Ven. Khensur Rinpoche Losang Tsering.
Ven. Khensur Rinpoche Losang Tsering was born in Phuntsokling in Tsang Province in central Tibet in 1923. He joined Gaden Phuntsokling Monastery at the age of five and became a monk. Until the age of sixteen he studied basic Buddhist philosophy , memorized texts, and learned ritual chanting, etc. At the age of sixteen he went to Sera Je College of Sera Monastery and began the study of philosophy based on the five major root texts.
When he was twenty-two years of age he finished the first two topics of his philosophical studies, returned to Gaden Phuntsokling Monastery, sat for a two-day-long examination in debate, and achieved the Kachen degree, which is like the Geshe degree in the major monastic universities. In 1957 Rinpoche returned to Gaden Phuntsokling, where he was requested to take charge of philosophical training. For the next two years he taught at his home monastery.

In 1959 the Communist Chinese invaded Tibet, and Khensur Rinpoche was taken into Chinese custody and sent to a concentration camp. For ten years Khensur Rinpoche suffered terribly in the Chinese prison. At the end of 1969 Rinpoche escaped from Tibet, and it took him twenty-one days of difficult walking to cross the Himalayas and arrive at the Sikkim Indian border.

In 1970 Rinpoche rejoined Sera Monastery in south India, where Tibetan refugees had re-established it after the Chinese destruction of the monasteries in Tibet. After his arrival at Sera Monastery in south India Rinpoche taught many students, and in 1973 he was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree (the highest degree in the Tibetan monastic educational system) in the presence of the monks of the three great monasteries of Sera, Drepung, and Gaden.

In 1978 Rinpoche was elected and took on the responsibility of being the disciplinarian of Sera Je Monastery for a period of two years. In 1986 His Holiness the Dalai Lama choose him to be the abbot of Sera Je Monastery for a term of eight years. At the end of 1993 Rinpoche began an intensive three year, three month retreat focused on the meditational deity Yamantaka.

Currently Khensur Rinpoche’s daily routine is to teach Buddhist philosophy every day from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. And that has greatly benefited both the monastery and the students of higher Buddhist studies. Last year Khensur Rinpoche had the opportunity to have a long private meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and His Holiness recommended that Rinpoche visit the United States for general medical treatment and especially to treat his hearing problem.

Khensur Rinpoche was invited to the U.S. by his teacher, Ven. Geshe Sopa. Khensur Rinpoche is staying for several months at Geshe Sopa's monastery, Deer Park Buddhist Center near Madison, Wisconsin. During his stay at Deer Park Buddhist Center, he has been giving teachings on Sundays and Thursdays.