Founder - Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso - Our Founder
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is a fully accomplished meditation master and internationally renowned teacher of Buddhism.
Geshe-la, as he is affectionately called by his students, is primarily responsible for the worldwide revival of Kadampa Buddhism in our time.
Study and retreat
From the age of eight Geshe-la studied extensively in the great monastic universities of Tibet and earned the title Geshe, which literally means spiritual friend. Under the guidance of Trijang Rinpoche, his Spiritual Guide, he then spent the next eighteen years in meditation retreats in the Himalayas.
Teaching in the West
In 1977 he accepted an invitation to teach at Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre in England, where he lived for many years giving teachings and guidance to an ever-growing group of disciples.
Geshe-la has continued to teach on Kadampa Buddhism in many countries around the world, and published a series of remarkable books on Buddhist thought and meditation.
He has established three unique study programs and over 1000 meditation centers around the world, trained qualified teachers and a flourishing ordained community, and created a project to build Buddhist temples in every major city in the world. He retired as the NKT-IKBU Spiritual Director in August 2009.
Teaching from example
In his teachings Geshe Kelsang emphasizes the importance of meditation and how to apply it in daily life, the need to be truly happy, and how to cultivate a good heart to help others and he demonstrates these qualities perfectly in his own life.
This remarkable teacher inspires so many people from so many different countries because he teaches from example.
He is a humble Buddhist monk dedicated to helping people throughout the world find true happiness in their hearts.