Ordained Sangha

Monks of Sera Je Monastery engaged in debate.

For over ten years the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund has sponsored a special annual oral examination of Sera Je Monastery’s top scholars who have shown incredible aptitude for memorization. 223 students were awarded new robes and khatas (cost of US$3,268) for their accomplishments of memorization.

Memorizing any of these texts is considered an incredible feat, two of the scriptures were memorized by just a few scholars. The Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund is very happy to be able to recognize and support these monks in this way.

• 83 students memorized The Essence of Eloquence on the Art of Interpretation (Dang-Nge)
• 98 students memorized The Clear Meaning of the Paramita (Drelpa-Don-Sel)
• 7 students memorized Skab Dangpoi Spyi Don by Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsen
• 1 student memorized Collection of the Six Treaties on the Middle Way
• 25 students memorized Shantidava’s The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

You can catch a glimpse of the effort needed to memorize texts like these listed above, as well as the incredible dedication needed for scholars at this level, by reading an account published in Mandala  from Ven. Tenzin Gache (Brian Roiter) who became one of the very few Westerners to participate in the rik chung debate held at Sera Je Monastery.

If you would like to contribute to the offerings to these top scholars:

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The Sera Je Food Fund Kitchen crew work together to provide thousands of daily meals.

 Mandala magazine recently published the October-December 2013 issue which featured the Sera Je Food Fund in their Cooking with Bodhichitta section. The piece, written by Ven. Ngawang Sangye is a fantastic overview of the daily kitchen schedule for the Sera Je Food Fund, complete with some recipes of the healthy vegetarian meals offered to the monks and many photos.

“The Sera Je Kitchen serves food to a large resident monastic population of 2,500. Various people are involved with feeding the monks in different organizational aspects. For all of them it is a very satisfying, and at times, very challenging experience.” More….

“Kitchen work begins at 4:00 a.m. every day. The on-duty cooks initiate all the preparatory work like pre-heating the hot plate used to make bread. All resident monks enrolled in the geshe studies program, with the exception of those in the very senior classes, have to take turns to help with kitchen work for two days every month. Every day, between 50 and 70 monks are assigned to kitchen work.” More….

Some of the 2,500 monks of Sera Je Monastery.

Each month, the Sera Je Food Fund offers an incredible amount of food to the monks of Sera Je Monastery.  In July, 1,308,787 Rs. (approximately US$20,872) were spent on food for meals offered at breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. The expenses this month were lower than usual because some unused food was sold back to markets. Additionally, some of the pujas where food was offered were sponsored, therefore, there was no cost to the Sera Je Food Fund for those meals.

Foods and supplies offered this July included:

• Nearly 17,150 bananas were offered
• 4,931 pounds of rice and 2,866 pounds of dahl were prepared
• 7,619 pounds of baking powder and flour were incorporated into recipes
• 2,002 bundles of green vegetables and 4,362 pounds of combined other vegetables were served
• 63 bottles of soy sauce were utilized
• 2,785 cups of cooking oil and 56 gas cylinders were needed

Cooking with Bodhchitta

The October-December 2013 issue of Mandala published several recipes from the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen in their Cooking with Bodhichitta online blog.  Here we include a recipe for a traditional and satisfying Tibetan dish, Vegetable Noodle Soup (Thukpa). NOTE: This recipe is meant to feed 2,500 people, so adjust accordingly!

Vegetable Noodle Soup (Thukpa)

Food is prepared in large pots and equipment able to fold food for 2,500.

Ingredients:

• diced mushrooms
• sliced radish
• spinach and other green leafy vegetables
• a freshly prepared mixture of ground turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and star anise (about 1 kilogram [2.2 pounds])
• sliced onions
• tomatoes
• refined sunflower oil (about 15 liters [4 gallons])
• salt
• dark soy sauce
• desiccated coconut
• noodles (made in our kitchen)

Preparation:

The noodles used in the Vegetable Noodle Soup are made in our kitchen. Refined white flour is kneaded with a consistency that is slightly firmer than what we have for the bread. This dough is then run through a noodle-making machine. First the dough is run through the machine to press it into flat layers. These are then rerun through the machine until the required thickness is achieved. Once it reaches the desired thickness and firmness, the flat layers are run through a cutting machine that cuts out thin long strands of noodles. These are then dried for a day.

