Geshe Tenzin Zopa

Geshe Tenzin Zopa was born in the Tsum valley, a remote corner of the Nepalese Himalaya, and was ordained at nine at Kopan Monastery by the great Mahasiddha Geshe Lama Konchog. He took novice ordination from Geshe Lhundub Sopa Rinpoche and full ordination from the Dalai Lama, and holds the Geshe degree — the doctorate of the Gelug tradition — from Sera Jey Monastic University in South India.

Most people who know his face know it from Unmistaken Child, the award-winning documentary that follows him across Nepal in search of the reincarnation of Geshe Lama Konchog, his own master. He found him, and he now oversees the upbringing and wellbeing of Tulku Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche.

He was resident teacher at Losang Dragpa Centre and Rinchen Jangsem Ling in Malaysia from 2006 to 2011, and has taught in FPMT centres since 2000. Today he tours for them: a single year takes him through Australia, Vienna, Bodhgaya and North America, teaching lamrim, lojong, the Bodhicaryāvatāra and Vajrasattva practice. He has also taught at Oxford under its Visitorship for Traditional Scholars, and speaks often at interfaith and peace conferences.

He is not to be confused with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the head of the FPMT who died in 2023. Geshe Tenzin Zopa was his student.