Tubten Pende, a.k.a. Jim Dougherty, has been a practicing Buddhist since 1972 when he was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in India. Pende was included in the first wave of FPMT’s Western Buddhist teachers. He was the coordinator of the Geshe Studies Program at Manjushri Institute in the UK; spiritual program coordinator, director, and later resident teacher at Nalanda Monastery in France; and an FPMT International Office Education Services program developer of the Masters Program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy. He is interested in the effective application of Buddhist theory and practice in the daily life of ordinary people.

“Tubten Pende is one of FPMT’s most senior teachers,” says Merry Colony, former director of FPMT Education. “As a monk Pende studied with Khensur Jampa Tegchok at both Manjushri Institute and Nalanda Monastery for many years. Pende was instrumental in getting FPMT’s Masters Program off the ground and headed up FPMT’s Education Department in the 1990s. Later he was one of the FPMT senior teachers invited to help formulate the Discovering Buddhism program. Since its inception, Pende has been involved with the program, first as a teacher of module 12, the Wisdom of Emptiness, and later as an elder for the DB online forum and assessor for DB certificate students. Pende has always stood out as an exceptional teacher of all topics, but most especially emptiness, having the very sharp analytical mind necessary for delving deeply into this profound topic. Pende’s presentations are always exceptionally clear and to the point.”