The kind Gyuto monk, Ven. Lobsang Dorjee, was born 73 years ago in the Kham region of Tibet, in the remote village of Dakyap.  His family, all farmers, decided that Gen-la should be a monk and he entered Dakyap Monastery at the age of 6.  At that time Dakyap had about 1200 monks and was self-sufficient, as the monks worked their own farmlands.  When he was 12, Gen-la left Dakyap for Drepung Monastery in Lhasa. He walked alone carrying his own supplies, taking two months and fourteen days to make it to Drepung. Ven. Lobsang tells us that that was pretty quick; a letter could take over a year!  Gen-la entered Gyuto at 25 and immersed himself in his studies. He had paid little attention to the troubles outside the Monastery rippling across Tibet. When Lhasa was attacked and His Holiness left Tibet for exile in India, Gen-la was caught by surprise.  He said he was astonished and that the chaos was unimaginable. He had never expected to be driven out of his monastery. Outside Gen-la saw people committing suicide and being shot down by Chinese troops.  He immediately left Lhasa and twenty-three days later reached Mussoorie in northern India. A vast Tibetan refugee camp had formed and was growing day by day. The monks were arranged by monastery and eventually 70 monks from Gyuto arrived. Gen-la says that, despite the generosity of the Indian government, his first year in exile was the most difficult year of his life.

As time went by Gen-la helped build the first Gyuto Monastery in exile, in Bomdila and then more recently the new Gyuto Ramoche Monastery in Sidhbari, near Dharamsala. He has held every Monastery Manager position and has also traveled abroad for the monastery.

In 2003 Gen-la obtained a visa to travel in Tibet.  As a result he visited his home village of Dakyap and was overwhelmed by what he saw; the village was actually more impoverished than when he left fifty years ago. The monastery had been destroyed, just ruins remaining, and the local villagers had constructed a small building to replace it.  However, monks are not allowed to live there or gather there except on very rare occasions which required prior governmental approval.  Consequently, the monks live at home and manage as best they can.  As there is no monastic or traditional Dharma education lamas educated in India visit from time to time. The village, now with over a thousand people, has no electricity, no roads, no medical facilities of any kind and only a one room school to teach children Tibetan.

Asked what he thought he might have been if he had not become a monk, Gen-la said farming was the only real choice. He has never had any regrets about becoming a monk.  His greatest hope is that in someway, because he has led a life of prayer, that he will have been of benefit to people.  For him, the hardest thing about being a monk was the studying, memorizing the texts, the rituals and the recitations. Gen-la does not see himself as a very good student at all!

Gen Lobsang has traveled in the West several times. He is impressed by how clean everything is, how organized, how good the food is and how well people live.  However he said that he cannot tell if this makes people happy and that, as he cannot speak English, he cannot discuss it with them. Now that he is returning to his monastery Gen-la considers himself retired. With no more monastery duties, he just wants to focus all his time on spiritual practices. Although he has completed many of the short Yamantaka and Guhyasamaja retreats, Gen-la has not yet completed a Chakrasamvara retreat. Due to his health, Gen Lobsang is not able to do long retreats, so he intends doing a series of short retreats based on the three main Gyuto deity practices.

Gen-la is looking forward to telling the monks in India about our Center.  Although he had heard about it many times he said he was very surprised at how beautiful it was and the number of devoted members.  He asks that all the members work together to ensure that the Center continue to grow and said that although differences of opinion may cause problems, we need to find a way to cooperate in a positive manner for the benefit of the Center and the Dharma. When asked, he said he had no spiritual advice for the members because he was not qualified.  “But you have been a Buddhist monk for over 60 years, Gen-la” the interviewer responded. “And I am still not qualified”, he said.

Throughout the conversation, whether reminiscing about happy memories or the tragedies he had witnessed, Gen-la laughed and laughed and banged on the coffee table for emphasis.  He is a very happy monk and he is looking forward to going home Gyuto Monastery, Dharamsala India.