In the following interview, Venerable Gelong Namgyal Wangchen, known to most of the world as Geshe Wangchen, speaks of the arrival of Chinese troops in Lhasa, Tibet. The date was March 10, 1959, and Geshe Wangchen was a young, twenty-five year old monk at Drepung Monastery. His concerns in this excerpt are two: for his teacher or guru, Khenshur Rinpoche, who was at that time abbot of Drepung Monastery; and for His Holiness the Dalai Lama who was currently residing at the Norbulingka summer palace outside of Lhasa. Khensur Rinpoche at first counsels his young monk to remain at the monastery, expressing hope in the 17-Point Agreement that Tibet had signed under duress with the Chinese government eight years earlier in 1951. Finally, however, Khensur Rinpoche relents, feeling that life in Tibet has become impossible, and decides that they must leave their homeland. Geshe Wangchen mentions that the route they selected through southern Tibet was relatively safe because of “Tibetan guerillas,” who had taken up arms against the Chinese in that region.
Geshe Wangchen currently lives at Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka, India. Not only is he one of the most revered teachers within the Tibetan community, but he spent many years teaching in Europe and the West where his deep wisdom and clarity have become legendary.
