Venerable Thubten Dondrub

Venerable Thubten Dondrub (Neil Huston) is the resident teacher of both Hayagriva Buddhist Centre in Perth and Hospice of Mother Tara Buddhist Centre in Bunbury.

Ordained as a Buddhist monk for more than 30 years, he is a learned monk who has many years experience of teaching and meditation.

Born and educated in Adelaide, Venerable Dondrub graduated with a BA in History from Flinders University in 1969. Having met Buddhism in early 1976, he attended teachings in June 1976 given by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Chenrezig Institute in Queensland. He received his rabjung and getsul ordination from Geshe Thubten Loden in 1977 and later that year established Bodhicitta House in Brisbane.

Venerable Dondrub emphasises the need to not only study the complete path, but to make it part of our daily life.

He was Assistant Director of the Chenrezig Institute from 1978 to 1980 and received his gelong ordination from Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1979. He then was attendant to Geshe Ngawang Legden, Abbot of the Sera-Je Monastery, during his travel to Europe in 1981. He was also attendant to Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1983-1986). From 1988 through to 1991 he established the FPMT centre in Taipei, Taiwan.

He has received teachings and initiations from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Song Rinpoche and other great Masters of the Gelug tradition.

He has taught in more than a dozen countries around the world and is now based at our organisation's Nalanda Monastery in France since 1991 (where he was director from 1992 to 1993). 

Between 1987 and 2001 he taught five of the famous month-long Kopan Courses in Nepal. He is also the Education Officer of the International Mahayana Institute, the organisation of monks and nuns connected to the FPMT.

Venerable Dondrub is well known for his powerful and explicit teachings with an emphasis on how to use the Buddhist teachings to change the mind.

"The more you have some degree of detachment, altruism, good heart and some insight into dependent arising, the more peaceful, contented and effective you are. You feel at ease and people are at ease with you. Things go more smoothly. Of course most of us aren't very successful in applying all the teachings and we fail to be constantly mindful in applying them, but there is no doubt that these methods work whenever we use them.

Buddhist meditation shows us directly that everything we experience in our daily life ultimately comes from our own mind and that we have the power to change our mind. As our mind changes we change our whole environment and the way we perceive it. Perhaps the best of all are meditations on developing a sense of connectedness with all living beings, which helps us develop loving kindness, compassion and tolerance. These are essential for relating to the different kinds of people we constantly confront."