Last updated: Jan 29th, 2012

© The Jefferson Tibetan Society

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Our Teachers...

We are happy to welcome! Venerable Tenzin Gephel

Venerable Gephel was a resident monk of Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies in Ithaca, NY since 1997, where he taught a variety of courses in Tibetan Buddhism. He engaged the local community in activities through Namgyal Institute, served as a volunteer for Hospice, and created sand mandalas at many museums and universities, as well as for the yearly ritual ceremonies at Namgyal Monastery, India. In the fall of 2000 Ven. Gephel was appointed as the first Buddhist Chaplain at Cornell University; he spent half his time serving as the chaplain and half his time working at Namgyal Monastery. His duties at Cornell University as Chaplain include leading a regularly scheduled Buddhist meditation group,  providing counseling for students and staff as needed, and participating in interfaith activities in the CURW community. In his free time, Venerable Gephel writes on different topics relating to Tibetan culture and religion.
Ven. Gephel was born in exile in Northern India after his parents escaped from Tibet in 1959. He received his primary education at a Tibetan school in Dharamsala, India, and at the age of 13, he became a monk at Namgyal Monastery in India, the personal Monastery of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. There he studied the liturgy of meditation deities, and the Buddhist sciences, including epistemology, philosophy, ethics, and the tantric systems. He also trained in the traditional Tibetan sacred arts such as ritual music, sand mandala construction, and the making of tormas (butter sculptures.) In 1992, after completing the thirteen-year Namgyal Tantric College curriculum, he earned the degree of "Master of Buddhist Sutra and Tantra".   Ven. Gephel took his ordination vows from H.H. Dalai Lama

   
His Holiness Dalai Lama