Founder
Venerable Gendun has a strong commitment to the ‘examined life’, in which the false security of dogmas is replaced by a fearless heart and inquisitive mind.
Photo credits: Jurjen Jonkers
Venerable Losang Gendun’s path into Buddhist practice began in the early 1970s through encounters with contemplatives in whom a life of inner perfection and service had become wholly embodied — a Trappist monk, and later a Theravāda abbot, who between them set the course of a life dedicated to meditation. Before taking robes, he worked across palliative care, technology, refugee organizations, and management — a range of human experience that continues to shape his teaching.
Taking robes as a Bhikṣu in the Tibetan tradition in 2006, Ven. Gendun spent nine years in philosophical study at Nalanda Monastery in France, with further training in India, Nepal, and Myanmar, complemented by more than four years in solitary retreat working deeply with Tibetan sūtra and tantra alongside the Burmese Theravāda Forest Tradition.
For the past eighteen years he has taught Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation internationally. The Buddha Project, founded in 2023, is in part a gesture of gratitude toward the legacy of his principal teachers, Geshe Tengye and Lama Zopa Rinpoche — offering sustained guidance for serious meditators, fostering dialogue between traditions, and supporting scientific research into contemplative practice.
Source of
all good qualities
Geshe Losang Tengye
Root Guru
Born in 1927, Gen Tengye graduated Geshe Lharampa at the Sera Je Monastery in Tibet. He spent 9 years in Thailand as a mendicant monk comparing Tibetan and Theravada Vinayas, before moving to France where he taught for over 30 years in Buddhist Temple Linh Son, but especially Institut Vajra yogini in the Tarn, where he resided until his passing in 2019.
Luang Pho Phra Thep Bhuddhimongkol
Refuge preceptor and meditation teacher
Born in 1929, Luang Pho took novice ordination at Wat Saket in Bangkok and full ordination 4 years later. He studied Buddhism at Bangkok University where he obtained his PhD in 1973. He has been the abbot of the Buddharama temple in Waalwijk since 1991 and serves as the head of the Thai Sangha in Europe.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Embodiment of bodhicitta
Born in 1946 in Nepal, Rinpoche was recognized as the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama. After the passing away of his guru Lama Yeshe in 1984, he accepted the role of spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). His teachings on compassion, wisdom, and the practice of bodhisattva ideals reached the far corners of the earth due to his incomparable dedication to all living beings.
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama
Full ordination abbot and tantric master
His Holiness was born in 1935 in Taktser, Tibet. Having been recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama, he assumed the full responsibilities of his position in 1950. Fleeing into exile to India in 1959, he now resides in Dharamsala and serves as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Teaching worldwide, he has been a tireless advocate for peace, compassion, and the preservation of Tibetan culture, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Ganden Tripa Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche
Novice abbot and tantric master
Born in Tibet in 1934 and ordained as a monk at the age of seven, he followed His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile in 1959. He studied at Sera Je Monastery and Gyume Tantric University. He was appointed the 104th Ganden Tripa, spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, in April, 2017.
Sayalay Daw Bhaddamanika
Meditation teacher
Born in Myanmar in 1955, Sayalay ordained as a nun in Lumbini in February 1999. Co-managing the Panditarama-Lumbini center, she has greatly contributed to its development. She teaches meditation to short and long term-retreatants both in Lumbini and abroad.
Geshe Losang Jamphel
Monastic abbot and philosophy teacher
Born in 1961, Geshe Jamphel secretly received novice ordination in 1979 and full ordination in 1981 at Ganden Monastery near Lhasa in Tibet. Fleeing into exile, he enrolled in Sera Je Monastery in South India, where he passed his Lharampa Geshe degree in 1999, and continued his studies at Gyuto tantric college. He has taught at Nalanda monastery in France since 2000 and became its abbot in 2007.
Sayadaw U Kovida
Meditation and abhidhamma teacher
Born in 1976 Sayadaw U Kovida took Samanera ordination at age 14 years old and full ordination 6 years later. Studying at Mahāvisutārāma and Masoeyein-teikthit monasteries in Myanmar, he was awarded the title of Sasanadhaja-Dhammacariya. Having trained with Ven. Pa-Auk Sayadaw, he currently teaches at Pa Auk Tawya Meditation Center and its worldwide branches.
Kyabje Nawang Gelek Rinpoche
Guide to the Mahayana
Born in 1939, he received the Geshe Lharampa degree at the exceptionally young age of 20 in Drepung Monastic University in Tibet. In 1959 he went into exile into India. Rinpoche moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1987 to teach Buddhism. In 1988 he founded and was president of Jewel Heart. He disseminated Tibetan Buddhism across the globe until his passing in 2017.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Meditation teacher
Born in 1926 in Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh was ordained as a novice monk at sixteen. Exiled from his homeland in 1966, he founded Plum Village in France in 1982, one of the largest Buddhist communities in the West. A pioneer of Engaged Buddhism, his life and teaching embodied the Yogācāra vision of mind and world as inseparable. He passed away in 2022.
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Much conflict and polarization in the world arises from the pull of sectarian identities and the fear that suppression of doubt causes. In that pursuit he collaborates with different contemplative communities, notably Benedictine, Sufi, Liberal Jewish and Eastern Orthodox.
Ven. Losang Gendun is a member of Mind & Life Europe, whose mission it is to alleviate suffering and promote human and societal flourishing by integrating science with contemplative practice and wisdom traditions. In his activities he specifically promotes the importance of equality and inclusion as essential ingredients for a thriving, cohesive humanity.