Geshe Pema Dorjee

Perhaps it was a moment of rare opportunity – or good fortune – or just plain luck – when we met a man who deeply touched our hearts and minds. We were traveling in Dharamsala, India when we were introduced to a Tibetan Buddhist monk known as Geshe Pema Dorjee. It wasn’t only his clear, thoughtful, and practical answers to our questions. Nor was it only his unassuming warm-hearted nature, easy smile, kind eyes, keen intellect, and infectious sense of humor. True, he had all of these qualities. It was mainly that we were profoundly moved by his deep and sincere compassion for those in need – his wish to alleviate suffering.

We call him Geshe-la.  La is a Tibetan term of respect. His name is Pema Dorjee, and while he insists that he is only a simple Buddhist monk, the Geshe degree that he holds in Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy (the equivalent of a Ph.D.) is the same degree that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has attained.

Geshe Pema Dorjee lives the compassionate life that he teaches. He personally ventures to impoverished and/or remote areas in India and Nepal. After a thorough analysis, he creates and directs the projects that are the most urgent. These include creating schools, arranging medical care for the sick and injured, creating a safe house for street children, educating villagers to protect them from human trafficking, and bringing toilets to remote Himalayan villages. Recently, he is working to bring safe and more efficient stoves to villages where the traditional, unvented, open stove in the family hut is causing eye and lung damage.

This past November, we were present in Dharamsala when Geshe-la met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to provide an update on the extent and progress of these projects.

Geshe-la also donates much of his time to teaching Buddhist philosophy around the world, especially in Israel and throughout Europe and Asia. For the past two years, he has given teachings in the United States.

For more information, read Geshe-la's CV or follow these links to:
The Monastery of Bodong and the leaflet of Geshe-la's position there.
About Gese-la's ativities on http://pema-dorjee.org/.
En kväll för Tibet - Lama Geshe Pema Dorjee (An evening about Tibet) on Swedish Television.
Geshe-Pema-Dorjee.pdf on Tibetansk Buddhisme, Norway.
Lama-Pema-Dorjee on Facebook.
Or just Google “Geshe Pema Dorjee.”