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Biography of Geshe Lobsang
Khenrap
Geshe Lobsang Khenrap, affectionately known as Gen Khenrap was born in
the Tsang region of Tibet in 1939. At the age of eight he joined the
local Gelug monastery, the Gadong Monastery, and studied there for eight
years. During that time he memorized the general Tibetan Buddhist
prayers and the complete sets of prayers/rites of Cakrasamvara,
Guyasamaja, Yamantaka and the root tantra of Guyasamaja as well.
At the age of sixteen he joined the Drepung Monastery's Loseling College
and remained there until the unrest started and fled in 1959 during the
uprising against the Chinese invasion of whole Tibet. During the four
years he mostly studied Buddhist dialectics and logic. Once in India he
followed his teachers, the abbots of Loseling, Ven. Pema Gyaltsen and
Ven. Yeshi Thup, and joined the temporary resettlement for the monk's
community in Buxar in India near the Bhutanese border. It was there
where he intensively studied Buddhist Philosophy for about nine years.
Later they re-established their monastery in the South of India and he
continued his studies there. lie always received the highest marks
during the exams of debates and recitation of the memorized sutra texts.
After successfully completing the study of the five treatises:
Pramanavartika, Prajnaparamita, Madyamika, Vinaya and Abidharma, he
joined the Gelug gyugtroe (Main Gelug test for a Geshe Lharampa Degree)
and studied there for five years during which he achieved again the
first position in his Karampa and Lopon tests. During the time, in 1992,
while he was preparing for his final Lharampa test, His Holiness the
Dalai Lama unprecedentedly decided that the Lharampa test should be
taken by those who have completed their studies and are willing to take
the risk by either winning or losing the title forever, and that they
have to sit during fifteen debating sessions and fifteen answering
sessions. At that time, as it was the first ever held in such a way, the
Gaden Tripa, the supreme head of the Gelugpa school, Sharpa Choeje,
Jangise Choeje and all six Abbots from the six colleges of the Three
Pillar Monasteries of Tibet in Exile presided over the exams. Present
were also over twenty of the best Geshes from all the monasteries and
even from this scrutinizing final test Gen Khenrap emerged as the winner
due to, as he says, his pure motivation and the kindness of his masters.
He was pronounced as the first within the first division. Many other
bright contestants failed during that tough exam.
In 1993 Gen joined as advised by his masters the Lower Tantric
University and studied there Buddhist tantra. While being there he also
taught both sutra and tantra.
At the behest of the Abbot of Loseling Monastic College in 1994, he came
to Nechung Dorje Drayangling Monastery to become its resident teacher
along with Geshe Dawa of Gaden Jangtse. Since then, he has been teaching
and spiritually guiding all the students of Nechung Monastery as a
living example of the Buddhist doctrine in the most compassionate and
simple way.
* Prepared with great devotion by his lazy student: Rongpo Tenzin
Choephel of Nechung Monastery
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