Give a warm welcome to our new teacher, Geshe Tenzin Lhadron!

Geshe Tenzin Lhadron of Jamyang Choling Nunnery (Dharamsala, India) has agreed to come join us at the Forest of Wisdom to be our first ever Resident Teacher! She was in the first group of nuns to ever complete the intensive (roughly) twenty-year course of study of Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and logic, receiving the degree of Geshe in 2016.

We are working hard to get Geshe la here as quickly as possible, but the visa process will take some time. We expect her to arrive this fall. We are extremely excited and delighted that she has accepted our invitation to join the Forest of Wisdom!

Geshema Lhadron’s Full Biography:

Geshe Lhadron (Chopa Tenzin Lhadron) is from Zanskar Valley in the Union Territory of Ladakh, India. At the age of 13 she received teachings and the Kalachakara Initiation from His Holiness the Great XIV Dalai Lama at Duzin Podang Pipiting in Zanskar. His Holiness’ teachings and advice inspired her to make her journey to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India to pursue the study of the essence of the Buddha’s teachings on Wisdom and Compassion, based in reason and logic. 

She was fortunate to have the precious opportunity to join in the first group of nuns at Jamyang Choling Institute, an educational institute for Himalayan Buddhist Women in Dharamsala, India founded by Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, an American nun.

Starting in 1989, she received comprehensive education in the five major Buddhist philosophical texts of the Nalanda Buddhist Tradition over the course of the next 23 years. Her philosophy tutors were great practitioners and learned teachers of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD) and Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala. She was in the historic first group of nuns to successfully complete four years of Geshema exams in 2016, culminating in the bestowal of the prestigious Geshe degree from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2016.

In addition, she was very fortunate to received many precious teachings, as well as Tantric empowerments, from H.H. the Great 14th Dalai Lama throughout her life. As the first generation of nun scholars, she has participated in national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops, giving presentations both in the West and in Asia.

Currently, she is serving as an Indian National Sangha Council member of the Indian Himalayan Council of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition and is involved with the work of the Himalayan Buddhist Culture Association, whose work is preserving and promoting the ancient Nalanda and Tibetan Buddhist Tradition in communities in the Himalayan region and elsewhere.

Geshe Lhadron believes that the Ancient Nalanda Buddhist Tradition is as vast as infinite space and as deep as the limitless ocean. Therefore, she is continuously studying with peerless teachers including H.H. the Dalai Lama and Geshe Dorji Damdul-la. She is actively engaged in teaching young nuns and private students, to now help pass on the deep teachings that she has received.