For my friends in Las Vegas on the Spiritual path, you may enjoy this
upcoming event with a Tibetan Master this Sunday.
 
Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan - Workshop/Fundraiser
When: Sunday, March 22, 2009
Where: Spiritual Life Center - 1420 E. Harmon Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89119 
Time: 1:00 Pm
Cost: Free, donations will be accepted.

Please Note:
I will be playing my guitar during the church service if you would also like to attend that at:
9:00 am and 10:30. I will also be attending this once in a lifetime event with Khen Rinpoche. 

KHEN RINPOCHE LOBZANG TSETAN is a Tibetan Buddhist Monk of the Gelug-pa lineage (the same as the Dalai Lama), with the highest degree obtainable in Tibetan Buddhist metaphysics and philosophy. He was recently enthroned as the head abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in exile. This is the Panchen Lama’s Monastery outside of Tibet. His new title of Khen Rinpoche recognizes him as a precious high lama.

Khen Rinpoche Tsetan began his monastic life at age 7, in his native village of Stok, Ladakh. When he was 15 years old he walked with his father from Ladakh, India, to Shigatse, Tibet, to enter the (Panchen Lama's) famous Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. The 800-mile trek took them over two months to complete, most of it barefooted.

He left Tibet in 1960, after the Chinese occupation made it impossible for him to continue his studies there. He returned to his home in Ladakh and continued to pursue his training in India, in the monasteries established there in exile. In the late 1970s he was invited to the USA where he learned English, and taught classes at the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in NJ, Smith College, Bates College, Hampshire College, Wesleyan University, and conferences at Harvard and Princeton, and more.

In 1995, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Tsetan founded The Siddhartha School in his native home in Ladakh. The school seeks to preserve Tibetan Buddhist Culture and language while giving the children of this remote Himalayan area a well-rounded education, which will allow them to represent themselves and their culture in this newly evolving global community.

Shortly after that, H.H. Dalai Lama, appointed Geshe Tsetan to be the head abbot of the new Tashilungpo Monastery in India. (This is in the absence of the Panchen Lama, who has been missing since the Chinese Government took him and his family into custody when he was 4 years old.) This was a great honor, but one that was humbly set aside, so that he could devote himself completely to the Siddhartha School, with the Dalai Lama's blessings and support.

In January of 2005 HHDL again asked if Geshe Tsetan would accept the abbotship, and this time he could not refuse. In July 2005 he was installed as Kachen, or head Abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in southern India. His new title is Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan, and he has assumed his new responsibilities overseeing the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in exile. He is now, in essence doing the Panchen Lama's job. For more information on this go to the website: www.tashilhunpo.org.