General Secretary
Lopon Karma Gyeltshen was born in Sershong village in Gelephu on 21 March 1981. At the age of seven, he enrolled in Sershong Primary School where he studied until Class VI. Between 1993 and 1999, he was enrolled in Gelephu Rabdey and studied the conventions & practices of the Kagyud tradition of Buddhism. In the year 2000, he moved to Gangteng Shedra and undertook the methodical study of treatises on sutra and mantra. In 2008, upon the command of the Seventh H.H. Gangteng Trul Rigdzin Kunzang Pema Namgyal, Lopon Karma Gyeltshen went to the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and studied the languages of Dharma (Pali and Sanskrit) for four years. Then he completed Masters in Philosophy from the Colombo University of Sri Lanka in the year 2011. After returning from Colombo, he taught Sanskrit at Gangteng Shedra for three years. He has received kedzog teachings, empowerment, oral transmission, and scriptural instruction from the guardian of the Ngagyur Nyingma tradition, H.H.Gangteng Trulku Rinpoche, H.H. Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche, H.H. Sungtrul Rinpoche, H.H.Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche, and Chabje Jekhenpo Rinpoche, among others. Lopon Karma Gyeltshen is the General Secretary of Pedling Choki Ga Tshel established by the Ninth Gangteng Trulku Rigdzin Pema Namgyal and the Board of Trustees in accordance with the Religious Organisations Act of Bhutan 2007.