Acharya

Acharya (Skt. ācārya; Tib. སློབ་དཔོན་, lopön, Wyl. slob dpon) means a teacher, master or instructor.

A vajra acharya or vajra master (Tib. dorje lobpön) is someone with the skill and experience to lead an assembly in vajrayana practice. In the tradition followed at Namdroling Monastery, the degree of acharya is awarded upon completion of the full course of shedra studies. Whether an acharya will be enthroned as a khenpo then depends upon "personal virtue and [other] qualifications".