OUR TEACHERS

H.E. Ling Rinpoche is a highly respected Lama of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the reincarnation of the former H.H. the 6th Kyabjé Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s Principal Teacher and the 97th Ganden Tripa, the longest serving head of the Gelug tradition.

Upon the successful completion of his Geshe studies, Ling Rinpoche’s focus turned to traveling the world to promote peace, at requests to teach, give initiations, public talks and engaging in Buddhist and inter-faith conferences and community events. Rinpoche has also organized and serves as emissary for important historic Buddhist events.

For full biographical information please visit: https://lingrinpoche.info/biography/

Geshe Thubten Sherab is highly regarded for his deep knowledge of Buddhist philosophy and his warm and friendly demeanour. He presents Buddhist teachings in a very accessible and practical way. Since 2014, Geshe Sherab has been a teacher at Thubten Norbu Ling, an FPMT centre in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Geshe Sherab grew up in Kopan Monastery under the guidance of Lama Yehe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. He completed his Geshe degree at Sera Jey Monastery in South India. Geshe Sherab has visited Yeshin Norbu several times over the past ten years.

Buddhist teacher Venerable Losang Gendun is a Dutch monk. After practicing mainly Theravada Buddhism for twenty years, he became a monk in the Tibetan tradition in 2006. At the Nalanda monastery in France, he studied Buddhist philosophy for nine years. In all,  Venerable Gendun spent more than four years in retreat.

Venerable Gendun specializes in the Tibetan Lojong and Mahamudra methods, as well as Vipassana-shamatha meditation as taught in the Theravada forest tradition. At Yeshin Norbu he leads the Indepth Meditation Training program online.

Jan Willis grew up in the Jim Crow South, marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Campaign in Birmingham, and escaped the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama, only to face racism of a different kind when she enrolled at an Ivy League university. Jan persevered, earning her BA and MA in philosophy at Cornell University and her PhD in Indian and Buddhist studies at Columbia University. While studying in India and Nepal, she met the Tibetan lama Thubten Yeshe, who became her teacher and mentor for fifteen years. Through his guidance, Jan learned to embrace the dimons of her past and affirm her whole identity – Black American, Baptist and Buddhist. She has studied and taught Buddhism for fifty years.
In December 2000, Time Magazine named Willis one of six ‘spiritual innovators for the new millennium’. In 2003, she received Wesleyan University’s Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Newsweek magazine’s 2005 issue of ‘Spirituality in America’ included a profile of Willis. In its May 2007 issue, Ebony Magazine named Willis one of its ‘Power 150’ most influential African Americans. Jan taught at Yeshin Norbu in 2022 and 2024.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa holds a Geshe degree from Sera Je Monastic University, South India. He was ordained at the age of 9 by Geshe Lama Konchog, received novice ordination from Geshe Lundrup Sopa Rinpoche and full ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama .

Geshe Tenzin Zopa served as the Resident Geshe at Losang Dragpa FPMT Centre and was instrumental in establishing FPMT’s Basic Program. He also served as the Dharma advisor to Kasih Hospice Care Society and retreat centre Rinchen Jangsem Ling Dharma Society, both under the FPMT network.

Projects undertaken by Geshela included taking responsibility for the temporal and spiritual development of Rachen Nunnery and Mu Monastery, Tsum, Nepal and supervised the completion of the 1000 Buddha Relics Memorial Stupa at Kopan Monastery, Nepal.

In an effort to introduce Buddhist values and teachings on life, death and reincarnation, Geshe Tenzin Zopa played a pivotal role in the documentary “Unmistaken Child” and participated in “Forbidden Journey to Tibet”.