Govinda, Lama Anāgārika

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Govinda, Lama Anāgārika (1898–1985). Interpreter of Tibetan Buddhism to the W. and founder of Ārya Maitreya Mandala. He was born E. L. Hoffmann of Bolivian and German parents. He went to Śri Lankā in 1928, in pursuit of an interest in burial mounds, and was attracted by Buddhism. He became an anāgārika. From a conference in Darjeeling, he felt a strong compulsion to go to Tibet, where he met his guru, Tomo Geshe Rinpoche. He made many journeys in Tibet, and described both these and his reasons for transferring to Tibetan Buddhism.