About Chagdud Gonpa T'hondup Ling

Chagdud Gonpa thrived as a Buddhist monastery and temple in Tibet for eight centuries before His Eminence Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche established the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation in the United States in 1986. H. E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche is a highly revered teacher and meditation master, as well as a Tibetan doctor and accomplished artist. He is one of the last living Tibetan lamas to have completed his education in Tibet prior to the Chinese Communist takeover.

As a result of Rinpoche's compassionate, enlightened intent, as well as the pure motivation and hard work of his lamas and students, more than twenty Chagdud Gonpa centers have been established in North and South America. These centers offer Tibetan Buddhist teachings and meditation practices—profound methods that lead to the simple goal of good-heartedness. As Rinpoche himself has taught—cultivating a good heart in daily life by practicing Tools for Peace.

More than a decade ago, H. E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche invited Lama Nubpa Chodak Gyatso, then living in India, to come to Los Angeles to serve as the resident lama of Chagdud Gonpa T'hondup Ling. Lama Gyatso was able to fulfill Rinpoche's request in 1996, when he moved to Los Angeles.

Lama Gyatso's own Buddhist training began in Tibet at the age of four. He later trained with many great Nyingma masters and studied Buddhist and Western philosophy in India at the postgraduate level. Lama Gyatso's knowledge in the ritual arts of Tibetan Buddhism is exceptionally broad, and he has overseen numerous stupa and statue consecration projects.