Hi everybody, nice to join this community.
Well, my name is Carlos, I'm 41 and I was born and raised in a small town down in southern Spain, near Gibraltar, but I moved to the Madrid area in 2006.
I considered myself as a buddhist a couple of years before already. As a matter of fact, it seems a bunch of right karmas happened to ripen right then and there where in mid-2005 I managed to take refuge with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, receive my first empowerment from him, engage in the boddhisatva vows, and receive the blessings of the Buddha's relics at the Maitreya Project tour, all on the same day!
So, Lama Zopa Rinpoche is my root guru. My main teachers are Geshe Tsering Palden along with his nephew Geshe Ngawang Losel (Thubten Dhargye Ling center, Madrid) and Geshe Thubten Chöden (FPMT's Nagarjuna center, Madrid). I've been so fortunate to receive teachings, empowerments and transmissions from people like His Holiness' female oracle Rangjung Neljorma Khandro-la (some lamas believe she's Yeshe Tsogyal, some say Vajrayogini, some say Tara...), Geshe Soepa, Dagri Rinpoche, Robina Courtin, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the Sakya Trizin, several touring lamas especially from Ganden monastery... Several months ago I was honored to serve as a Spanish translator for Geshe Thubten Tsundue and Lama Ahbay Rinpoche, and just last week I spent several days with Geshe Lobsang Dakpa, from Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala.
Back in 2005 I founded
www.sanghavirtual.wordpress.com, one of the most well known Tibetan buddhism websites in Spain. In 2007 I had one of the most incredible experiences in my life, when I spent a whole week in Nalanda Monastery (France).
Since October 2015 I run a couple of monthly three-hour classes on meditation basics and Tibetan buddhism-inspired advice for daily life, and Geshe Dakpa was so excited to know, encouraging me to keep it going. Of course this is incredibly inspiring for me, not only because Geshela is a wonderful lama and one of my tantric gurus: He's one of the main teachers, debate expert and examiner at Namgyal.
In my years as a practicioner I've had two or three periods of seriously considering ordination, but... seems those karmas ain't ready yet for some reason! You know, obstacles happen! Next time maybe!
All the best.