Kelsang Gyatso

'Geshe' Kelsang Gyatso (Wylie: Bskal-bzang Rgya-mtsho) is the founder of the NKT. He was born in Tibet in 1931 and ordained as a Buddhist monk at the age of eight.

Early Years

From the age of eight Kelsang Gyatso studied extensively at Sera Monastery, one of the great monastic universities of Tibet. He was a member of the Tsangpa Khangtsen, one of the fifteen houses at the monastery.

Initiations in Tibet

According to the Sera Expulsion Letter, as a member of that house, and a part of the general monastic community around Lhasa, he attended many public teachings, including the 5th Dalai Lama’s Lamrim Jampel Shalung at the Norbu Linka summer palace and in 1956, along with most of the monks and public from the area, he received the Kalachakra Initiation from 14th Dalai Lama (this was the first Kalachakra initiation by the 14th Dalai Lama).

Life in India

After the exodus of Tibet in 1959, Kelsang Gyatso stayed at the initial location of his monastery, in Buxar. Later, after Prime Minister Nehru donated large tracts of land in South India to the community in exile, the monastery moved South. At this time, Kelsang Gyatso left the monastery at Buxar for Mussoorie (a hill station in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). According to the Sera Expulsion Letter, he stayed there for several years as a chronic tuberculosis patient. It is during this time that he exercised some meditational retreats.

Although he claims to have been awarded a "Geshe" degree, according to the Sera Expulsion Letter he is not a Geshe. Due to ill health he did not actually pass the requisite Geshe exams. So, in a manner similar to Lama Thubten Yeshe, he is an intelligent scholar, but he is not actually a Geshe. However, his teacher called him "Geshe", due to his strong intellect and academic bent, and it may be based on this appelation that he uses the title. To date, no-one is sure which particular Geshe degree it is that he claims to hold, or in which year it was he took the examination.

Journey to the West

In 1976 he accepted an invitation by the Christian monk, philosopher and writer Thomas Merton, to live and teach in a center being planned in Canada. These plans were cut short due to Merton's sudden death and so the center did not evolve.

In 1977 Kelsang Gyatso was invited by Lama Thubten Yeshe to teach at Manjushri Institute an FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) center in England, founded by Lama Yeshe. Later he took over the Manjushri Institute (against Lama Yeshe's wishes) and founded the New Kadampa Tradition in the 1990's. The Center is located in Ulverston and is nowadays called Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre. It is the main seat of the New Kadampa Tradition. There he lived from 1977 giving teachings and guidance to an ever-growing group of disciples.

Expulsion from Sera

Kelsang Gyatso is a follower and promoter of the controversial deity, Shugden, and it his adherence to this deity which is the substantial reason for his break with the mainstream Tibetan tradition. After the reawakening of the Shugden debate caused by the publication of the Yellow Book in the 1970's, Kelsang Gyatso found himself center stage in an argument about the status of this deity. He refused to back down from the orders of HH Dalai Lama, the abbots and rinpoches of his own Sera Monastery, and the Ganden Tripa - the head of the Gelug tradition. This resulted in his public expulsion (see Sera Expulsion Letter) in early 1999 from Sera Monastery, brought to a head because the Sera authorities were upset with his attempts to recruit young monks from his old house (Tsangpa Khangtsen) into his campaign against the 14th Dalai Lama. Such expulsions are very rare within the Tibetan tradition.

Current Activities

Kelsang Gyatso continues to give teachings of his interpretation of Buddhism in Europe and North America, and published a series of books on Buddhist thought and meditation.

According to Kelsang Pagpa, a teacher at one of his centres, Kelsang Gyatso has at no time promoted himself as a Buddha, he has never stated that his students should only follow him and not other teachers; and moreover no student of his is prohibited from reading any Buddhist literature that they choose.

His followers say:

"He has established three study programs and over 800 centers around the world, trained qualified teachers and a ordained community, and created a project to build a Kadampa Buddhist Temple in every major city in the world.

In his teachings Kelsang Gyatso 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.

This teacher inspires many people from many different countries because he teaches from example."