Ven. Geshe Tenzin Damchoe was born in Dharamsala India and attended Tibetan Childrens Village (TCV) school until the 10th grade. After that he attended TCV Bylakuppe where he received a Bachelors of Commerce from St. Philomena’s college of Mysore University.

After graduating with his commerce degree, Geshe-la joined the Institute of Buddhist Dialectic school, where he spent over a decade studying Buddhist philosophy and earning the prestigious Geshe degree (which is equivalent to a PhD) from Drepung Loseling Monastery in south India. He later became a professor: teaching Buddhist Philosophy and Practices at Earlham College and then at Oxford University in England as a visiting scholar. Geshe-la now works at Sarah College for higher Tibetan studies as a program coordinator and renowned lecturer for Buddhist Philosophy studies.

Given his expertise, Marshall and I discussed with Ven Geshe-la:

• How he became a monk
• Prevalence of monks in tibet
• What does being a geshe mean
• How to keep your cup of knowledge from getting full
• Respecting others by thinking about their good qualities
• Self centered attitude vs. self-cherising
• Unconditional vs. Conditional love
• Interdependence of everything
• Two different types of meditation: Analytical and one pointed meditation
• Two different types of compassion: Emotional and Wisdom
• Positive influence western traditions have had on him
• How karma and murphy’s law share similarities
• 4 Noble Truths
• Contextualizing the four noble truths and 8-fold path as they pertain to coping and surviving the COVID-19 crisis.
• The utility of the identities we hold
• How Finding nemo shows us a great example of the 4 noble truths