Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 10.7-minute opening session, Geshe Kunchok Gyatso introduces himself and his background to a small group of new students at Buddha House, having recently arrived from Florida to teach a two-year residency. He shares his biographical journey: born in Sikkim, trained at Sera Monastery in South India where he earned the Geshek degree, studied at Gyumey Tantric College, served as disciplinary master overseeing two thousand monks, and taught in the FPMT network for sixteen years in Europe and Florida before this posting. The session is informal and welcoming, focused on meeting students and establishing clear communication, particularly around his Tibetan accent and the importance of asking clarifying questions to avoid misunderstanding dharma. He outlines the coming teaching program, starting the following Tuesday with Lamrim, and emphasizes that respectful student-teacher communication forms the foundation of genuine practice. Pitched at newcomers to Buddhism.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2016 09 11 Buddhism for Beginners.mp3
UUID: 6333c79a-ecc3-4f25-b282-f5b3a22c3be4
Teacher: Geshe Kyab
Collection: Geshe Kyab Beginners Buddhism Sundays (Geshe Kyab)
Date: 2016-09-11
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 10.7 minutes
Words: ~1,376
Behalf of everybody, I’d like to welcome you to Buddha House. I can hardly myself believe that you’re here and how fortunate we are that you have agreed to come to teach us for a period of time. Geshe Kunchok Gyatso, his last place of teaching was the Thubten Kunga Center in Florida, yes. In Florida in America from probably two thousand, so a very long time. So it’s our great good fortune that he speaks very good English and is able to actually teach us in English as well.
So this will help to facilitate, you know, good communication between us all. He is a student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, obviously of the Gelugpa tradition, and so he will be teaching us in the traditional way to which we become accustomed and in line with the FPMT guidelines, which is so incredible for us. Geshe la, this is a small number of students here, we have many that come at different times. Okay. But today, it’s a very informal day.
We just wanted to meet you, have a cup of tea, everybody have the opportunity to say hello. Mhmm. And you just sort of get a get a sense of of who we are. Okay. And the formal teaching program will begin on Tuesday week.
So there’s a little bit of work we need to do in terms of being Not this Tuesday. Not this coming Tuesday, the following Tuesday. Yeah. So to get get your life settled, there’s a few days getting him sorted out with really practical things, talking to Judy about the program and just orientating himself to living in Torrens Gardens for the time being. I’ll take him to visit the new center this week and it was a very exciting and I’m sure he will have a lot to say about, you know, how he thinks that’s looking.
I think probably best if I just hand over to you, Geshe la, and you can introduce yourself to everybody. Let let them know who you are and where you’re from and what’s going on. Mhmm. Okay. So many things going on now.
Of course, my name is Geshe Kun Chokya, and I’m Tibetan Buddhist monk. I’m following the His Holiness and Dalai Lama’s tradition, so it’s the Lama Zopa Rinpoche. So I was born in Sikkim, a small Himalayan region in northeast part of India. So when I was young, of course, I went to school in Kalimpong, I think, about four years. Then, next, I went to Monastery, South India, when I think I was between twelve and thirteen years old.
Since then, I studied in Sera Monastery until nineteen ninety four. ‘ninety four, I received Gishek degree. So then I went to Gyumey Tantric College for one year. So then I studied there about the Tantric teachings, initiations, empowerments, etcetera. So then after one year at Gyumey Tantric College, came back to Sera Monastery, which is my actual monastery in South India.
I taught there my student of the monks for a few years. Then I was invited actually, I went to, yes, in Switzerland, in Germany, in France, some of those European countries. But then from the FPMT, I was invited to Munich. I think Ārya Tārā Centre in Munich for resident teacher from the FPMT, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. At some point, I couldn’t go there because of I was elected a disciplinary master in Tibetan monastery.
I headed two thousand monks. I needed to look after them. But then after that, the year two thousand, I received the invitation from the FPMT, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, go to Tse Chen Ling Center in South Florida, which is I went there in year two thousand when I think yes. Year two thousand was the World Trade Center went down. I think that same year I was in there.
Since then, until two thousand and fifteen or two thousand and beginning of twenty sixteen, I I would say maybe in this February, I was there. So, then the Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked me to go to Australia Buddha House for two years. So that’s why I’m here now, you know. So I will see how long I can stay here. So, my teachings that I gave at the Thubten Kunga Center was the FPMT program, same FPMT program you share here.
So I added some of my own Buddhist philosophy things, any other little mixing things. Because when I was new in Florida, I was very Culturally, I was immature because I didn’t know Western culture that much. I was in European countries, but not that much. I learned the Western cultures. But in Florida, I did learn watch television and read newspaper, talk people how I can react with the Westerners, which is I learned.
I think now I’m just thinking myself, I’m pretty much good with the Westerner people now. I hope Australian people are the same as like American. I don’t know. I don’t know. But but, you know, I I found few few things is a little different here, but I’m not gonna worry for that.
I will learn again. I’m very good for when I learn, I learn very fast. So that’s it. You know? So that’s my short how I say story.
Okay? So then I think next not next Tuesday. Next or next Tuesday, you know, I would start my teaching. First class was the Lamrim, which is a very, very important class. But one thing is very important between teacher and student, so is the basis of dharma, you know, we must communicate well.
Communication is very, very important. If you are confused, my teachings or my talking, I do have an accent, you know. I’m not Australian or I’m not American, I’m Tibetan. So I do speak Tibetan very well, no problem. But English comes, I do have accents.
So at this point, sometimes people do misunderstand what I was saying. But when you do misunderstand, it’s very, very important to ask me questions. What does mean that? Which is very important. If I if I do misunderstand when you, you know, speak to me, I will going to ask you repeatedly, what do you mean?
Can you repeat that? Which is I do. That clarifies the old misunderstanding. Misunderstanding is the big problem. It’s a big, big problem.
Every center I know, I’ve been in many, many FPMT centers, so much people are misunderstanding. Not only just the English or something, sometimes even the teachings, you know. So that’s why the I really want to make sure that people are understanding what I was saying, especially when teaching comes. It’s very important. Okay?
There would be some advanced Buddhist teachings as a Lamrim, some mind training teachings, which is the FPMT basic program. So there would be some general knowledge, you know, so that people can some people maybe not that much serious about the Buddhist philosophy. So you can come, of course, you can come any, you know, class, but some classes, I think, especially the Sunday class is the duty and I talk about in general knowledge about the Buddhism. But you can come any class, you know, which is your own interest. So that’s it.
Any questions? It’s okay? Yeah. Yindy, would you just like to mention the information session this evening? Oh, next Thursday evening, with having Geshe la here, it’s important for us to sort of have some understanding of the protocols around having a Geshe.
So we’ll have an information session next Thursday night, seven fifteen, and I will be talking with Geshe before then to get more information because he’s been already helpful in helping us to be sure to do things correctly. We’re part of the lineage that we follow. We really want to do things correctly on our end. We’ll, you know, do our best. But that way, we can share that information with you next Thursday night before the program starts.
So you’re all welcome. Anybody got any particular questions for Geshe la? I’m sure lots of questions will come. Yes. I think so.
Can I please request Geshe la to bless the afternoon tea? Okay. Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Over here.