His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto: “My religion is kindness.”

 

Gavin Kilty has been a full-time translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics since 2001. Before that he lived in Dharamsala, India, for fourteen years, where he spent eight years training in the traditional Geluk monastic curriculum through the medium of class and debate at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. He has also received commissions to translate for other institutions, such as the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Teachings, Tibet House Germany, The Gelug International Foundation, and Tsadra Foundation.

Thupten Jinpa was educated in the Tibetan monastic system, where he received the highest degree of geshe lharam at Shartse College of Ganden Monastery. Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985, he has been the principal translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, accompanying him on tours throughout the world and translating and editing many books. Jinpa’s own works include Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Thought, several volumes of translations in The Library of Tibetan Classics, and the modern biography Tsongkhapa: A Buddha in the Land of Snows. He is currently the president and the editor-in-chief of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, based in Montreal, and he also chairs the Mind and Life Institute and the Compassion Institute.