Tibetan Buddhist Society Sydney  →  Teachers

Geshe Chöden was born in Kham in eastern Tibet in 1934 into a nomadic family.   At 13 years old he entered the Lab Monastery in Kham Prefecture, Tibet and remained there until he was about 22 years of age.   He then traveled to Lhasa and entered Sera-je Monastery where he remained for about 3 years before the Chinese occupation of Tibet.  He left for India in 1959.   After spending one year in a transit camp in Assam he moved to the refugee camp at Buxar in North India where he stayed for 9 years.  From the Buxa camp he eventually went to the rebuilt Sera-Je Monastery in Mysore in South India.  He achieved his Geshe level qualifications whilst in South India.    In 1998 Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden invited Geshe Chöden to come to Australia to teach at the Tibetan Buddhist Society Centres in Australia.    He settled in the Sydney Centre and in 2004 became an Australian citizen.

Rod Lee has studied under Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden since 1978 and has been teaching meditation and Buddhist philosophy for 19 years. He has been involved in health care management and education for the past 29 years. He is also a Shiatsu practitioner with extensive training in oriental medicine, nutrition and postural realignment and has also been an instructor of Tai Chi for the past 26 years.

Nancy Carlisle was a teacher and psychologist in her working life.  She has studied under Venerable Geshe Achayra Thubten Loden since 1991 and has taught at the Tibetan Buddhist Society Sydney Centre since 1996.   She has also taught Introduction to Tibetan Buddhist classes and advanced classes at the Mosman Community College since 2004.