For the thukpa the noodles are boiled separately and then mixed with the vegetable soup and cooked together until done.

First, boil some water. Add the dry noodle strands to the boiling water and cook until nice and soft. Drain the water and keep aside. 

In a separate vessel, heat some oil. Add the sliced onions. Cook until they turn slightly brown. Add the mixture of spices, salt and the dark soy sauce. Add a little water to prevent the spices from burning. Cook for about 3 minutes. Then add the cut tomatoes. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the vegetables. Then add the pre-boiled noodles. Cook together with the vegetables for another 30 minutes.

The annual cost to offer three delicious and nutritious meals every day to the 2,500 monks of Sera Je Monastery is US$280,000. Through the Sera Je Food Fund, you can easily set up monthly secure donations in order to support this project in an ongoing way.
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2,918 monks received 10 days worth of dried food from the Sera Je Food Fund this year in an effort to supply them with food during the Summer Rain Retreat.

Each year, the monks in Sera Je Monastery observe the Yarney or “Summer Rain Retreat” for 45 days according to the Monastic Rules and Practices. This year’s Summer Rain Retreat ended on September 4, followed by about 10 days of break or holiday from the monastery’s routine philosophical studies or school programs. During this period, the Sera Je Food Fund‘s main kitchen will be closed but monks will still be given about 10 days’ worth of dried food for them to cook either on their own or with their respective house groups or khamtsens. 

Dried food offered by the Sera Je Food Fund to 2,918 monks.

A total of 2,918 monks received the dried food. Each monk has received about 4.5 pounds of rice, 6.6 pounds of flour and 2 cups of cooking oil: all fully sponsored by the Sera Je Food Fund! Rejoice! 

You can see more photos of this distribution and keep up with life at Sera Je on the Sera Je Monastery’s Facebook page.

To read more about the daily activities of the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen, and also to enjoy some recipes of this delicious food, please read Mandala magazine’s “Cooking with Bodhichitta: The Sera Je Food Fund.“

 

Sera Je Food Fund’s Dramatic Impact on the Monks of

Sera Je Monastery

By Geshe Thubten Jinpa

Geshe Thubten Jinpa

A 78-year-old monk walks back and forth two times every day for the meal being served in the main prayer hall of Sera Je Monastic University, situated in South India. After each meal, he comes back with a half-loaf of bread that he did not finish. I thought the leftover bread would go in the garbage bin, but I was wrong. He puts the bread in the sun and lets it dry. Later in the day when his young disciples come back hungry from class, he offers the dry piece of bread as a snack with a cup of black tea.

This old monk has been doing this for decades. Now it is just a habit, but 30 years ago he started this ritual out of helplessness and responsibility. In those days, senior monks who had young disciples had to save half of their food so that their young pupils could eat and be able to continue their studies in the evening without an empty stomach.

Young monks enjoying the daily breakfast provided by the Sera Je Food Fund.

Some of the young monks who studied with him and received his dry bread each day are the most brilliant geshes today. They are now the main teachers for the young monks in the monastery and some are teaching in FPMT centers around the world and benefiting many people.

It was not an easy job to accept any new monks before the 1990s because when you accepted a new monk, you took full responsibility for his well-being, meaning you had to take care of his lodging, food, study and other material needs. It is as if you had become a parent to the new monk.

Geshe Wangchen, one of the oldest monks at Sera Je, remembers how stressful it was when he was receiving many new monks from Tibet and the Himalayas. Although he was joyful to have new monks come from far and wide to learn the Dharma, he understood the reality that they were now his complete responsibility. This was very challenging at that time, as every monk had to pay for their meals themselves. In the early ‘90s Geshe Wangchen could not afford to offer meals to his students, and so he had no choice but to share each of his own meals with three or four other monks in addition to organizing food – a heartbreaking porridge made out of just 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of flour – for as many as 20 young disciples. Today, he appreciates so sincerely the Sera Je Food Fund that was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1991. Suddenly, the responsibility of providing for all the monks was lifted from him.

