
Jowo Atisha’s Lamp for the Path with Geshe Gendun Samdup
May 13 - May 17

Jowo Atisha’s Lamp for the Path
with Geshe Gendun Samdup
May 13 – 17
Geshe Gendun Samdup, an exceptional Dharma teacher and the personal attendant to Serkhong Rinpoche, will visit the Abbey to teach Jowo Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and lead a Buddha Hall consecration ceremony. This will be his first visit to the Abbey since 2004.
Teachings will take place twice daily. Come spend the week in residence with the Abbey or join as a commuter. Â
The Buddha Hall Consecration ceremony is scheduled for 10 am on May 17, followed in the afternoon by Geshe La’s final teaching.Â
Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment is a short and treasured text by the great Indian Master Jowo Atisha, who revived Buddhism in Tibet in the 11th century. In 68 pithy verses, it outlines the practices that culiminate in full awakening, and is the basis for the entire genre of lamrim (stages of the path) teachings. Je Tsongkhapa praises this text and its author as the source of his Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path (Lamrim Chenmo), which is practiced in the lineage of the Dalai Lama and at the Abbey.Â
Geshe Samdup trained under the direct personal care and guidance of the previous Kyabje Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche, and attained the prestigious Geshe Lharampa (roughly equivalent to a doctorate) from Ganden Jangtse Monastery in 1994. He his famliar with Western Dharma students, having taught for several years at the Land of Compassion Buddha Center in California in the 1990s. He is well known for his ability to give inspiring teachings regarding classical Buddhist insights relevant to modern hectic life.
More about the First Lamrim Text
 Lama Atisha (982-1054) wrote Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment specifically to guide Tibetans through the main points of Buddha’s teachings on how to become enlightened, arranged in a step-by-step way. This style of text became known as “lamrim,” meaning stages of the path to enlightenment.
Many other lamrim texts were written by later masters, including Lama Tsongkhapa.Â
Lama Atisha
Lama Atisha was invited from India to Tibet in the eleventh-century, which began the second transmission of Buddhism from India to Tibet. His disciples formed what became known as the “Kadam” school of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the predecessor of what we study and practice today.
You can hear more about Lama Atisha from Venerable Sangye Khadro, in her first teaching in the series on the Middle-Length Lamrim.
More about the teacher
Geshe Gedun Samdup was born in Sikkim, India in 1965 to parents who had escaped Tibet in 1959. Early in life, he excelled in academics while attending the Central School for Tibetans in Orissa.
Drawn to a life of contemplation when very young, at the age of 10 he met and became a disciple of revered Kyabje Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche. Kyabje Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche (the first) was a renowned master and a debate partner to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Under the direct personal care and guidance of Kyabje Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche, he took monastic ordination and subsequently he entered Ganden Jangtse Monastery in Mungod, South India.
At Ganden Jangtse, he studied the extensive curriculum of Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhist Epistemology, Buddhist Metaphysics and Buddhist Psychology. In 1994, he was awarded the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharampa (equivalent to a doctorate). For the next few years, Geshe Samdup served the monastery, including designing and supervising the construction of a new Prayer Hall.
In 1999, Geshe Samdup moved to the United States. From 2001 to 2005 he taught introductory Buddhist courses to diverse Western students at the Land of Compassion Buddha Center in Los Angeles. He currently is a visiting spiritual teacher at the Nechung Dharma Center in Bay Area, California, where he teaches on the Lamrim.
Geshe Samdup actively serves Serkong Rinpoche (the second) and is the Administrator of Serkong Labrang in Dharamsala, India. He is well known for his ability to give inspiring teachings regarding classical Buddhist insights relevant to modern hectic life.

Geshe Gendun Samdup at Sravasti Abbey in 2004