Teachers

H.H. Dalai Lama

As followers of the Gelukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa, Lam Rim considers H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama as one of their guiding teachers and sources of inspiration. He visited the Centre in 1999.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. He is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.

The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are realized beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity.

Geshe Tenzin Losel

Geshe Tenzin Losel was born in mid-20th century Britain. He first met Buddhist teachings in England thanks to the exceptionally kind efforts of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa, reaching out to westerners. He left for India in 1990 for further studies and received full ordination as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1994. He is one of the handful of Westerners trained for two decades in the traditional Tibetan way as a geshe. While a student at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, he attended many public teachings by His Holiness there. In 2006 he received his geshe degree from Drepung Loseling, the monastery where the late Geshe Damcho, founder of Lam Rim Wales also trained. After returning to Britain to care for his parents in their last years, he moved in 2018 to Nalanda Monastery in France. As well as teaching, he has been involved in translating vinaya materials, which deal with ethical conduct and vows, especially for monastics. In fulfilment of Geshe Damcho’s request to him to teach in his centres, he is now associated with Lam Rim Wales and Lam Rim Bristol.

Translations

  • Tsongkhapa's Praise for Dependent Relativity (2011, Wisdom Publications)

  • A Glowing Light of Scripture and Reasoning, Lamp Illuminating the Essentials of the Four Seals that Authenticate the View by Gen Lamrimpa Ngawang Phuntsok. (2019). Free Download >

  • A Mirror Making All Things Clear, A Presentation of Signs and Reasonings by Geshe Tsultrim Namgyel. (2019). Free Download >

Ben Griffin

Brought up in a family of Quakers and Buddhists, Ben was first exposed to the idea of Buddhahood and the path to enlightenment while still very young. Having an innatection for Tibet and Tibetans, Ben has been a loyal, and close student of Ven. Geshe Damchö Yonten since 1979.

Later, while resident at the Centre (and subsequently) Ben received many heart teachings on Lam Rim from Geshe-La, His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama, and several legendary visiting teachers.

Ben is completely invested in facilitating that we 'learn from', rather than 'learn about’. Being both western layman and a life-time practitioner, Ben offers himself, through the power of his teachers of this living lineage, as a bridge between the early 15th Century masterwork of Je Rinpoche and our modern, connected, industrial world, decorated with anecdotes and experiences that stretch over six hundred years.

Ben teaches in an accessible and natural style which, while not being particularly suitable for those who have only an academic interest in Buddhism, hopes to provide inspiration and encouragement to those of us that choose to engage in the path to Buddhahood.

Paul Seagrave

Paul is classically trained in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelugpa tradition, the lineage of the 14th Dalai Lama. He graduated from Nalanda Monastery in the summer of 2022 having completed the five year residential programme under the guidance of Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen and Geshe Graham Woodhouse (Tenzin Losel) concluding ten years of study and over a year of solitary retreat.