 During that time, Sopa trained many of the first generation of respected Buddhist scholars and translators in the USA, including Jeffrey Hopkins, José Cabezón, John Makransky, Edward W. Bastian, and Zorba Paster.To meet the request of students for Buddhist teachings, Sopa founded the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin in 1976.The Kalachakra Tantra initiation was given in the West for the first time at Deer Park July, 1981.