Our Founder
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (1931-2022)
After engaging in the traditional trainings of a monk from a young age in Tibet, Venerable Geshe-la withdrew to remote areas in Tibet and India to engage in meditative retreats.
During these retreats, he received many signs and visions in which Je Tsongkhapa appeared to him and clarified all the essential teachings of Sutra and Tantra, and especially the Ganden Oral Lineage.
It was during these retreats that Venerable Geshe-la formed an especially close connection with the people of this world and made a lifelong dedication to helping us find lasting peace and happiness through the teachings of Buddha.
Then in 1977 Venerable Geshe-la accepted an invitation to become the Resident Teacher at the fledgling Manjushri Centre in the United Kingdom.
On August 27, 1977 Venerable Geshe-la arrived in the west at the invitation of Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre. His arrival heralded the dawn of Modern Buddhism and a new spirit of hope in this world.
Almost immediately, Venerable Geshe-la opened his first Dharma centre in the West, Madhyamaka Kadampa Meditation Centre in the United Kingdom. He went on to establish literally hundreds of centres around the world.
In 1997, Venerable Geshe-la designed, blessed and opened the first Kadampa Temple for World Peace at Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre. Later, he created five other such Temples.
Venerable Geshe-la gave literally thousands of teachings at Manjushri KMC and other centers around the world, including Spring, Summer and Fall Festivals. These extraordinary teachings were unique and life-changing for everyone who heard them.
Venerable Geshe-la oversaw the design, production and finishing of new statues and artwork for all of the new Temples. Here he is welcoming from the foundry the first Buddha statue that he designed for the Temple. Later he established Kadampa Art Studio to provide qualified statues and art for future Temples and centers.
In total, Venerable Geshe-la composed 23 extraordinary books on Buddhism and meditation. Based on these, he developed the three study programs – the General, Foundation and Teacher Training Programs – that are the core of all Kadampa centers around the world. In addition, hundreds of qualified modern Kadampa Teachers are arising from the Special and Intensive Teacher Training Programs.
Venerable Geshe-la granted many Tantric empowerments and taught all four classes of Tantra. Based on these, Kadampa centers and practitioners around the world now enjoy authentic Tantric books, sadhanas and practices.
Having himself spent almost a third of his life in retreat, Venerable Geshe-la always encouraged us to engage in retreat to gain authentic experience of Dharma. For our benefit, in 1987, he entered into a three-year retreat in Tharpaland, Scotland. Later, he inaugurated a number of dedicated retreat centers.
Thanks to Venerable Geshe-la’s dedication, Kadampa centres around the world now have a complete collection of authentic pujas and prayers in all languages that are the basis of individual and center practices.
Venerable Geshe-la personally ordained hundreds of people as monks and nuns, using a modern presentation of the vows. He established a special tradition that will continue into future generations.
Venerable Geshe-la was the holder of the uncommon lineage of the Ganden Oral Tradition. He transmitted this lineage through his senior disciples, making it available to everyone in the modern world.
The International Kadampa Buddhist Union is a global family of fortunate modern Kadampa disciples bound by a common intention to bring peace into our world by developing peace in our minds. This precious union grows year by year, and Venerable Geshe-la’s enduring legacy is the conviction that world peace is really possible through the practice of Kadam Dharma.
The Birth of Modern Buddhism
As Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche explains in his book The Mirror of Dharma:
“The Indian Buddhist Master Atisha founded the Kadampa lineage in general, and Je Tsongkhapa founded the New Kadampa lineage in particular. Both lineages are the very essence of Buddha’s teachings and are most suitable for people of this modern age.”
In recent times, Venerable Geshe-la brought these two precious lineages into the modern world and founded the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT-IKBU).
Thus modern Kadampa Buddhism was born.
This precious tradition embraces all the essential teachings of Sutra and Tantra taught by Buddha himself as preserved and passed to the present day by great masters such as Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa.
While faithfully preserving the meaning of these ancient teachings, with the permission of his own Spiritual Guide, Trijang Rinpoche, Venerable Geshe-la prepared a new presentation making them easier to understand apply in the modern world.
Now for the first time, pure Kadam Dharma is available equally to everyone throughout the world regardless of nationality, culture, gender or age.
An extraordinary legacy
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche left an extraordinary legacy from his life’s work and inspired thousands of people of all nationalities to continue creating the conditions for pure Kadam Dharma to spread throughout the world.