Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen was born in the region
of Drakar, Nepal. At a very early age, he began studying dharma
texts and meditation. At the age of 13, he entered monastic life.
In 1981, Lama Tenpa was enrolled as a member of the first class of
the Karma Shri Nalanda Institute at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India,
together with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Sangay Nyenpa
Rinpoche. He completed his studies and received the Acharya degree
(Master of Buddhist studies) from the Karma Shri Nalanda
Institute and Sampurnand and Sanskrit University jointly in
March 1991.
After completing his studies, he was appointed as a junior Khenpo
(professor) and taught Buddhist philosophy at the Karma Shri
Nalanda Institute for two years. Under the guidance of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso
Rinpoche, he then entered a 3-year retreat in Pullahari, Nepal,
in 1993.
From 1997 to 2004,
Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen was the resident teacher at His Holiness the
Karmapa's center Theksum Tashi
Chöling in Hamburg, Germany. During this time, he also traveled
to various centers in Europe, the US and Asia to teach. In
addition, Lama Tenpa has been one of the main teachers at Nitartha
Institute in Canada and Europe since 1998.
Since August 2004, Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen has been in the US
as a professor of Buddhist studies and Tibetan language at Naropa University in Boulder,
Colorado. He also works with several translators on the translation
of Tibetan texts and has begun to train new translators. He is the
main teacher at Nalandabodhi Boulder.