Khenpo is the title given in the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya schools to a senior scholar-monk who has completed the full course of study and is authorised to teach.
The learned teacher
The khenpo has completed the long programme of study in the philosophical and scriptural curriculum of his school and is authorised to teach it and to confer the monastic ordination, so the title combines the standing of an accomplished scholar with the authority to instruct and, often, to ordain, making the khenpo the counterpart in these schools of the geshe of the Gelug tradition. The office is one of learning and teaching, held by those who have mastered the tradition body of study and are recognised as competent to transmit it.
Abbot and teacher
The word is also used for the abbot of a monastery and for the preceptor who confers ordination, so the title carries a sense of authority over the monastic community and its formation as well as of scholarly attainment, and its exact application varies between the schools. Entry is by the completion of the course of study and recognition by the tradition. Like the geshe, the khenpo standing is scholarly and is distinct from the tantric authority of the lama and from recognition as a reincarnate teacher, though one person may hold several of these roles. The khenpo thus represents the scholar-teacher and often the abbot of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya traditions, the master of learning who transmits the study of the school and stands at the head of its monastic instruction.