RECOLLECTIONS
Geshe Drakpa Gelek Archive
Geshe Drakpa Gelek Archive
Covita Moroney
aka Tenzin Chodon / Tenzin Paldon
To meet Geshe Drakpa Gelek, and to be accepted as his disciple, fulfilled a deep-rooted wish that had cycled around my psyche for a number of years. After decades of following a series of spiritual practices that included my Catholic upbringing, metaphysics studies, A Course in Miracles, and Sufism, Buddhism finally made it's way just before my 50th birthday.
Through a series of hunches and coincidences, I met Lama Passang Gelek who was living and teaching in San Antonio. It was he who invited Geshe Drakpa to San Antonio in order teach a handful of students who, evidently, exhibited an earnest desire to study and practice traditional Tibetan Buddhism. After meeting Geshe Drakpa and being accepted as his student I felt such deep joy (accompanied by disbelief) that a marvelous being such as Geshe-la would take me on. That is how I feel now, and that sense grows deeper and deeper as time passes.
Geshe Drakpa has just recently completed a 9-year Kalachakra retreat, and was in the USA in order to lead a retreat at Namgyal Ithica, the North American seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. But it was simply the kindness of Lama Passang Gelek, who sensed our sincerity and commitment, that connected a group of students with Geshe Drakpa. On our behalf, Lama Passang invited Geshe Drakpa to come to San Anotnio to meet us, and served as translator for each of Geshe Drakpa's seven visits to San Antonio. Without him we would not have understood even one syllable of the teachings we received. Although we did not understand it at the time, Geshe Drakpa led us through a series of teachings that, in the Gelugpa lineage's approach to practice, included the entire path from A-Z.
The profoundly generous commitment that Geshe Drakpa made to us meant that he travelled to San Antonio seven times over a ten-year period. Each time he stayed for several months in order to transmit the fullness of the topics. He continually stated that his teachings would "plant seeds." The Geshe Drakpa Gelek Archive pages contain information about the scope of Dharma given to students in San Antonio. I just want to emphasize that as his student I was insatiable with regard to receiving teachings. Most weeks during his visits we met as many as four times a week in order that he could download as much as possible on each topic. We were thrilled to have this blessing, and somehow we all managed to make time for this invaluable transmission of Mahayana Dharma.
Although he has departed this world, Geshe Drakpa is for me like an ever-present mountain range that dominates the inner landscape of my heart and mind. If my life has some benefit, it will be due to him. My attempt to integrate and embody the point of his teaching is the only way I can repay his kindness. May any merit be like magnificent jewels that that are heaped upon purified ground at his blessed feet.
Tenzin Chodon Paldon
aka Tenzin Chodon / Tenzin Paldon
To meet Geshe Drakpa Gelek, and to be accepted as his disciple, fulfilled a deep-rooted wish that had cycled around my psyche for a number of years. After decades of following a series of spiritual practices that included my Catholic upbringing, metaphysics studies, A Course in Miracles, and Sufism, Buddhism finally made it's way just before my 50th birthday.
Through a series of hunches and coincidences, I met Lama Passang Gelek who was living and teaching in San Antonio. It was he who invited Geshe Drakpa to San Antonio in order teach a handful of students who, evidently, exhibited an earnest desire to study and practice traditional Tibetan Buddhism. After meeting Geshe Drakpa and being accepted as his student I felt such deep joy (accompanied by disbelief) that a marvelous being such as Geshe-la would take me on. That is how I feel now, and that sense grows deeper and deeper as time passes.
Geshe Drakpa has just recently completed a 9-year Kalachakra retreat, and was in the USA in order to lead a retreat at Namgyal Ithica, the North American seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. But it was simply the kindness of Lama Passang Gelek, who sensed our sincerity and commitment, that connected a group of students with Geshe Drakpa. On our behalf, Lama Passang invited Geshe Drakpa to come to San Anotnio to meet us, and served as translator for each of Geshe Drakpa's seven visits to San Antonio. Without him we would not have understood even one syllable of the teachings we received. Although we did not understand it at the time, Geshe Drakpa led us through a series of teachings that, in the Gelugpa lineage's approach to practice, included the entire path from A-Z.
The profoundly generous commitment that Geshe Drakpa made to us meant that he travelled to San Antonio seven times over a ten-year period. Each time he stayed for several months in order to transmit the fullness of the topics. He continually stated that his teachings would "plant seeds." The Geshe Drakpa Gelek Archive pages contain information about the scope of Dharma given to students in San Antonio. I just want to emphasize that as his student I was insatiable with regard to receiving teachings. Most weeks during his visits we met as many as four times a week in order that he could download as much as possible on each topic. We were thrilled to have this blessing, and somehow we all managed to make time for this invaluable transmission of Mahayana Dharma.
Although he has departed this world, Geshe Drakpa is for me like an ever-present mountain range that dominates the inner landscape of my heart and mind. If my life has some benefit, it will be due to him. My attempt to integrate and embody the point of his teaching is the only way I can repay his kindness. May any merit be like magnificent jewels that that are heaped upon purified ground at his blessed feet.
Tenzin Chodon Paldon