A Brief Biography of Geshe Tsering Choephel

Geshe Tsering Chophel entered the local monastery of his province at an early age. There he learned the alphabet and Tibetan reading and writing. He also memorised all the prayers of their monastery as well as learning the rituals. In the local monastery, young Tsering Chophel also studied some dialectics, after which he entered the great monastic institution of Drepung Loseling monastery in India. At the feet of great masters, there he studied sutra, tantra, and Tibetan grammar. The study program at Drepung Loseling spanned over many years. Studying very hard, he completed the traditional monastic philosophy curriculum, and achieved a Geshe degree.

Over the many years that Geshe Tsering Chophel studied at Drepung, he also taught the beginning subjects of their curriculum to the newly entering monks. Besides these private classes, he also worked as a philosophy teacher at Loseling School during that time. After his years at Drepung, Geshela was invited to teach at Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala. He remained there as a teacher for eleven years. At Namgyal Monastery, he taught classes on the many great treatises of sutra and tantra. His students, because of their devotion and dedication, turned out very well. Besides his duties at Namgyal, Geshela also often taught the monks at Kirti Monastery as well as sometimes teaching at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. Not only this, but he taught Buddhist philosophy to many foreign students from both the east and the west who requested classes with him.

Following His Holiness’ wishes, Geshe Tsering Chophel studied science during his time at Drepung and Namgyal Monastery. This included the subjects of chemistry, physics, biology, neuroscience, and cosmology. After resigning from his teaching position at Namgyal Monastery and completing a one-year practice retreat, He joined a group of Geshes and Rinpoches who were sent by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to study English in Bangalore. Over the course of his teaching career and studies, Geshela also attended several immersion courses regarding the juncture of where science and Buddhism meet at the Mind and Life conferences. Along with the same group of Geshes and Rinpoches mentioned above, he also participated in an immersion course arranged by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on contemporary methods for teaching Dharma to students of Buddhism from differing cultural backgrounds. This course was held in Varanasi. The lectures were comprised of a handful of great Buddhist scholars including Geshe Thubten Jinpa, Geshe Tashi Tsering, the abbot of Sera Mey, etc. Geshela has also traveled to the United States and South Korea to teach. At the various Dharma centers where he was invited to, he taught Introduction to Buddhism courses as well as on other subjects of sutra and tantra that the Students requested.

In short, Geshe Tsering Chophel is a warmhearted, knowledgeable, and dedicated teacher who is capable of giving teachings on a wide array of subjects that students are interested in learning.