on Sep. 28, 2023, less than two months before he was reported missing.
aPhoto via RFA
In a recent development reported by Radio Free Asia on January 5, 2024, the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state announced the discovery of a deceased male in a pond near where Geshe Dadul Namgyal, a 64-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monk, went missing in November.
Geshe Dadul Namgyal, a senior monk and teacher at Sravasti Abbey in Newport, was last seen in November. The clothing on the found body matched that which Namgyal was reported to be wearing at the time of his disappearance, including a maroon jacket over his monk’s robes. The discovery was made after the ice covering the pond thawed, revealing the body, which was partially submerged.
The abbey residents contacted the sheriff’s department immediately upon noticing the body. “While walking around the pond on Abbey property yesterday, two monastics noticed that maroon-colored clothing was floating on the surface of the water,” Sravasti Abbey stated. The police retrieved the body using a canoe, as confirmed by the Sheriff’s Office.
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An autopsy has been requested to determine the time and cause of death and to confirm the identity of the deceased. In November, extensive searches were conducted in the area surrounding the abbey by the sheriff’s office, abbey residents, and local volunteers.
Geshe Dadul Namgyal, who joined the abbey in May as one of its first male resident teachers, was a respected monk and Buddhist scholar. He had served as an English language translator for the Dalai Lama and was a prominent figure in Buddhist conferences and initiatives. Namgyal was also involved in developing a bilingual science learning curriculum for Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns and had worked with the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative.
Tsondue Samphel, assistant director for Emory’s Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning Program, praised Namgyal’s scholarship, saying, “Geshe Dadul was a very learned scholar. He understood and translated scientific terminologies and jargons with ease.”
The tragic discovery has brought a solemn closure to the search for Geshe Dadul Namgyal, whose contributions to Tibetan Buddhism and the intersection of Buddhism with modern science have been significant.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and the subsequent discovery of the body is ongoing. The Tibetan community and those at Sravasti Abbey await further details from the official autopsy report.
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