His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He is a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto, "My religion is kindness." His Eminence Loden Sherab Dagyab Kyabgön Rinpoche is the founder of the Tibet House Germany. Rinpoche was born in East Tibet in 1940 and at the age of four was recognized as the Ninth Kyabgön (patron) of the Dagyab region. In 1959 Rinpoche fled to India with His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. In 1966, he accepted an invitation from the University of Bonn in Germany to work there as a Tibetologist at the Institute of Central Asian Studies.

In the 1980s he was asked by a group of Germans interested in Buddhism to become a spiritual teacher. Since that time, he has taught the full range of Tibetan Buddhism in Germany and many other countries in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Gavin Kilty has been a full-time translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics since 2001. Before that he lived in Dharamsala, India, for fourteen years, where he spent eight years training in the traditional Geluk monastic curriculum through the medium of class and debate at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. He has also received commissions to translate for other institutions, such as the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Teachings, Tibet House Germany, The Gelug International Foundation, and Tsadra Foundation.