About Gelong Thubten

Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten is one of the UK’s most influential meditation teachers and a bestselling author. Renowned for his accessible, down-to-earth approach, he has brought the power of meditation into some of the most unexpected places — from hospitals and schools to prisons, boardrooms, and beyond.

Thubten was educated at Oxford University and became an actor in London and New York. At the age of 21, severe burnout led him to join a monastery. He was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk in 1993 at Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. He has trained there under some of the world's most accomplished teachers of meditation, and has spent six years in intensive meditation retreats, the longest of which was four years. 

Thubten’s writing brings meditation teachings to a wide audience. His first book, “A Monk’s Guide to Happiness”, published in 2019 by Hodder & Stoughton, became a Sunday Times top ten bestseller in the UK and is available in more than 17 countries worldwide. His latest book, “Handbook for Hard Times”, published in 2023, is also a bestseller. He is currently working on a third book. Previously Thubten collaborated with Ruby Wax and neuroscientist Ash Ranpura on the book “How to be Human”.

Thubten is Director of Kagyu Samye Dzong Scarborough, a Buddhist centre he founded in Yorkshire. He is a Trustee of ROKPA International, an international humanitarian aid organisation that delivers medical, education and cultural programmes in some of the world's poorest regions. He is also a Director of  Samye Foundation Wales, a mindfulness and wellbeing charity.

Thubten has been teaching for over 20 years, and is a pioneer in bringing meditation and mindfulness to diverse environments across the world. He was among the first teachers in Europe to provide meditation courses at an accredited university level, by training 4th year medical students at the National University of Ireland over a number of years. He is known for his ability to present Buddhist philosophy and practice in an approachable, accessible and non-religious manner.

He has been a keynote speaker for the United Nations and lectured at the Universities of Oxford, Cardiff and Helsinki. He has also spoken at numerous major events such as: Hay Literary Festival, Oxford Literary Festival, WOMAD Festival, Wisdom 2.0 Europe, Tech Open Air, Berlin, Me-Convention (Mercedes Benz), which was Europe’s first SXSW Festival, LinkedIn’s Talent Connect event, Los Angeles and Fifteen Seconds Festival (Austria and US). He was the meditation consultant on the set of Marvel's movie, Dr. Strange, where he trained the actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton in meditation techniques. He has also worked with numerous leading companies including Google, Accenture and Deloitte amongst others, to bring the benefits of meditation to their staff and working environments.