Gareth Sparham was a monk for more than twenty years and an oral interpreter for many learned lamas while living in India. He holds a PhD in Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia. The author and translator of numerous works, many focusing on the writings of Tsongkhapa, he has taught Tibetan language at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of California at Berkeley. He lives with his wife in Walnut Creek, California.