I have known Venerable Geshe Lobsang Sopa-lah for over 20 years. This was back when we were both living in Gaden Shartse Monastery in South India, and I would see Geshe-lah around usually supervising construction in the monastery. To my recollection, we never spoke in detail, just ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’ and things like that. So we were not close but we knew each other, and Geshe-lah would always say hi to me. That was something because it doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t flatter Geshe Sopa-lah. If he doesn’t like you, he won’t be rude but he doesn’t have to say hi to you. Geshe-lah doesn’t say things simply to be politically correct or to make people happy. So Geshe-lah has always had a reputation which, and I say this with a lot of respect, is that he is very direct. But no one takes offence because they know he is actually a very kind person. He is just not afraid to speak his mind and be honest with you, and he’s also not afraid to think for himself. I like that very much about him. The other thing I very much like about Geshe Sopa-lah is […]