succeeded Ling Rinpoche as the junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama was nineteen years old. He was also a lama of many Gelug Lamas who taught in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten and Lama Yeshe. Trijang Rinpoche's oral teachings were recorded by Zimey Rinpoche in a book called the Yellow Book.
Panchen Sonam Dragpa (1478–1554) was the fifteenth Ganden Tripa or throneholder of Ganden Monastery. His texts form the core curriculum for the Loseling College of Drepung Monastic University, the Shartse College of the Ganden Monastic University, and several other Gelugpa monasteries. He was taught by the second Dalai Lama, and in turn later became the teacher of the third Dalai Lama.
Khyongla Rato, also known as Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, Rato Khyongla Rinpoche, Khyongla Rinpoche and also as Nawang Losang, his monk's name, is a scholar and teacher in the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in what was then the Kham region of Tibet, and was recognized as an incarnate lama at an early age. He spent over 30 years of his life as a monk studying in the monasteries of Tibet and receiving teachings from many highly qualified lamas.
Phuktal Monastic School, also known as the Phugtal Monastic School, is set up by the Phuktal Gompa that provides the students of the local Lungnak Valley in south-eastern Zanskar, in the autonomous Himalayan region of Ladakh, in Northern India.