Geshe Nyima, a lharampa geshe (equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy), is now teaching hundreds of monks more than six sessions every single day, despite his poor health. He suffers from gastric ulcers and is very weak, exemplifying the dangers of malnurishment at a young age. Geshe Nyima escaped Tibet in 1982, together with 15 other young monks, and arrived in India to study at Sera Je Monastery. Most of the friends with whom he escaped from Tibet became very ill due to the lack of nutrition and hygiene. Most of them gave up and either returned to Tibet or left for somewhere else. Geshe Nyima stayed on, but he struggled. All those who survived the early times are now in poor health, like Geshe Nyima.

Today, the Sera Je Food Fund provides highly nutritious meals, hygienically prepared for thousands of monks every day. Since the food fund started in 1991, the health of all the monks improved dramatically. They are now able to devote their full time to their Dharma studies without worrying about their meals or if they will have enough food. The most significant impact of the Sera Je Food Fund can be seen by the increase of numbers of the monks, and that senior monks like Geshe Wangchen are now able to accept as many new students as they can without worry.

Approximately 2,500 monks study at Sera Je Monastery. The Sera Je Food Fund provides nutritious meals for all.

Sera Je Monastery now has the largest amount of monks studying Tibetan Buddhism and it is where most of the best scholars are produced. These scholars are, in turn, able to teach Dharma all over world and attract many new students, thus directly helping to preserve the Mahayana tradition.

Buddha’s teaching of love, compassion and interdependence is needed urgently, especially in today’s war-torn world. The complete teachings of Buddha consist of three vehicles including the Mahayana Vajrayana which is refined from the Nalanda tradition. This is alive only in Tibetan Buddhism and the survival of this invaluable wisdom depends solely on the sustainability of the great institutions such as Sera Je Monastic University. That’s why His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama says, “It is due to these great monastic colleges that the profound, invaluable Buddha’s teaching is preserved and passed on without any corruption. Otherwise, humankind would have lost its most sacred relic long ago.”

Unfortunately, we live in a world where billions of dollars spent on manufacturing weapons every year, but in comparison, a great deal of struggle is required just to get the basic needs for an altruistic purpose such as supporting Sangha communities.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Manali, India, July 2013.

Yet, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes and determination are far more powerful and effective than any nuclear missile. He works so hard in trying to find anything that benefits sentient beings. He say, “When I am requesting someone to support any Dharma project, I am not only aiming to benefit the receiver but also the donors as well.”

Dharma is not just about studying, meditating or praying. It can be practiced in every part of our life. We can make whatever we do Dharma practice. We can support the great work of eliminating the suffering of others by supporting Dharma projects. It is not possible for everyone to engage in the serious Dharma study and practice, but your single contribution to support those who live their life abiding in morality and engaging in three trainings can be so meaningful. Your support not only benefits them but also you receive equal benefit.

Whatever we possess today, whether it be life, health or wealth, this does not exist inherently, and it is in the nature of impermanence, at any time it can change. So while you have this incredible situation, use it wisely. Use it to benefit others most, for example, by supporting Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s holy project, the Sera Je Food Fund, which has a dramatic impact on the monks of Sera Je Monastery and the preservation of the Mahayana tradition.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche enjoying a meal offered through the Sera Je Food Fund.

When you are making a contribution through Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s projects, it is like you are selecting the best marketing agency to market your product to generate everlasting profitable revenue. Because Lama Zopa Rinpoche is someone who is living a life truly in accord solely with Dharma. In today’s Buddhist community he is known as the great yogi (practitioner) of this modern age, he knows and teaches how to make the best out of everything we do. Your single contribution and merit accumulated through that is rejoiced in and dedicated after every practice Lama Zopa Rinpoche does –  whether it be the longest food offering, overnight teachings, after saving a drowning insect from the water or during hours of meditation.

