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Our Teachers

These are the teachers who instructed the participants of the first cycle of the Milinda Program until now.

Khepo Choying Dorje

(2017,2018,2020,2022)

Khenpo Choying Dorje has been the Milinda program's principle khenpo. Over four different years, he has taught Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara, Sakya Pandita's logic text Tsema Rigter, Maitreya's prajnaparamita text Abhisamayalankara, and Sakya Pandita's A Clear Differentiation of the Three Vows.

Geshe Ngawa Namkha

(2017)

Geshe Ngawa Namkha from ??? taught HH Dalai Lama's commentary of Nagarjuna's classic text Root Verses of the Middle Way.

Lama Kelsang Wangdi

(2019)

Lama Kelzang Wangdi, resident lama at the Kamalashila Institute in Eifel, Germany, taught Chim Jampé Yang's commentary on Vasubhandu's Abhidharmakoshabhasya.

Karl Brunnholzl

(2020, 2021, 2024)

Karl Brunnhölzl is a teacher, interpreter, and translator in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and one of the Milinda Program's regular visiting teachers and advisors. Over three different years, Karl  taught Maitreya's Abhisamayalankara, Maitreya's Mahayanasamgraha, and Maitreya's Uttaratantrashastra.

Scott Wellenbach

(2021)

Scott Wellenbach is co-director of the Nitartha Institute and a member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. He presented Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso's commentary on the 7th Karmapa's lorig text, Presentation of the Classifications of Mind: The Essence of The Ocean of Texts on Reasoning.

Khenpo Sonam Tsewang

(2022)

Khenpo Sonam Tsewang is a khenpo at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the advanced centre for Buddhist philosophical study at Namdroling Monastery in India. Along with Khenchen Pema Sherab he taught Dudjom Rinpoche's commentary on Ngari Panchen's classic text on the three vows, the Dom Sum Namngé.

Judy Lief

(2022)

Judith Lief is a senior teacher and editor of the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. She taught various selections from Trungpa Rinpoche's Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana seminary teachings on the three vows, from her edited work The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, Volumes 1, 2, and 3.

Phil Stanley

(2023)

Phil Stanley is a Professor of Religious Studies at Naropa University, USA and Dean of Academic Affairs at Nitharta Institute. He taught the ninth chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara, using Pawo Tsuglak Trengwa’s commentary from the translation included in Karl Brunnhölzl's The Center of the Sunlit Sky.

Khenpo Tashi Tseten

(2017)

Khenpo Tashi Tseten from Namdrolling Monastery in South India taught Mipham's commentary on Shantarakshita's Madhyamakalankara.

Larry Mermelstein

(2017, 2018)

Larry Mermelstein was a close student of the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and is the executive director of Nalanda Translation Committee. Over two different years, at Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's request, Larry gave teachings from Trungpa Rinpoche's Buddhist seminary and Shambhala teachings.

Gelong Lodro Sangpo

(2019)

Gelong Lodrö Sangpo (Jürgen Balzer) is the Director and President of Karma Changchub Ling, a monastic center of the Karma Kagyü lineage in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He taught Dhammajoti's commentary on Vasubhandu's Abhidharmakoshabhasya.

Venerable Guo-Xing

(2020)

Ven. Guo Xing is one of the dharma heirs of Chan Master Sheng-yen and retreat master at Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery, in Taiwan. He lead the Milinda program in a classic Chan tradition silent retreat.

Tyler Dewar

(2021)

Tyler Dewar, senior teacher at the Nitartha Insitute, taught the 7th Karmapa Chödrak Gyatso's commentary on Dharmakirti's Pramanavartika, called Establishing Validity.

Khenchen Pema Sherab Rinpoche

(2022)

Khenchen Pema Sherab, one of the great khenpos from Namdroling Monastery, Karnataka, India, taught Dudjom Rinpoche's commentary on Ngari Panchen's text on the three vows, the Dom Sum Namngé.

Thomas Doctor

(2023)

Thomas Doctor is a translator and teacher at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu. He taught Ornament of Reason, Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü’s commentary on Nagarjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakarika.

Wulstan Fletcher

(2023)

Wulstan Fletcher is a translator and founding member of Padmakara Translation Group and a Tsadra Foundation Translation Fellow. He taught Mipham Rinpoche's overview of Madhyamaka included in his commentary to Shantarakshita's Madhyamakalankara.

Khenpo Gyaltsen

(2017)

Khenpo Gyaltsen from Palpung Sherab Ling in Himachal Pradesh, India, taught Butön Rinpoche's commentary of Ayradeva's Madhyamaka treatise Four Hundred Verses.

Do Tulku Rinpoche

(2018)

Do Tulku Rinpoche is the resident of Arya Tara’s Net, a Buddhist center in Windeck, Germany. He taught Tsongkapa's In Praise of Dependent Origination.

Khenpo Kunga Pasang

(2020)

Khenpo Passang, from the Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro Institute in Himachal Pradesh, India, taught the Haribhadra and Rongtong commentaries on Maitreya's Abhisamayalankara.

John Dunne

(2021)

Prof. John Dunne is a Buddhist scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA; fellow at the Mind and Life Institute; and academic advisor at Rangjung Yeshe Institute. For the Milinda program, John shared his original scholarship on Dharmakirti's pramana tradition.

Prof. Pradeep Gokhale

(2021)

Prof. Pradeep Gokhale is a retired professor of philosophy from the University of Pune, India. He is a specialist in Indian epistemologies, and taught the Mimansa, Lokāyata, Jaina, Nyaya philosophies.

Lopon Sonam Jamtsho

(2022)

Lopon Sonam Jamtsho is a brillant Bhutanese postdoc researcher at the University of Hamburg and has a wealth of knowledge on Buddhist philosophy. He worked as a translator during various years of Milinda program, and also taught Jamgom Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge Book 5, on Buddhist ethics.

Andy Karr

(2023)

Andy Karr is on the Milinda Advisory Board, and regularly advises and supports the development of the Milinda program and its participants. He led a contemplative retreat on Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara.

Stephanie Johnston

(2024)

Stephanie Johnston is a long-time faculty member of Nitartha Institute, a senior teacher and director of practice instructors for Nalandabodhi International. She and Karl Brunnhölzl co-led Milinda’s 2024 session. They used the three prajnas to systematically review, discuss, and meditate key first and second turning teachings during the first month. Using the same method they taught the entire Uttaratantra for the last two months.

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