Voice of Clear Light
Volume 14, Number 4 / August 2014
Geshe Tenzin Yangton Now at Home at Serenity Ridge
New Resident Lama Serves Ligmincha and Area Community
Geshe Tenzin Yangton
Two separate butter lamps, attached together on the same base. Two twin brothers from a remote village in Dolpo, northwestern Nepal, watching intently as the flames slowly burned down. Which brother’s lamp would burn the longest?
It was the final test, after many others, the one that would seal the boys’ fate and determine which brother would continue his training to become a Tibetan Bon Buddhist monk. That brother would travel far from his small village in the Dolpo region, which borders Tibet, to pursue his training. The other, needed to help his parents and other six siblings, would remain at home.
Tenzin Yangton’s flame was the last one to burn out and he has, indeed, traveled far. His path has taken him to Kathmandu, Nepal; to Dolanji, India; throughout the United States, Europe and Russia; and now to Ligmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge in Nelson County, Virginia, where he is the resident lama.
“We are thrilled to have Geshe Yangton as our new resident lama at Serenity Ridge,” says Sue Davis-Dill, executive director of Ligmincha Institute. “Geshe-la plans to conduct meditation sessions, rituals and retreats at Serenity Ridge, visit area sanghas and work to help those in the surrounding community. His schedule and activities are in the process of being finalized.”
Brother Yungdrung Wodse and Geshe Tenzin Yangton
Tenzin Yangton and his twin brother, Yungdrung Wodser, were born in 1974 in Chharka (pronounced ‘Tsarka’), a remote village in Dolpo. Their family is part of the ancient Yangton lineage, said to go back to the time of Buddha Tonpa Shenrap more than 18,000 years ago and traceable to Yangton Sherap Gyaltsen, who was born in 1077. Yangton Sherap Gyaltsen is revered as a great practitioner and scholar of dzogchen. He was the first to collect experiential dzogchen teachings—both his own and those of other lamas. Until that time, these teachings of personal experience (nyam ti), had previously only been taught orally from teacher to student. These dzogchen teachings still exist in the Yungdrung Bon tradition to this day. A number of families of the Yangton lineage live in the Dolpo region.
The Dolpo region is filled with devout lay and tantric practitioners of Tibetan Bon Buddhism, many of whose families came from across the border in Tibet. Both of the twins participated in a three-year training within the local Bonpo religious community. It was rare, though, for the brothers to see a monk in robes since there was no monastic community in the area.
Their uncle, however, was an exception. Yangton Lama Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche had become a geshe at Menri Monastery, the main monastery for Bon, in India and then returned home. “He was the first monk I saw, and he told me about the monastic life,” Geshe-la recalls. “I said I wanted to become a monk and go to the monastery.” His brother had the same desire, but his parents would not allow both brothers to leave. So his twin stayed to help the family while Tenzin Yangton set off on the path that was to carry him far from home.
Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche with Tenzin Yangton
In 1990, Tenzin Yangton traveled with Lama Tashi to Triten Norbutse Monastery. There, he took his vows as a novice monk from Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. He studied mandalas (khyikhor), writing and grammar, learned many rituals and received teachings from Yongdzin Rinpoche.
In 1991, Tenzin Yangton traveled to Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India. In April of the following year, he enrolled in the Bon Dialect School in Dolanji, where he took the full 250 vows (called dragpa dangsong) and attained his Geshe Degree in 2006.
Life as a monk was not easy for many, says Geshe Yangton. Many monks were not able to complete the rigorous schedule, which included study and practice of sutra, tantra and dzogchen; reasoning and debate; rituals, art and poetry; numerous initiations and special events, and long retreats, among other things. “To begin with, it was a little bit of a challenge,” Geshe-la recalls. “But for me it was not a big problem. I tried my best and I enjoyed it.” Days began early and ended late, but there were vacations or days off during the month, when the monks could do study retreats, contemplation or rituals for people in surrounding villages, or visit family, if they lived close enough.
