Kelsang Gyatso
After leaving Tibet in 1959, Kelsang Gyatso taught and engaged in retreat in India for 18 years. Trijang Rinpoche, the root Guru of Kelsang Gyatso, asked him to be the resident teacher at Manjushri Institute (now known as Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre) in England. Kelsang Gyatso taught the General Program at Manjushri from 1976 to 1987.
In 1987, Kelsang Gyatso entered a 3-year retreat at Tharpaland in Dumfries, Scotland. During his retreat, he wrote five books and established the foundations of the NKT-IKBU. Since that time, the NKT-IKBU has grown to comprise over 1,100 Centres and groups throughout 40 countries.
After completing his retreat in the spring of 1991, Kelsang Gyatso announced the creation of the NKT-IKBU, an event which was celebrated by his students in the NKT-IKBU magazine Full Moon as "a wonderful development in the history of the Buddhadharma."
In 1992, the NKT-IKBU was legally incorporated under English law, which constituted the formal foundation of the NKT-IKBU. The many Dharma Centres that were following Kelsang Gyatso's spiritual direction were gathered under the common auspices of the NKT-IKBU, with him as their General Spiritual Director (GSD). He remained GSD until August 2009 when he retired and was replaced by his successor, Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab. Each of the individual Centers is legally and financially independent.
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