Tsewang Thaye

Tsewang Thaye was born Mamadou Diawara in Burkina Faso, West Africa. He grew up in a Moslem family with plenty of brothers and sisters and his father made sure all of the children had access to a quality education. An unusually promising student, Mamadou was awarded a scholarship to Moscow State University where he received a Master's degree in International Affairs in the 1970s. He continued his education at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and received a second Master’s degree in International Relations. Thus began a career in International Relations where Mamadou worked for the UN in Austria and the European Union in Brussels.

An accomplished linguist fluent in English, French, German, Russian and his native African languages, while working in Brussels, Mamadou became increasingly interested in Buddhism and eventually decided to take a sabbatical in order to devote all of his energy to the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. He donned the traditional robes and spent 6 1/2 years in retreat at Dhagpo Kundreul Ling in Auvergne, France.

Since coming out of retreat in 2004, Tsewang Thaye has mainly been involved with the communications sector of the Dhagpo retreat and public centers in France. Tsewang currently resides at the Renchen Ulm, Germany where he teaches the Dharma, continues his practices and offers guidance to those on the spiritual path.

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Trinlay Tulku Rinpoche Khenpo Tsering Samdrup Bart Mendel Choepel Glatter Dawa Tarchin Phillips Gelek Tarchin Pamela White Tsering Dreulma Tsewang Thaye Tsultrim Rabjam