FPMT Board of Directors

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the recognized reincarnation of the great Tibetan Buddhist yogi Kunsang Yeshe, the Lawudo Lama. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, where his predecessor meditated for the last twenty years of his life.

At the age of ten, Rinpoche went to Tibet to study and meditate. The Chinese occupation in 1959 forced him to seek safety in a Tibetan refugee camp in North India. It was at Buxa Duar that Rinpoche became the disciple of Geshe Rabten Rinpoche and then of Lama Thubten Yeshe.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s contact with Westerners began in 1967 in Darjeeling, and in 1969, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche founded the Nepal Mahayana Gompa Center at Kopan, above Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In 1971, Rinpoche took gelong ordination from His Holiness Ling Rinpoche in Bodh Gaya. By 1975, twelve centers had started. In 1976, the growing worldwide organization was named by Lama Yeshe ‘the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition’ (FPMT).

Rinpoche is now the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Rinpoche teaches Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and practice all over the world and is the author of several popular books. Under Rinpoche’s spiritual direction there are now more than 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world. Rinpoche has initiated many other charitable projects around the world.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi was born in Nepal in 1962, Khen Rinpoche joined Kopan Monastery after being ordained by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1974. After 18 years of intensive study and debate in Sera Je Monastery in South India, Khen Rinpoche was awarded the title of Geshe Lharampa, the highest Tibetan Buddhist doctorate conferred in the Gelug monastic tradition.

After completing his education at Sera Je, Khen Rinpoche joined Gyudmed Tantric College for one year where he furthered his studies on tantra. Gyudmed Monastery is one of the two key monastic colleges in the Gelug tradition that specializes in the teachings of Buddhist tantra. Khen Rinpoche again excelled in his studies there and was awarded first position in his class.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi has been the resident teacher of Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, since 1999, and he was appointed as the Abbot of Kopan Monastery and Nunnery in Nepal in July 2011.  He was appointed as a board member of FPMT Inc. in 2011.

Geshe Thubten Sherab

Geshe Sherab was born in Manang, Nepal in 1967, the second of five sons. He attended Kopan Monastery at the age of nine, and was ordained by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.​ After ten years of study in Kopan, he went to Sera Je Monastery for further studies in 1987, and received his geshe degree at the end of 1999. After that he joined Gyume Tantric College for a year. Then he taught young monks at Kopan for a year.​​​

​​In 2001, Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested Geshe Sherab to go to New Mexico, USA, to help at FPMT International Office and also to teach at the FPMT center and study group in New Mexico. During that period he also served as an FPMT Inc. board member for two years.​ At the end of  2003 he returned to Nepal to do retreat. In 2006, he was appointed as Headmaster of Kopan Monastery, and served in that capacity for four years. He served as acting abbot for a year in 2011, when Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundup became ill.

​​Geshe Sherab joined the board in 2018. He is currently resident geshe at Thubten Norbu Ling, New Mexico, USA.  He also regularly teaches at other FPMT centers around the world.

Venerable Roger Kunsang

Venerable Roger Kunsang became a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan Gelug tradition in 1975 at the age of 26. He has continuously served the FPMT in various roles since 1974.

For the first seven years of his ordination he lived mainly in Asia where he studied and practiced Buddhism. Following this he was founder, director and resident teacher of the FPMT center, Vajrayana Institute, in Sydney, Australia for four years.

In 1986, Ven. Roger became the full-time attendant and secretary to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT’s Spiritual Director, and he continues to serve as Rinpoche’s assistant to this day, helping maintain the connection between the Spiritual Director and the whole FPMT organization.

Ven. Roger Kunsang has been a member of the FPMT Board of Directors since 1989.

In 2005, Ven. Roger Kunsang became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FPMT Inc. As CEO, his main responsibilities are to ensure that the organization achieves its mission under the direction of its founders, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Paula de Wys

Paula de Wys was born and raised in New York City. After living in San Francisco from 1965 -’70, she moved to Amsterdam where she met her Dutch husband. Together they traveled overland to Asia and, in Nepal in 1972, she met Buddhism through her teachers, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Later, in the Netherlands, she was one of the founders of Maitreya Instituut and various organizations working for Tibetans and the preservation of Tibetan culture. For many years she was a member of the FPMT Board of Directors, was on the board of the Buddhist Union of the Netherlands and is the chair of the foundation that organizes the visits of H.H. the Dalai Lama to the Netherlands. She is currently director of Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam and on the national Board of Maitreya Instituut. Paula rejoined the board in March 2021.

Dale Davis

Based in Nepal Dale Davis has worked extensively for women and children’s health and nutrition. She has a Masters degree in Public Health and a background in mental health, and has served through a range of international development organizations.

Since meeting Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1981, Dale has continued to be a student of Buddhism. Dale joined the board in March 2021.

Karuna Cayton

John “Karuna” Cayton was born in 1954 near Los Angeles, California. In 1973 he enrolled in Evergreen State College, majoring in Eastern studies. In his third year at college Karuna attended the “Year In Nepal” undergraduate program. It was during this period, 1975, that he found his way to Kopan Monastery, attending the 8th meditation course and engaged in teaching the young monks English. When departing a year and a half later, Lama Yeshe asked Karuna to return to Kopan and establish a western studies curriculum for the monks.

In 1978 Karuna returned to Kopan as a graduate student from Antioch University. For the next 10 years he developed and directed the western curriculum for the Kopan monks. Along with his wife, Pam, they founded the Kathmandu center, Himalayan Yogic Institute, currently named Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center.

In 1988, Lama Zopa Rinpoche suggested Karuna return to the United States and get a degree in Clinical Psychology. This was also the same year Karuna first joined the FPMT Board of Directors where he served until 2016.

As a psychotherapist Karuna worked at Stanford University’s Children’s Health Council and Mental Research Institute until the 1999. After that he established The Karuna Group where he began to practice psychotherapy privately. During this period and up to the present day Karuna has been exploring and teaching the integration of Buddhist Psychology into modern life. One result of this work was his publishing of The Misleading Mind in 2012.

Karuna and Pam still lives in Santa Cruz, California where they settled after they left Nepal in 1988. They have three adult children. Karuna rejoined the board in March 2021.

• Tagged: board, FPMT Inc., international office