Advisors

On November 5, 2014, on the occasion of His Eminence Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche’s 75th birthday celebration, this website on Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche (wwww.samdhongrinpoche.com) was launched by Lha Charitable Trust, Institute of Education and Social Work, (www.lhasocialwork.org) as an initiative to preserve and make flourish forth Tibet’s culture, language, heritage. It was also initiation by former Lha Director Ngawang Rabgyal.

To ensure a qualified posting of Rinpoche’s writings, speeches and benevolent activities, we have requested Dr. Tenzin Dhonyoe, the respected Personal Secretary, who has a great familiarity with Rinpoche’s thoughts, and Mr. Upasaka Dhawa Dhondup (Acharya), the simultaneous English language translator at Rinpoche’s public teachings, for guidance and verification. They have straight away accepted our request without any excuses, and have been with the website since its launch. To three of them, we extend our grateful Thank You!

Dr. Tenzin Dhonyoe did his educational degrees from the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi. The degrees include Acharya i.e. Master Degree and Ph. D. While working in the Research Department of CUTS, he has undertaken the responsibility as the Incharge of Publication Section and taught in the University as well. He also served as an Editor of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile’s proceeding newsletters for many years. He translated Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche’s “Tibet: A Future Vision” from English to Tibetan language, Mahatma Gandhi’s selected speeches in Tibetan from Hindi, Mahatma Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj from Hindi to Tibetan. He also compiled and edited 6 volumes of Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche’s collected writings and speeches.

Dhawa Dhondup (Acharya) graduated from Sarnath Tibetan University, following which he taught Buddhist translation methodology to monastic scholars. Since 1987 he has been working as a Buddhist translator, teacher and writer, principally in Australia, where he as well served as the English-Tibetan translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s last five visits to the country. From early 2014, Dhawa Dhondup (Acharya) has been the simultaneous English translator for those attending the teachings of His Eminence Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, at Gyudme, Gyuto, Sarnath, Drepung and Sera, and has translated all the major texts for English-speaking attendees to Rinpoche’s teachings.

Ngawang Rabgyal was born in Kham, Tibet, in 1976. At an early age, he joined a monastery in his hometown and studied Buddhist philosophy until 1997 when he came to India to escape the Chinese occupation of Tibet. In India, he has spent the last 18 years dedicated to community service through different platforms. Ngawang began his association with Lha Charitable Trust in 2003 and in 2008 he was appointed Executive Director. During his tenure as Lha’s Director, Ngawang successfully initiated many new programs such as Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche’s website where all his teachings are made public; the bilingual Tibet Nature website; the cultural exchange program with international students; the Soup kitchen serving the Tibetan refugee community; Contact magazine, a monthly English news magazine covering news and issues of Tibetans; and Lha Tibet Fair Trade which directly supports Tibetan and Himalayan artisans. Ngawang has been an active member of the International Rotary Club since 2008. He served as Chairman of Community Development in Dharamshala and Chairman of Rural Development, initiating a number of community improvement projects in cooperation with Lha Charitable Trust. He has received various awards in recognition of his commitment and achievements in serving the community. Prior to joining Lha, Ngawang served as an administrator and reporter at the Tibet Express and as a Field Assistant for the Wildlife Protection Society of India. Ngawang stepped down as Director at Lha in May 2018. However, he continues to work closely with Lha Charitable Trust as an Advisory Board Member and Consultant. He is also supervising and managing all the multimedia forms of Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche’s writings, audio and video speeches.