Kyabje Khensur Kangyur Lama Jetsun Losang Thubten Rinpoche
Kyabje Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche, was asked by HH Dalai Lama to provide the oral transmission of the complete Tibetan canon, the Kanguyur, to an assembly of 900 monks—a feat accomplished about once a generation and takes 6 months.
On the insistence of His Eminence Trijang Rinpoche (HH Dalai Lama’s Tutor), Khensur Rinpoche undertook the Great (three and a half year) Retreat on Vajrayogini.
In 1965, he completed his Lharampa Geshe , the highest possible degree in Buddhist Philosophic Studies.
After fleeing Tibet, he helped re-establish Sera Jhe Monastery in India, and was appointed Abbot by HH Dalai Lama. He also restructured Sera Jhe School, which has resulted in an extremely high standard and diverse curriculum, achieving outstanding results in examinations.
During the past 13 years, he has taught in many FPMT centres in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and USA. Because of his extremely high qualifications, advanced knowledge and spiritual insights, Rinpoche is still often requested to teach overseas and at Sera Monastery, where thousands of monks flock to hear him speak…more
Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen
Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen, our outstanding teacher from Sera Je monastery, a former disciplinarian of Trehor Khangtsen who after completing his Lharampa Geshe degree at Sera Je attended Gyume Tantric College and is reputed both for his erudition and kindness…more
About Ilia Durovic
Some of you may not know much about our translator, Ilia Durovic. Because of Covid, few people come to TBI to listen to teachings, and therefore don’t have the opportunity to meet Ilia in “real life”. I hope the following gives insight into our highly respected and much venerated, translator.
Ilia Durovic, formerly a US citizen, is one of the students of the late Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, who was the Counsellor in Religious Affairs of HH the Dalai Lama. Ilia studied Buddhist philosophy under Geshe Rabten’s direction and was his personal French translator in Switzerland until Geshe Rabten’s passing in 1986. Ilia also translated into French for His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1985. He then continued studying for many years, taking responsibility for his family after his father’s death in 1988. He came to India in 2001 to attend major teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and shortly after came down to Sera Je (Karnataka, India) with the strong wish to pursue his studies in Buddhist philosophy. As his Tibetan, both colloquial and classical was very good, he was able to start studying Buddhist philosophy privately under the direction of three different Tibetan teachers. One of these was Geshe Yama Rinchen, a very famous scholar, who became his foremost teacher. He then generated the strong wish to become ordained and received Novice and eventually Bhikshu ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama under the name of Tenzin Tenpa.
Because of his very good knowledge of Buddhist Philosophy, the then disciplinarian of Sera Je Monastery (second only to the Abbot of the monastery) and his teacher , Geshe Yama Rinchen, decided that he should be allowed to enter directly into the fourth year of studies at Sera Je. This was an
exceptional decision made at the time. Ilia also successfully passed a debate examination in Tibetan in front of the whole monastery, which comprised 3,500 monks! He is to my knowledge the only
Westerner to ever have done so. Ilia Durovic then studied three further years at Sera Je Monastery, completing an in depth study of Buddhist Philosophy.
During his studies, he sponsored:
- on a very large scale the Sera Je Health Care Center, which is responsible for all health-related
issues at Sera Je Monastery. - the Sera Je Library and it’s publishing branch and funded.
- the creation of a special compound for Western monastics (Sera IMI), to enable Westerners to study Buddhist philosophy at the source.
In addition to these activities, Ilia requested and sponsored numerous teachings for the benefit of the Tibetan monks of Sera Je, and offered his services to translate them into English for the benefit of the westerners who were present. He also translated into English for the benefit of western students “The Easy Path” by Panchen Lobsang Chogyan, which Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche taught to an audience of
ca 1,000 monks at Sera Je monastery.
Ilia specifically requested and sponsored:
- The 21 day teachings on “Liberation in the Palm of your Hand”, by Khyabje Phabongka Rinpoche, which was given to well in excess of 1,000 monks and he provided simultaneous translation into English from the Tibetan(20/11/2003-12/12/2003 with a break).
- He requested from Abbot Khen Lobsang Palden and sponsored a transmission of the first part of Je Tsong kha pa’s “Golden Rosary of Explanations”, a difficult text on Buddhist Philosophy.
- Under Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche’s aegis, he requested and was one of the main sponsors of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings at Gyud Me monastery to an audience of approximately 8,000. (18/12/2004-21/12/2004)
- He translated in Singapore teachings on the “Song of realization of Je Tsong kha pa” over one week in early 2006 at the largest Buddhist Temple in Singapore, Po ka si Temple.
- He requested, sponsored and translated “The Swift Path” by Panchen Lobsang Yeshe and “From the Mouth of Manjushri” by the Fifth Dalai Lama which Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche taught at Sera Je (India) to an audience of ca 1,000 monks ( 29/11/2006-11/12/2006).
- He requested, sponsored and volunteered his translation for two 11 day seminars given in
Adelaide in October 2007 and October 2008, which were major events in the Buddhist world,
travelling from Switzerland just for these events.
Many of these teachings have been made available to an international audience in DVD format or as transcripts, some of which are being published as books. He has also translated for many of the very greatest Tibetan teachers in exile such as the late Khyabje Song Rinpoche, Gomo Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche and Gyatra Rinpoche in the Drigung Kagyu tradition (in Estonia), Choden Rinpoche (in France), the present Abbot of Sera Je Monastery, Khen Lobsang Palden (in India) and so forth.
In addition, Ilia Durovic sponsored the publication of a series of books in Tibetan which were of great help to the monastery. He sponsored the publication in classical Tibetan of :
- 3,000 copies of “Liberation in the Palm of your Hand” which was out of print
- A text on Monastic discipline which Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche had written.
- The critical edition and publication of 5,000 copies of a 2 volume commentary on Je Tsong kha pa’s “Essence of Eloquence”, which had become extremely rare.
