Thubten Yeshe
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Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-1984) was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery (1969) and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the Gelugpa tradition, and was considered something of an eccentric.
"Lama Yeshe" was born near the Tibetan town of Tolung Dechen, but was sent to Sera Monastery in Lhasa at the age of six. He received full ordination at the age of 28 from Kyabje Ling Rinpoche. Lama Yeshe never sat for the geshe degree or else, as he once quipped, he would have to be known as "Geshe Yeshe." He also used to joke that he was a Tibetan hippie: "I dropped out!" (Actually, Sera Monastery awarded him an honorary geshe degree in the early 80s.)
With the Chinese invasion in 1959 Lama Yeshe made his way to Bhutan and thence to the Tibetan refugee camp at Buxaduar, India. There his teacher Geshe Rabten entrusted to his care a younger monk, Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. The two would work together throughout Lama Yeshe's life.
In 1965 Lama Yeshe began teaching Western students, beginning with Zina Rachevsky, who sought him out at the Ghoom Monastery in Darjeeling. The number of students continued to grow, eventually resulting in the founding of the several institutions mentioned above.
A number of books (and videos) have been compiled from Lama Yeshe's lectures. These include Becoming Your Own Therapist, Advice for Monks and Nuns (with Lama Zopa), Make Your Mind an Ocean, Introduction to Tantra, and Wisdom Energy. Many of his books, including some of those just mentioned, and some of his other teachings are available free from the [Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive].
In 1986 his reincarnation was identified in the person of a Spanish boy now called Tenzin Ösel Rinpoche (born 1985).
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