Geshe Sherab Biography

Geshe Sherab is the young, fluent in English, Headmaster of Kopan Monastery, Nepal, the spiritual centre of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).  He has lived for several years in the U.S. also, so he is familiar with North American culture, and knows how to relate to the western mind when teaching the Dharma.

Born in Nepal of Tibetan parents, Geshe Sherab received his education at Kopan Monastery from the time he was a boy, and completed his studies at Sera Je Monastic University and at Gyume Tantric College in India. He has lived in the USA working at the FPMT Central office and several nearby Dharma Centres in New Mexico. He returned to Nepal after several years in the U.S.A. to become Headmaster of Kopan Monastery.  Geshe-la has just retired from the Headmaster role in order to have more time to devote to meditation and to teaching internationally.

 

Manadala magazine has a story of Geshe Sherab here.

You can download and listen to several recordings of Geshe Sherab teaching here.

Several community members have met and studied with him personally and two share their impressions of him below...

Suzanne Rhodes met Geshe Sherab two years ago at Kopan Monastery where he ran the English reading groups that she participated in with the young monks.  She writes...

"He's amazing, warm hearted, generous, accessible, and articulate.  He also spent an afternoon going through the Eight Verses of Mind  Training that he zipped through in 2 hours!  He's extremely concise  yet so humorous.  He kept punctuating the important bits by stopping  and asking ‘did you get it? did you get it?’ while laughing.  This  happened so much throughout his teaching that it became our own way  of underlining stuff in our discussion group as it really seems to stamp  ideas and concepts onto the mind.  He is so easily understandable as  his English is great and we really enjoyed him as a teacher because  of his light hearted presentation".

Florence Sicoli also met Geshe Sherab at Kopan during a meditation retreat there last October. She writes....

"I offer here two brief personal observations about Geshe Sherab. During his teachings, a quality that really impressed me is his  enthusiastic intellect. This surfaced when students asked questions, particularly difficult questions. Geshe-la seemed to delight in engaging students in heart-felt debate, very much in the style of the animated  monks’ daily debates in front of Kopan’s main gompa. This is not to  say that he presented himself to us as all knowing. On the contrary, he  frankly admitted if he did not know the answer to a question and quickly added he would consult with his colleagues. Then he would return the  next day to tell us what he and the senior monks had discussed about  the question. I really admired Geshe-la’s dynamic approach to explaining  and discussing dharma".

"Also, during a private meeting when I sought advice from him on a family issue, I found Geshe-la to be very approachable and conducted himself  with a wise, gentle demeanour. He quickly grasped my issue, and his  counsel has helped me develop the compassionate mindset necessary  for me to find positive, respectful ways to approach this ongoing issue."

Here is a portion of an interview with Geshe Sherab taken from the online edition of The Hindu, one of India's national newspapers.

"Love and compassion will help destroy the ‘inner terrorist’ of each person and this purging of negativity from individuals is the only lasting solution to hatred, bigotry and terrorism", Geshe Lama Thubten Gurung (Geshe Sherab) of Kopan Monastery (Nepal) has said.  He was speaking after inaugurating the Pre-Parliament Summit of the Parliament of the World’s Religions to be held at Melbourne, Australia, in 2009. The Summit was organized here on Sunday by the School of Bhagavad Gita.

"Rules and regulations can bring only an outer peace, that too temporarily. If there is hatred and the feeling of revenge inside man’s mind, it is bound to come out some time and then outer peace will disappear. Real peace has to come from a person’s mind", he said.

 

Facilitators

 

Program Facilitators

 
Carmen Orlandis-Habsburgo
Carmen has a background in theatre dance and movement, Goddess devotion and shamanism. She recovered from a long illness using Transformative Mindfulness which is now at the core of her practice. Carmen is a certified 5 Tibetan Yoga and Transformative Mindfulness facilitator, and completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch.
 
Cynthia Nelson
Cynthia, aka Sham Rang, has a B.Ed and is an experienced educator. Cynthia was propelled by a life threatening illness into a reassessment of her life and now views this illness as the true beginning of her journey into self-awareness and accessing the wisdom of her own body. She continues, with ever increasing awareness, to appreciate the richness and beauty of the physical experience. Certified to teach the 5 Tibetan Yogas and Kundalini Yoga, and to facilitate Transformational Fantasy and Transformative Self-Healing, she currently co-facilitates meditation courses for SIVAM and teaches yoga in Hamilton.
 
Dave Gould
Dave has studied and practiced Dharma since 1984 and became a committed practitioner in the Tibetan tradition in 1993. He has done several month-long retreats with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and leads the Discovering Buddhism program in Hamilton.
 
Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw
Dekyi-Lee is the Director of The Centre for Compassion & Wisdom and Lama Yeshe Ling Tibetan Buddhist Group and is a former Tibetan Buddhist nun. She is the co-author of the book 16 Guidelines for Life, developed Transformative Mindfulness, and is an international trainer of facilitators in 16 Guidelines for Life, Transformative Mindfulness and 5 Tibetan Yogas.
 
Frankie Worobec
Frankie is a retired nurse.  She has had an interest in meditation for several years.  She has completed a 10 week course in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
 
Fred Roland, Hwiemtun
Fred, Hwiemtun, is from the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, with a Coast Salish mother and Hawaiian lineage father. He spent many years learning traditional ways from local elders and grandparents, indigenous tribes of Canada, South America, Asia and the West Indies. He shares these teachings, stories and songs in schools and universities internationally and has led youth cultural exchange programs by taking Metis and Caucasian youth to share with tribes in Guyana, Dominica, Peru, Germany and the Amazon. He has been a custodian of the Maitreya Project Relic Tour in North America and Asia.
 
