Geshe Chekhawa

Who was Geshe Chekhawa?

Geshe Chekhawa was a prolific Kadampa Buddhist meditation master who was the author of the celebrated root text, Training the Mind in Seven Points which is an explanation of Buddha's instructions on training the mind or Lojong in Tibetan. These teachings reveal how sincere Buddhist practitioners can transform adverse conditions into the path to enlightenment, principally, by developing their own compassion. Before Geshe Chekhawa's root text this special set of teachings given by Buddha were secret teachings only given to faithful disciples.

Geshe Chekhawa was born into a family that practiced the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. However, he was not satisfied with his Nyingma practice and sought teachers from other traditions. He received teachings from Rechungpa and later from Kadampa Geshes. After reading the text Eight Verses of Training the Mind by Geshe Langri Tangpa he immediately set out to Lhasa in search of Langri Tangpa. When he arrived in Lhasa, he discovered that Geshe Langri Tangpa had died. So he searched for his disciples and found Geshe Sharawa who was one of his main disciples.