Venerable Tarpa
About Ven. Tarpa
Venerable Tenzin Tarpa is the founder and director of SBT – The Secular Buddhist Tradition. A fully ordained Buddhist monk and student of The Dalai Lama, Venerable Tarpa is a teacher, author, and philosopher with nearly three decades in Buddhist studies, including a decade in Buddhist monasteries in India.
In 2010, Ven. Tarpa took formal monastic ordination with His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. While seeking novice ordination, His Holiness offered him the rare opportunity to receive both novice ordination and full ordination the same day. Following ordination, Ven. Tarpa accepted an invitation to be the first Westerner to study at the renowned Gyudmed Tantric Monastic University in South India.
After finishing ten years of study in Tibetan Monasteries, Ven. Tarpa turned to the life of a wandering monk, engaging in extensive pilgrimages and retreats across Buddhist Asia. From caves high in the Himalayas to ashrams on the Indian plains, from the forests of South Asia to the ancient temples of the Far East, Ven. Tarpa has experienced many of the world’s legendary Buddhist monasteries and learned from many of the world’s great living masters.
In 2021, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ven. Tarpa was forced to abandon his work as a wandering monk and enter retreat. From the need to reach out and help all those suffering from the pandemic, Ven. Tarpa moved his work online and started his international community SBT – The Secular Buddhist Tradition.
Ven. Tarpa is well-known for his kindness and joyful disposition, his pragmatic, no-nonsense approach to the Buddha’s teachings, his ability to clarify complex philosophical points for all audiences, and his familiarity with all forms of Buddhist thought and non-Buddhist traditions as well.
Ven. Tarpa's Studies and Experience
- The Cleveland Buddhist Temple – Cleveland, Ohio, USA – Zen Buddhism
- The Vajrayana Foundation – Lama Tharchin – Santa Cruz, California, USA – Tibetan Nyingma Tradition
- Shambala – Boulder, Colorado, USA – Tibetan Kagyu Tradition
- The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives – Dharamsala, India – Tibetan Tradition
- Gyudmed Tantric Monastic University – Hunsur, South India – Tibetan Gelug Tradition
- Sera Jey Monastic University – Bylakuppe, South India – Tibetan Gelug Tradition
- Various meditation retreat centers and ashrams – Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike
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