Shamatha/Vipassana Series w/ Geshe Lharampa Ahten - #6

This is the 6th teaching in a series of 11, where Geshe Lharampa Ahten covers the Shamatha Chapter from Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, and also gives an introduction to Vipassana Practice by covering the Vipassana Chapter also from Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, and with the addition of teachings from Prajnaparamita Literature. Teachings 1 through 7 cover the topic of Shamatha, and teachings 8 through 11 cover the topic of Vipassana. All teachings in this series were very kindly, and very thoughtfully translated by Dr. Robert W. Clarke, Professor and Coordinator of the Stanford University Tibetan Language Program, and Administrator at Tardo Ling Buddhist Center in Mill Valley, California. ~ Short Biography of Geshe Lharampa Ahten ~ Geshe Lharam Ahten was born in 1938 in Markham, in Eastern Tibet. At the age of 11 he became a novice monk at Dzindu Gompa, the Monastery of Gankar Tulku. Then at the age of 16 he entered Ganden Shartse Monastery in Central Tibet, where completed all foundational monastic courses including Buddhist Logic, Debate, and where he began his studies in the Perfection of Wisdom Teachings. In 1959 when Geshe-la was 21 years old, he escaped the Chinese Occupation of Tibet, and fled to India along with a mass exodus of Tibetans at that time. In 1966 at the age of 28, Geshe-la received full ordination as a monk (Gelong) from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1981 he completed three rounds of traditional Gelugpa examinations, and was awarded the degree first in his division. After a wait of several years, Geshe-la was then awarded the highest degree of Geshe Lharamapa. Geshe-la has also received many major tantric initiations, and teachings from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the late senior teacher of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Ling Rinpoche, the late junior teacher of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Trijang Rinpoche, and many other masters of that time originally trained in Tibet. Geshe Lharam Ahten has taught extensively at Gaden Shartse Monastery where he resides, and where he is greatly beloved, and regarded by all as both a great teacher, and senior monk.