OUR TEACHERS
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Inspiration and Guide of the FPMT
His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was born Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July 1935, in a small village called Taktser in north-eastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognised at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus an incarnation of Chenrezig (Avalokitesvara), the Buddha of Compassion.
Official website of Tibetan Government in Exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama for ANZ and SE Asia: http://tibetoffice.com.au/
Lama Thubten Yeshe
Founder of the FPMT
Venerable Lama Thubten Yeshe was born in Tibet in 1935. At the age of six, he entered the great Sera Monastic University in Lhasa, where he studied until 1959, when the Chinese invasion of Tibet forced him into exile in India. Lama Yeshe continued to study and meditate in India until 1967, when, with his chief disciple, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, he went to Nepal. Two years later he established Kopan Monastery, near Kathmandu, in order to teach Buddhism to Westerners. In 1974, the lamas began making annual teaching tours to the West, and as a result of these travels a worldwide network of Buddhist teaching and meditation centres—the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition—began to develop.
In 1984, after an intense decade of imparting a wide variety of incredible teachings and establishing one FPMT activity after another, at the age of 49, Lama Yeshe passed away. He was reborn as Osel Hita Torres in Spain in 1985, recognised in 1986 as the incarnation of Lama Yeshe by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
Spiritual Director
Venerable Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche was born in Thami, Nepal, in 1946. At the age of three he was recognised as the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama, who had lived nearby at Lawudo, within sight of Rinpoche's Thami home. Rinpoche's own description of his early years may be found in his book, "The Door to Satisfaction" (Wisdom Publications).
At the age of ten, Rinpoche went to Tibet and studied and meditated at Domo Geshe Rinpoche's monastery near Pagri, until the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 forced him to forsake Tibet for the safety of Bhutan. Rinpoche then went to the Tibetan refugee camp at Buxa Duar, West Bengal, India, where he met Lama Yeshe, who became his closest teacher. The lamas went to Nepal in 1967, and over the next few years built Kopan and Lawudo Monasteries.
In 1971 Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave the first of his famous annual lam-rim retreat courses, which continue at Kopan to this day. In 1974, with Lama Yeshe, Rinpoche began travelling the world to teach and establish centres of Dharma. When Lama Yeshe passed away in 1984, Rinpoche took over as spiritual head of the FPMT, which has continued to flourish under his peerless leadership.
For more of Rinpoche's life and work, see the FPMT Website.
Resident Teacher
Venerable Geshe Lobsang Dorje Doga was born in July 1935 in a small village called Khanze, situated in a valley in the remote Kham region of North-East Tibet. He arrived in Australia on January 1, 1983, having been invited by Lama Yeshe to become the resident teacher at Atisha Centre, our sister centre near Bendigo.
Geshe Doga became resident teacher at Tara Institute in September 1984. His first teachings were from Shantideva’s “Guide to a Bodhisattva’s Way of Life” and “Lo Rig” or mind and its functions.
Over the years, Tara Institute has grown enormously thanks to the confidence that Geshe Doga’s patient and lucid guidance has given us. Lama Zopa Rinpoche always asks us to treasure Geshela and to heed his advice.
Resident Teacher
Venerable Geshe Lobsang Dorje was born in 1971 in a village called Kargong in the Eastern Tibet. Geshela studied at Sera Jey Monastic University where he obtained his Lharampa degree in 2014. In total, he spent twenty four years (1992-2015) studying the major Buddhist corpus relating to sutra and tantra.
Geshela arrived in Australia in August 2018, having been invited by most Venerable Geshe Doga, in consultation with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, to come to Tara Institute to support the teaching program. Geshela teaches the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life on Wednesday nights, and teaches Tibetan to students on Monday nights and also gives a day teaching on the last Sunday of every month.
MEMBERSHIP & SUPPORT
This enables the Tara Institute community to support the dharma and allow us all to receive precious teachings from Venerable Geshe Doga and Geshe Lobsang
Lama Zopa said: My point here is for you to understand what we are doing and what you are helping with. This is so that you can rejoice. It really is unbelievable, incredible, what you are helping with, and this creates so much benefit for the world and for sentient beings. This actually creates the cause to liberate so many beings. This is an incredible opportunity for you to rejoice, and if you rejoice and then dedicate the merits, it is amazing.