Thubten Yeshe

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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 unconventional in his teaching style.

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 have been compiled from Lama Yeshe's lectures. His books include Introduction to Tantra, Wisdom Energy, The Bliss of Inner Fire, Becoming Vajrasattva: The Tantric Path of Purification, and Becoming the Compassion Buddha, all of which are available from Wisdom Publications. Wisdom will also be publishing an extensive biography of Lama Yeshe that has been compiled by Adele Hulse. Some free transcripts of his teachings are available from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, including Becoming Your Own Therapist, Advice for Monks and Nuns (with Lama Zopa), Make Your Mind an Ocean. The LYWA also offers videos of Lama Yeshe teaching.

In 1986 his reincarnation was identified in the person of a Spanish boy now called Tenzin Ösel Rinpoche (born 1985).