Thubten Yeshe
Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-1984) was a
Tibetan
lama who, while exiled in
Nepal, co-founded
Kopan Monastery (1969) and the
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the
Gelugpa tradition, and was considered something of an eccentric.
"
Lama Yeshe" was born near the Tibetan town of Tolung Dechen, but was sent to
Sera Monastery in
Lhasa at the age of six. He received full ordination at the age of 28 from Kyabje Ling Rinpoche. Lama Yeshe never sat for the
geshe degree or else, as he once quipped, he would have to be known as "Geshe Yeshe." He also used to joke that he was a Tibetan hippie: "I dropped out!" (Actually, Sera Monastery awarded him an honorary geshe degree in the early 80s.)
With the Chinese invasion in 1959 Lama Yeshe made his way to
Bhutan and thence to the Tibetan refugee camp at Buxaduar,
India. There his teacher
Geshe Rabten entrusted to his care a younger monk,
Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. The two would work together throughout Lama Yeshe's life.
In 1965 Lama Yeshe began teaching Western students, beginning with Zina Rachevsky, who sought him out at the
Ghoom Monastery in
Darjeeling. The number of students continued to grow, eventually resulting in the founding of the several institutions mentioned above.
A number of books (and videos) have been compiled from Lama Yeshe's lectures. These include
Becoming Your Own Therapist, Advice for Monks and Nuns (with Lama Zopa),
Make Your Mind an Ocean,
Introduction to Tantra, and
Wisdom Energy. Many of his books, including some of those just mentioned, and some of his other teachings are available free from the
Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
In 1986 his reincarnation was identified in the person of a Spanish boy now called
Tenzin Ösel Rinpoche (born 1985).
*
Biography*
The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind, by Lama Yeshe (free book)
