ABSTRACT
In addition to an appreciation of the broader Tibetan Buddhist context of the NKT and the historical and cross-cultural forces that have shaped its development in the West, it is also important to situate this organisation within the context of another contemporary Western Gelug movement: the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). This chapter outlines the origins of the FPMT in the 1970s and examines the schism that gave rise to a separate network of Buddhist centres headed by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in the mid-1980s. The teachings and orientation of Geshe Kelsang are analysed and contextualised, and the crystalisation and creation of the NKT as a distinct Buddhist network with a clear ideological vision in 1991 is charted. This will set the scene for a more detailed examination of the main elements of the NKT’s sense of self-identity in Chapter 4.