Dr. Gareth Sparham
Dr. Sparham received a PhD in Asian Studies at UBC and was a Buddhist monk for 25 years, studying at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India. Dr. Sparham has translated a number of books including Khunu Lama’s ‘Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea’.
 
Hart Jansson
Hart began working in the humanitarian field after a 25-year career in telecoms software. Hart has been involved in micro-enterprise and nutrition improvement for the last six years with Malnutrition Matter which is currently involved in nutrition improvement projects in more than a dozen countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Hart’s main experience is with nutrition projects in rural India, which began on a volunteer basis in 1989. Hart has been a meditator for over 30 years and has taken various teachings with Buddhist Masters including Lama Zopa, with an Advaita Master, Ramesh Balsekar (Mumbai) and with Dr. David Hawkins (Arizona). He is a trained 5 Tibetan Yogas and Transformative Mindfulness facilitator, and completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch. 
 
Janice Barrett
Janice is a Reiki Master and Shamanic Healer who has been teaching the 5 Tibetan Yogas daily for a number of years. She studied with Dekyi Lee Oldershaw and feels honoured and blessed to be able to pass these teachings on to others.
 
Judy Horsley
Judy is a retired college professor who found her true spiritual home in Buddhism after attending teachings and Kalachakra initiation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2004. She continues to study and explore ways to put Buddhist values into practice.
 
Judy Mair
Judy is a certified facilitator of 5 Tibetan Yogas and Transformative Mindfulness. She has been teaching 5 Tibetan Yogas classes in Hamilton and Burlington for over three years.
 
Katie Keenleyside
Katie is a former elementary teacher, a certified facilitator of Transformative Mindfulness and 5 Tibetan Yogas, and a Hatha Yoga teacher and Phoenix Rising Yoga therapist. Katie completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch. Katie is currently the Centre’s Registrations Coordinator
 
Kelly Watt
Kelly studied with Lama Yeshe in the 1970’s and brings many years of practice specializing in Vajrasattva.
 
Laurie Dolan
Laurie has combined her career in the Corporate IT world with her interest in people engaging in their potential for a fulfilling life through developing her personal interests as a Certified Myers Briggs and Personality Dimensions Facilitator, and a CTI trained coach. Laurie is a certified 5 Tibetan Yoga facilitator and completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch.   Laurie is currently the Centre’s Volunteer Coordinator, 16 Guidelines Program Coordinator and Program Co-director. 
 
Lesia Tymochenko
Lesia is an experienced educator and a certified facilitator of Yoga, 5 Tibetan Yogas, Transformative Mindfulness and Meditation. Currently she facilitates meditation classes and has completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch.
 
Gen Ngawang Choklay
Ngawang was born in Tibet, is a scholar monk trained at Kopan Monastery in Nepal then Sera Je Monastery in India. He has translated and taught in Germany and Spain; has lived and taught in the Toronto since 2005.
 
Roxanne Campbell
Roxanneis a certified facilitator of the 5 Tibetan Yogas and Transformative Mindfulness.
 
Sean Hillman
Sean received his degree from U of T in East Asian Studies, was a Tibetan Buddhist monk for 13 years and studied at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala India. He now coordinates the Lama Yeshe Ling Toronto Study Group.
 
Sheilagh Mercer
Sheilagh is a certified facilitator of Transformative Mindfulness and 5 Tibetan Yogas, as well as Hypnotherapy and Reiki. Sheilagh completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch. Sheilagh has over thirty years experience as an artist and art instructor in floral arts, illustration and wood carving and has taught in various places including Sheridan College.
 
Shelley Urlando
Shelley is a certified facilitator of Transformative Mindfulness and Meditation. Shelley completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch. She has run experiential learning programs for youth, including Mindblast for Kids, Mindblast for Youth, 16 Guidelines Retreat for Youth, which incorporates a variety of fun experiential visualizations, meditations, simple breathing techniques, co-operative games, journaling and creative expressions through art that bring about a deeper understanding and meaning to life experiences.
 
Sonia Urlando
Sonya is a high school student preparing to go into university in journalism. She is the first youth facilitator of Transformative Mindfulness in Canada, trained by Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw. She has co-facilitated teen retreats based on the 16 Guidelines for Life as well as Transformative Mindfulness.
 
Sonya Janssens
Sonya is an Early Childhood Educator who has been working in the child care field for over 15 years. Sonya completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch.Her view of children as intelligent, capable and compassionate is reflected in the philosophy of the 16 Guidelines for Life and the program she has implemented into the child care program at the McMaster University Child Care Program.
 
Una West
Una is a Holistic Practitioner and Workshop Facilitator, and is certified by Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw in Transformative Mindfulness and 5 Tibetan Yogas.  Una completed the 16 Guidelines for Life Intensive in November 2008 with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw and Alison Murdoch She has had her own private practice in Dundas for the past 13 years.
 
Valerie Spironello
Valerie is a social worker in health care. She privately offers Wellness Counseling. Valerie has been studying meditation with teachers such as Dekyi Lee Oldershaw, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Saki Santorelli and Tara Brach. In 2008 Valerie studied “Mindfulness Meditation in Clinical Practice” with Michael Stone of Centre of Gravity, Toronto. Valerie was a co-facilitator in Transformative Mindfulness with Dekyi Lee.  She leads a meditation class at Shanti Yoga Studio in Hamilton.