Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (; 4 June 1931 – 17 September 2022) was a Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author.Smith, Jean (1999). Radiant Mind: Essential Buddhist Teachings and Texts. New York: Riverhead Books. p. 324. He was the founder and spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition, a registered non-profit, modern Buddhist organization and new religious movement that emerged from the Gelugpa school.NKT-IKBU Charity overview. Retrieved 24 December 2009. It currently lists more than 1,300 affiliated centres in over 25 countries.
Early life Geshe Kelsang Gyatso was born on 19 July 1931, in Yangcho Tang, Western Tibet and named Lobsang Chuponpa. At eight years old, he joined Ngamring Jampa Ling Monastery where he was ordained as a novice monk and given the monastic name "Kelsang Gyatso" meaning "Ocean of Good Fortune". He "went on to study at Sera, one of the great monasteries of Tibet’s dominant Gelug school. He was trained in the traditional method of intense scholastic study and debate, and he studied for a geshe degree, an advanced distinction in Buddhist scholarship."
After escaping to India via Nepal during the 1959 Tibetan exodus, Kelsang Gyatso stayed at the monastic study centre established at Buxa Fort in West Bengal, India. All he brought with him were two Buddhist scriptures — Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life and a text by Je Tsongkhapa. In 1971, the Indian Government donated large tracts of land in South India to the community in exile, where separate monasteries were established.
At this time, Kelsang Gyatso left the monastery at Buxa for Mussoorie (a hill station in the Indian state of Uttarakhand) where he taught and engaged in intensive meditation retreat for 16 years.Cozort, D.. quoted in Heine, S., & Prebish, C. S. (2003). Buddhism in the modern world: Adaptations of an ancient tradition. New York: Oxford University . p. 230. At that time Kelsang Gyatso was, as David Kay puts it, "by all accounts, a very well respected scholar and meditator" within the Tibetan exile community.Kay, David (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation. RoutledgeCurzon critical studies in Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 56. He spent much of his time in India in retreat: "over the next two decades he spent long periods in retreat in the Himalayan foothills."
New Kadampa Tradition In 1976, Lama Thubten Yeshe, Thubten Zopa Rinpoche and Peter Kedge of the Yeshe Foundation visited India to invite Kelsang Gyatso, a former classmate of Lama Zopa's, to teach the programme at Manjushri Institute on a three-year contract."Reaching Out", Mandala, July–September 2009, pp. 29–30 In November 1977, Geshe Kelsang arrived at the Manjushri Institute, on a supported visa, as its first resident teacher.
In 1978, the Yeshe Foundation changed its name to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition or FPMT. That year, Kelsang Gyatso also established the Madhyamaka Centre in York under his own spiritual direction."Winter at Manjushri", Mandala, January–March 2009, FPMT Publications, pp. 64–66 While the FPMT aimed to embrace all lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, Kelsang Gyatso believed in a more exclusivist teaching, creating conflict between the FPMT's leadership and Geshe Gyatso, which was deepened by the creation of a new centre distinct from the FPMT.
In November 1986, Kelsang Gyatso oversaw the rebuilding of Ngamring Jampa Ling Monastery after its destruction, and it was fully restored and reopened by September 1988.Full Moon Magazine 1991 In 1987, Kelsang Gyatso entered a 3-year retreat at Tharpaland International Retreat Centre in Dumfries, Scotland. During his retreat, he wrote five books and established the foundations of what would become the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT).
In April 1991, Geshe Kelsang announced the formation of the NKT as an independent organisation, and invited the centres he had established to join. In 1992, a new charitable company, Manjushri Mahayana Buddhist Centre, was incorporated, separate from the FPMT. It later became the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre, which is the flagship center of the NKT.The New Kadampa Tradition, charity registration number: 2758093, October 1992
Teachings Kelsang Gyatso taught the General Programme at Manjushri from 1977 until 1987. Under Kelsang Gyatso's spiritual direction, Manjushri Institute became an active training and retreat center.Cresswell, Jamie. "Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition" entry in Melton, J. Gordon, and Martin Baumann. 2002. Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. p. 508. During this time, on October 13, 1983, Kelsang Gyatso became a naturalized British citizen.
Kelsang Gyatso's teachings have an emphasis on the Lamrim, Lojong and Mahamudra.Spanswick, Richard. (2000). The Guide: Following the Buddhist Path. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences. (8:32-8:56) The NKT-IKBU has three study programs: the General Programme, the Foundation Programme, and the Teacher Training Programme. It aims to provide Buddhist teachings that are accessible to Western practitioners.Partridge, C. H. (2004). New religions: A guide : new religious movements, sects, and alternative spiritualities. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 205. Qualification as an NKT-IKBU dharma teacher is generally achieved by attending the NKT-IKBU's Teacher Training Programme, which Kelsang Gyatso regarded as "a western equivalent to the traditional Tibetan Geshe degree", although much compressed.
Kelsang Gyatso established the NKT-IKBU Dharma Centres as mixed communities of lay and ordained practitioners, all on the same teaching programmes. He also promoted the development of local teachers in their own language.Wishfulfilling Jewels for Dharma Practitioners: The Benefits of the Foundation and Teacher Training Programs by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. 1990-10-??. retrieved 2009-03-12.Spanswick, Richard. (2000). The Guide: Following the Buddhist Path. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences. (5:49-5:58)Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (1992). Training as a Qualified Dharma Teacher, quoted in Religion Today: A Reader , edited by Susan Mumm, p. 43.
