enzin Gephel was born in exile in Northern India after his parents escaped from Tibet in 1959. He became a monk at the age of 13 and studied and practiced Buddhism at Namgyal Monastery, Dharamsala. He studied the liturgy of various meditational deities and invocation rites of protectors. After completing an extensive 13-year study, he earned the degree and title of "Master of Sutra and Tantra" in 1992. Subsequently he has traveled as a member of the entourage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India. Gephel has received numerous initiations and teachings from great teachers such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, H.H. Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche, H.H. Ganden Tripa Lobsang Nyima, Ven. Denma Locho Rinpoche and Ven. Lati Rinpoche. Taking to the mountains, he studied lam rim, shamatha and other meditational practices from the great hermit yogi Gen Lamrimpa.

In 1990-91 he collaborated on a research project in North Carolina on Buddhism and psychotherapy. In July of 1997 he joined the faculty of Namgyal Institute in Ithaca, New York, for a three-year term, which has been extended as his parent monastery (Namgyal, India) asked him to stay.

Ven. Gephel has been selected as the first Buddhist Chaplain at Cornell University, where he provides counsel, teachings and meditation instruction on the Cornell campus. Back->