Geshe La
"Geshe La obviously has all the Buddhist knowledge and personal experience, and he reflects that with his calmness, but also with an incredible sense of humor. He uses his amazing vocabulary to express complex concepts according to everyone's in individual mental activity"
- Charleston Magazine
Geshe Dakpa Topygal, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, was born in the Western region of Tibet, and fled to India at the age of 6 with his family due to the Chinese invasion. He entered Drepung Loseling Monastery at the age of 10 and received his Geshe degree (Doctorate of Religion and Philosophy) in 1992 after 22 years of study. He taught in Europe for several years before coming to the United States, and he has been resident monk of the Charleston Tibetan Society in Charleston, SC, since 1996.
Books Available through OPP / BookSurge
Essential Ethics
Modern life presents us with an infinite number of ethical challenges. How are we to know what is the wisest course of action? Should we look out for our own interests first and then worry about others? Or does our self-cherishing attitude deny us the very happiness we seek? Do our individual actions really matter in a world that is beset by so many problems?
This book presents the teaching on ethics that were given more than 2,600 years ago by the Buddha Shakyamuni. The lessons from this enlightened human being are so fundamental to the human condition that they remain fully relevant today. Buddhist ethical guidelines have the potential to bring peace and harmony -- from the individual to the universal level. An ethical lifestyle is the foundation for and prerequisite to all higher spiritual development, regardless of religious beliefs. In fact, Geshe Dakpa Topgyal says sometimes atheists have better ethics than religious people.
Holistic Health: A Tibetan Monks View
A balance of physical and mental health is neccessary in order to find meaning in your life and succeed in every area, whether spiritual or worldly. Maintaining good health will help you to fully enjoy the material objects you encounter in your daily life, but more importantly it will enable you to realize the true purpose of your life. There are many factors involved in the process of building good physical and mental health, including: food, rest, excercise, mental attitude and a calm positive state of mind, solitude, silence from verbal noise, meditation, a sense of contentment, and external rejuvenating therapy. Each of these is discussed in a concise and pratical way with the hope that they will be easy to learn and incorporate into your daily life.