The Mahayana Sutra & Tantra Press was founded under the guidance
of our revered spiritual teacher, Sermey Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang
Tharchin. Khensur Rinpoche first came to the United States in April
1972; he continued to live and teach here for more than 30 years. He was
one of the most senior Tibetan Buddhist masters to bring the holy
teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to the west. The press has published a
number of Khen Rinpoche's translations of Buddhist classics, along with
several of his own oral commentaries.
Sermey Khensur Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was
born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1921. He entered the Mey College of Sera Monastery at an early age
and proceeded through the rigorous 25 year program of Buddhist monastic and philosophical
studies. Upon successful completion of the public examination by the best scholars of the
day, Rinpoche was awarded the highest degree of Hlarampa Geshe with honors. In 1954, he entered the Gyu Mey Tantric College, completed its
course of study under strict monastic discipline, and shortly afterwards attained a
high-ranking administrative position.
In 1959, Rinpoche escaped to India along with His Holiness, the 14th
Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, and tens of thousands of other Tibetans. Actively involved in
Tibetan resettlement, he compiled a series of textbooks for a Tibetan curriculum to be
used in refugee schools and also taught in Darjeeling, Simla, and Mussoorie.
In 1972, Khen Rinpoche was chosen by H.H. the Dalai Lama to come to the United States to participate in a project involving the translation of Buddhist scriptures.
Upon its completion, he was invited to serve as the Abbot of Rashi
Gempil Ling Temple in New Jersey, a position that he held until his
recent demise, on December 1, 2004. Rinpoche also founded the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center,
with current branches in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Over the years he has offered
a vast range of Buddhist teachings.
In 1991, Khen Rinpoche was asked by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to
serve as Abbot of Sera Mey monastery in south India. After a brief appointment there, he
returned to the United States, where he continued to teach and direct a number of projects
dedicated to the restoration of Sera Mey Monastery in India and to the flourishing of the
Mahayana Buddhist Dharma in the West, as well as the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press.
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