About Losang Samten

Losang Samten is an American Tibetan scholar, sand mandala artist, former Buddhist monk, and Spiritual Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. He is one of only an estimated 30 people, worldwide, qualified to teach the traditional art of Tibetan sandpainting. He has written two books and helped to create the first Tibetan sand mandala ever shown publicly in the West in 1988. In 2002, he was made a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment of the Arts. In 2004, he was granted a Pew Fellowship in Folk and Traditional Arts.

Tibetan Buddhist enlightened teachers & ritual masters

In Vajrayana Buddhism's Tantric teachings, the rituals require the guidance of a teacher. The teacher is considered essential and to the Buddhist devotee, the guru is the "enlightened teacher and ritual master". The teacher is known as the vajra guru (literally "diamond .