The Garden of Maitreya exists through the kindness of its teachers. This page introduces the four teachers whose guidance, transmissions, and presence have shaped our community directly. Brief biographies are offered here with gratitude and with care for accuracy; each section links to further reading from official sources.
GESHE JAMPA GELEK Geshe Lharampa · Resident Teacher, FPMT Masters Program Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, Italy
Lharampa Geshe Jampa Gelek was born in 1966 in the eastern region of Kham, Tibet, and decided very early on to become a monk. At the age of sixteen he left Lhasa and went to India, where he studied at Sera Je Monastic University and was ordained as a Gelong monk at the young age of nineteen. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Choden Rinpoche are his main teachers. Geshe Jampa Gelek completed his monastic education at Sera Je Monastery in South India in 1999, graduating first in his class.
In March 2012, Geshe Jampa Gelek joined the Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy, as resident teacher, focusing on tantric studies and teaching in the Masters Program. He is much appreciated for the great depth and detail of his presentations and his ability to enrich his teachings with an extensive knowledge of multiple commentaries, granting the FPMT Masters Program an exceptional level of erudition.
Geshe Jampa Gelek has visited Bucharest on multiple occasions; engaging not only with the Buddhist community but with the Faculty of Philosophy and academic circles curious about Buddhist thought. It was Geshe Jampa Gelek who gave the Garden of Maitreya its name; explaining that a garden is made of different flowers, each distinct and good, each offering its own fragrance.
GESHE SHERAB Geshe · FPMT Registered Teacher Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, Italy
Geshe Sherab was born in 1967 in a small village in the Manang province of western Nepal. His parents, hoping to bring merit to their family and all sentient beings, encouraged him to become a monk. He was welcomed to Kopan Monastery by Lama Yeshe, where his formal training began. From 1987 to 2000, Geshe Sherab studied Buddhist philosophy at Sera Je Monastery, eventually earning his Geshe degree. During this time, he was deeply influenced by his teachers, including Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who taught him as much through their daily example as through formal instruction.
After completing his studies and spending a year studying tantra at Gyumed Tantric College, Geshe Sherab came to the United States. He spent two and a half years supporting FPMT International Office and teaching in Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Geshe-la returned to Kopan Monastery to serve as headmaster and acting abbot.
Geshe Sherab understands and connects very well with Western students, presenting the Dharma in an accessible, warm, and open manner. He also served as Director of the FPMT Board for a few years.
Geshe Thubten Sherab is currently on a world teaching tour; after which he will enter three-year retreat at the beginning of 2027. His Lam Rim teachings have been a source of clarity and warmth for our community, and his presence in Romania has been a genuine gift to practitioners across all groups.
LOTSAWA THUBTEN SHERAB FPMT Registered Teacher · Translator Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, Italy
Lotsawa Thubten Sherab is a Sherpa-born FPMT-registered teacher and translator, trained in the Gelugpa tradition with deep roots in the lineage of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The title Lotsawa — traditionally given to the great translators who rendered the Sanskrit canon into Tibetan — reflects his commitment not only to teaching the Dharma but to transmitting it faithfully across languages and cultures.
His teachings on the Lam Rim Chen Mo and on the Guru-disciple relationship have been transcribed by the Garden of Maitreya and published in our academic journal (ISSN 3044-8972); among the most substantive contributions to the Dharma in Romanian to date. His approach combines rigorous scholarly precision with the practical warmth of someone who has genuinely lived what he teaches. He recently joined the roster of FPMT-accredited teachers; a recognition that formalises what his students have always known.
His reflections on the master-disciple relationship; including the fourteen ways in which a teacher can become an obstacle to a disciple’s growth; have been among the most studied and discussed teachings in our community, and his willingness to engage honestly with these difficult questions is something we hold in deep esteem.
VENERABLE TENZIN GENDUN FPMT Registered Teacher · Resident Monk Nalanda Monastery, Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, France
Originally from Sri Lanka, Venerable Tenzin Gendun grew up and studied in the UK where he graduated with a degree in fine art. While traveling to India in 1991, he met Tibetan Buddhism through the kindness of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 1992 he was ordained and went on to serve in FPMT centers in New Zealand before settling in France at Nalanda Monastery in 2000. Having completed the FPMT Basic and Masters Programs, he is a registered FPMT teacher and has since taught and led retreats in Europe.
What the biography does not capture is the particular quality of his presence; the gentleness, the humour, the ability to make a difficult teaching feel immediately navigable. Ven. Tenzin Gendun is also a painter of contemplative works; his art is an extension of his practice, not a separate activity, and it is offered in the same spirit as his teachings: as a gift, for the benefit of beings.
He has been the spiritual guide of the Romanian FPMT community for many years, offering Refuge ceremonies, teachings, personal guidance, and the kind of sustained, patient presence that a young sangha needs most. He visits Romania regularly, teaching at our three FPMT study groups across the country, and his Lam Rim sessions with our community have been among the formative experiences of our practice lives.
Venerable Tenzin Gendun is a registered FPMT teacher and resident monk at Nalanda Monastery.
The teachers presented on this page have given their time, their knowledge, and their compassion to the Garden of Maitreya without condition. We dedicate whatever merit arises from this page to their long lives and to the flourishing of their activity for the benefit of all beings.
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