Geshe YongDong Losar

Geshe YongDong Losar (Geshela) is a Tibetan Bön lama, or spiritual teacher, in the Yungdrung Bön lineage, which is rooted in the indigenous spiritual tradition of the Himalayas. He lives in Courtenay, British Columbia, where he established and directs Sherab Chamma Ling, the only Tibetan Bön Buddhist Center in Canada. He teaches in many centres and universities around the world and has also founded the Bon Da Ling centre in Costa Rica.

Geshela has published several books in Tibetan and is an active member of Chiling Bon Tsok, the International Bon Lamas Association, and the International Tibetan Non-Sectarian Religious Association. He is cherished by students and colleagues for his calm and loving manner, his humour and humility, and his tireless dedication to the Dharma and the ultimate liberation of hearts and minds.

Geshe Yongdong was born in 1969 in the Ngawa County of Amdo in northeastern Tibet. As a boy, his desire to become a monk was intensified by the death of his mother, the death of his grandmother, and the three years he spent alone in the harsh Himalayan mountains tending a flock of over six hundred sheep for his uncle. At the age of thirteen his uncle finally allowed Geshela to enter the Nangzhig Monastery in Amdo, the largest Bon monastery in Tibet, where he studied under the venerable masters Geshe Wako Gyaltsen, Yongdzin Yeshe Gyaltsen, Jawob Rinpoche, and Jetsun Namkha Tsultrim.

Eleven years later, after completing specialized training in all aspects of the Dharma, he was awarded the geshe degree, an academic achievement of the highest order, similar to a Western PhD in theology. He escaped Tibet soon after, settling in India where he had the honour of receiving teachings from some of the most eminent spiritual leaders of our time: His Holiness the Dalai Lama; His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin, the spiritual leader of Bon; and His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the senior teacher and lineage holder of Bon; and Venerable Ponlop Trinley Nyima Rinpoche, the main teacher at Menri Monastery.

Geshela spent another three years studying at Sera Monastic University in southern India under Venerable Geshe Thupten Rinchen before relocating to Canada.