Exclusivism Scholars of Buddhism such as Robert Bluck, Daniel Cozort, David Kay, and Helen Waterhouse have described Gyatso's formation of the New Kadampa Tradition as unusual among Tibetan Buddhist groups, since it intentionally distinguishes itself from the traditions that preceded it and its contemporaries.Bluck, R. (2006). British Buddhism: Teachings, practice and development. Routledge critical studies in Buddhism. London: Routledge. . p. 145. It does this while also emphasising the purity of its Tibetan lineage.Chryssides, George (1999). Exploring New Religions. London: Cassell. pp. 235, 237.Belither, James. quoted in Bluck, R. (2006). British Buddhism: Teachings, practice and development. Routledge critical studies in Buddhism. London: Routledge. . p. 145.
Kelsang Gyatso said his aim was to establish an independent movement which directly followed the "pure" teachings of Je Tsongkhapa and which focussed exclusively on the translations and commentaries of Geshe Kelsang himself. Waterhouse has described this view as sectarian.
Kay says that NKT-IKBU practitioners practice their tradition exclusively, "eschewing eclecticism," and that the NKT defines itself in this way to show that it is adapted for the needs of Westerners, but also to emphasise that it alone is guardian of "the pure tradition of Tsongkhapa in the modern world".Kay, David (1997). The New Kadampa Tradition and the Continuity of Tibetan Buddhism in Transition, Journal of Contemporary Religion 12:3 (October 1997), p. 286. According to Bluck, Kelsang Gyatso's "conservative and traditional presentation of Buddhism" may be appealing to Westerners who "wish for a meaningful alternative to spiritual pluralism".
According to Kelsang Gyatso in Understanding the Mind, "If we try to create a synthesis of different traditions we shall destroy the special power of each and be left only with a mishmash of our own making that will be a source of confusion and doubt."Kelsang Gyatso. (2002). Understanding the mind: Lorig, an explanation of the nature and functions of the mind. Ulverston, Eng: Tharpa Publications. pp. 161-162. In Great Treasury of Merit, he said that the most effective way to progress spiritually is by "following one tradition purely — relying upon one Teacher, practicing only his teachings, and following his Dharma Protector."Kelsang Gyatso. (1992). Great Treasury of Merit: How to rely upon a Spiritual Guide. Ulverston, U.K.: Tharpa Publications. p. 31.
Tibetologist Robert Barnett says the NKT is unusual in its criticism and rejection of mainstream Tibetan Buddhism. Kelsang Gyatso himself severed ties with the Gelug teachers in India and Tibet, establishing himself as the organisation's sole religious authority.Belither, James. In Barrett, D. V. (2001). The new believers: A survey of sects, cults and alternative religions. London: Cassell. p. 311 In 1996, Kelsang Gyatso was formally expelled by the Sera Je Monastery for his worship of Dorje Shugden and criticism of the Dalai Lama, and had his geshe degree revoked.
Dorje Shugden activism
Kelsang Gyatso and the New Kadampa Tradition have been criticised for their involvement with the International Shugden Community and, as a consequence, what David Kay calls its "leading role in a Western-based campaign mounted against the Dalai Lama" during his visit to the United Kingdom in 1996.
Geshe Kelsang is often credited with popularising Dorje Shugden worship to the West. He and the NKT objected to the Dalai Lama's advice that Buddhists should not worship Dorje Shugden, a Gelug Dharmapala (protector deity) associated with sectarianism.Christopher Emory-Moore. "Branding a New Buddhist Movement: The New Kadampa Tradition's Self-identification as 'Modern Buddhism'". Journal of Global Buddhism (Vol.21 11–28). Mills, Martin. Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism. Routledge 2003, page 366.: "The main proponent of this view [that Dorje Shugden is a Buddha] in recent years has been Geshe Kelsang Gyatso who, like many other popular Gelug lamas, stands firmly within the lineage tradition of the highly influential Phabongkha Rinpoche and his disciple Trijang Rinpoche."Kay, David (2004). Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation. RoutledgeCurzon critical studies in Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 101-2. The Western Shugden Society, which received backing from the Chinese government to criticise the Dalai Lama, describes Kelsang Gyatso as the final teacher in the Dorje Shugden spiritual lineage.
According to the NKT, Dorje Shugden worship is "the very essence of the New Kadampa Tradition", and the protector is presented as the deity most able to help practitioners. The NTK's The Heart Jewel and Wishfulfilling Jewel sādhanās, as compiled by Kelsang Gyatso, incorporate elements of the Dorje Shugden sādhanā. Dorje Shugden may also have influenced Geshe Kelsang's teaching that practitioners cannot mix with other traditions, a view which has been criticised by scholars and other Buddhists as sectarian.
In 1996, Gyatso was accused of defamation of the Dalai Lama in relation to the protests. This led to his expulsion from Sera Je Monastic University in India, and the revocation of his geshe (Buddhist teaching) degree.
Retirement and death