Lama Zangpo
Lama Zangpo first met Lama Yeshe Rinpoche in Kagyu Samye Dzong Johannesburg in the early 1990s when he was a resident volunteer, helping with building repairs and construction. He has a strong connection to the Holy Isle, having lived and worked here for many years in the '90s before moving across to Arran, where he spent eight years in retreat at the Men's Retreat. Lama Zangpo was then sent by Samye Ling to Sekar Retreat in Nepal for a further six years, to practice and study under Drupon Rinpoche.
Lama Zangpo returned from Nepal to Samye Ling in 2021 and towards the end of 2022 returned to live on the Holy Isle, where he was Director of the Centre for World Peace and Health, along with having oversight of the Women's Retreat at the south end of the island and the Men's Retreat on Arran.
In the Spring of 2024, at Drupon Rinpoche's request, Samye Ling sent Lama Zangpo to the Congo, to oversee the growth and welfare of the Kagyu Samye Ling Congo centre and monastery and it was here that he received the title of Lama of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from Drupon Rinpoche.