Visit with Tibetan Monks
The Tibetan Buddhist monks from Gaden Shartse Norling Monastery and Monastic College will be joining us on Wednesday, January 17 as part of their Sacred Arts of Tibet Cultivating Compassion tour. The evening will offer a dharma talk, The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths, along with an interfaith dialogue with the monks and Dr. Mark Luttio, faculty member at Jesuit High School.
About Gaden Shartse Norling Monastery
Gaden Shartse Norling Monastery is located in the remote countryside of southern India. It was founded in 1969 as an effort to re-establish the Geluk tradition, one of the great monastic traditions of Tibet led by their spiritual leader, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. A small group of elder monks and fifteen young boys, all of whom had managed to escape the destruction in Tibet, settled on land given to them by the Indian government in Mundgod, Karnataka. Today the college is at the forefront of the revival of Tibetan Monastic education, with more than 2,000 resident students, teachers, scholars, and spiritual practitioners. More than 70% of the monks are between the ages of 10 and 25, and 80% of these were born in Tibet. To this day, young monks arrive at the Monastery weekly from Tibet, seeking shelter and education. Due to the success of the academic program and the quality of the teachers at the monastery, Gaden Shartse has established a reputation as the leader in the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.
Participant bios
Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak, Ritual Master
Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jamp Chodak was born in 1980, in Mundgod, Karnataka State, India. He joined the Gaden Shartse Monastery in 1993, at the age of 13, and studied Basic Tibetan and Buddhist studies. Geshe Chodak has studied the five major texts of Buddhist Philosophy. He achieved the degree of Pramana Vidya (Buddhist logic science) in 1997, Prajnaparamita (the Perfection of Wisdom) in 2002, Madyamika (Buddhist Middle Way Philosophy) in 2005, Abhidharma (Cosmology and Metaphysics) in 2007, and Vinaya (Buddhist Ethics and Monastic Rules) in 2009. Geshe Chodak then achieved the degree of Karam (Bachelor of Buddhist Philosophy) in 2011, Lopon (Master in Buddhist Philosophy) in 2013, and finally, his Geshe Lharam degree (Doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy) in 2017. He continued his studies at Gyuto Tantric Monastery for teaching and practice of the secret Vajrayana tradition in 2018. He received Gelong Dompa, the full ordination vows, from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2010. Geshe Chodak has also received many initiations, empowerments and oral transmissions from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and many root gurus of the monastery, including Kyabje Lati Rinpoche, Kyabje Zong Choktrul Rinpoche, and many other high lamas and teachers.
Dr. Mark Luttio
Mark Luttio joins the Theology Department at Jesuit High School from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, where he was professor of philosophy and religion. He has also taught at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, and is an ordained Catholic Deacon. Mark holds a Ph.D. and Master’s degree from Notre Dame, and a Masters in Divinity from Luther Theological Seminary.