The last three years of the training were devoted to dzogchen, the body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing the nature of mind, or what Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche calls the “inner refuge.” During sutra and tantra teachings, there was a lot of debate in the monastery, but not so for dzogchen: “There is nothing to debate,” says Geshe-la. “Dzogchen is more your inner experience. Of course, it helps when we receive the teachings and history of dzogchen and the great masters,” he adds. “But mainly there’s not much to do. Your feeling, your understanding, your inner mind is the biggest thing for the dzogchen way.”
Geshe Tenzin YangtonGeshe Yangton also became assistant to Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche, his uncle. As assistant to Menri Lopon Rinpoche, Geshe- la had the opportunity to visit the United States, Europe and Russia. In 2007, he studied English in Houston, Texas with the support of a number of western dharma friends and sangha members. He visited Serenity Ridge a number of times over the years and got to know Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, founder and spiritual director of Ligmincha Institute.
After receiving his geshe degree, Geshe Yangton voluntarily taught younger monks to support the monastery and increase his learning. He also soon became responsible for the care of the Bon monastery, Yanggon Thongdrol Phuntsog Ling, in Chharka, Nepal. There he taught writing and grammar to young children and to children in his village. He was preparing to move to Dolpo when Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche asked him to come to Serenity Ridge as the resident lama.
So it was that on May 29 of this year, Geshe Tenzin Yangton arrived at Serenity Ridge, only three weeks before the start of the annual summer retreat. “It felt different even before the retreat started,” he recalls. “This time I am coming as the resident lama, and already in my mind I have some responsibility to care for these things, walking around and checking everything.” In addition to being present at the retreat, one of his first official duties was giving an evening talk during the second week of the retreat, where he discussed his history and the Yangton lineage.
Geshe Tenzin Yangton at Serenity Ridge
“I already feel close to everybody—everyone, of course, all sentient beings,” he told the group, “and when we get together there is more power and easy to share.” He praises Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche for his personal style of teaching, to which students can relate. “In the monastery, we focused more on the text and followed it tightly,” Geshe-la explains. “Here when Rinpoche teaches, he gives more examples; it is much about experience, which is helpful for people. . . . This, I think, is a wonderful way to teach.”
Plans are under way for Geshe-la to conduct regular meditation/practice sessions, rituals and retreats and workshops, help during Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s retreats and visits of other lamas, and more. He is particularly interested in tantric rituals and may be available in the future to conduct workshops on areas such as making torma, the sang chod smoke offering ritual, soul retrieval and medicine Buddha practices. He will be making occasional visits to nearby sanghas and also may be available to meet with people individually or conduct rituals in their homes. On a practical level, Geshe-la also is preparing to get his driver’s license and studying to improve his English.
Geshe Tenzin Yangton giving a presentation to summer retreat participants.
Geshe Yangton is still in touch with his family, which still lives in the same village. He last visited with his mother when she journeyed to Kathmandu in 2012, and he also saw his uncle, Lama Tashi, this year. His twin brother, Yungdrung Wodser, is a farmer in Dolpo, married and with a daughter studying in India and a son who came last winter to Nepal to study. Geshe-la still provides some support for the village school children and his family, through teachings and by helping his mother pay to rent a house. He also feels a responsibility toward his monastery, Yanggon Thongdrol Phuntsog Ling, and the Dolpo Tsarga Welfare Healthcare Clinic. Geshe-la expects to continue his work to preserve the culture and teachings of Bon in general, and the Yangton lineage in particular, in his village of Chharkha and plans at some point to return to the area.
In the meantime, Ligmincha is pleased to welcome Geshe Tenzin Yangton as the resident lama at Serenity Ridge! If you have suggestions for activities for Geshe-la or would like to request him to perform rituals, or for a personal appointment, please email the Serenity Ridge office at
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