Bodhisattva Maitreya states in the Uttaratantra: “Buddha’s doctrine is categorized into two parts: scriptural Dharma – studying and teaching scriptures – and Dharma of realization – attaining realization by living in morality.” By supporting the Sangha community at Sera Je Monastery you are playing the best role in the preservation of Buddha’s teachings and service to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas and in this way contributing to happiness of all living beings.

Geshe Thubten Jinpa was ordained by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1990 and since then has studied and completed the geshe course at Kopan Monastery. He graduated as a rabjampa geshe from Kopan Monastery in 2010 and then after one year of intensive study and exams at Sera Je Monastery and University he was awarded with Special Geshe degree in 2012. Geshe Jinpa has also served as Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s second attendant.

You can read another moving piece by Geshe Jinpa, “Rejoice for the Wonderful Food Fund!”

Please check out photo galleries of daily breakfast, lunch and dinner options offered by the food fund.

The current cost to offer three meals a day, every day per year, to the 2,500 monks studying at Sera Je Monastery is US$280,000.

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Please enjoy this inspiring new video, filmed by Ven. Thubten Kalden and edited by Ven. Lhundrup Daychen, that shows the annual Hayagriva Retreat of Sera Je Monastery. The entire retreat was dedicated to all the kind benefactors of the Sera Je Food Fund.

The Sera Je Food Fund provided all the food for the retreaters and the video also shows the preparation and offering of the food. 

The Great Yogi Milarepa said: “The practitioner and benefactor offering food create the cause to achieve enlightenment together.”

Monks participating in the daily clean up at Sera Je Monastery.

Starting at 4 a.m. every morning, on-duty cooks start the work of preparing breakfast for 2,500. These cooks are monks studying at Sera Je Monastery who also benefit daily from the three nutritious meals offered by the Sera Je Food Fund. Each day, between 50-70 monks are assigned kitchen work. Breakfast is served at 6:30 a.m. and after clean-up, lunch preparations begin. Lunch is served at 10:30 a.m. and dinner at 5:00 p.m. Promptly at 6 p.m. the kitchen is thoroughly cleaned to ensure that the food program is operating in the most hygienic way possible.

The work and enthusiasm put into making this program a success is astounding: Truly this is an example of community in action, a collective effort that is beneficial to all involved.

To help illustrate the scale of what is offered, and thus, prepared, here is a list of some of the food and cooking items used in June of this year:

• 19,600 bananas were offered
  
  

  Monks working together to prepare food for 2,500.

• 5,736 pounds of rice and 3,329 pounds of dahl were prepared
• 10,968 pounds of baking powder and flour were incorporated into recipes
• 1,987 bundles of green vegetables and 5,840 pounds of combined other vegetables were served
• 89 bottles of soy sauce were utilized
• 3,796 cups of cooking oil and 86 gas cylinders were needed

You may join in this colossal effort to offer three nutritious meals every day to the 2,500 monks studying at Sera Je Monastery.

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Vegetarian savory puffs.

A giant batch of delicious vegetarian puffs were prepared for 2,500 monks as a test for a possible new addition to the regular rotation of menu items offered every day to the monks of Sera Je Monastery through the Sera Je Food Fund.

The puffs were stuffed with green beans, cheese and white noodles. The monks enjoyed this addition very much!

To see the amazing food offered every day to the monks of Sera Je Monastery visit photo galleries of seven days of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Sera Je Kitchen Crew preparing to offer the vegetarian puffs to 2,500 monks.

Monks help with clean-up after a meal.

The Sera Food Fund kitchen continues to stay within the budget and be able to offer excellent nutritious vegetarian meals to all the monks of Sera Je Monastery (see photos of 7 days of breakfast, lunch and dinner).

Some recent expenses included:

• US$5,015 for a new steam boiler using wood (to reduce usage of LPG gas cylinders) plus fittings and materials and a new rice cooking vessel.
• US$3,779 for new potato peeling machines, a new wood-cutting machine, seven new steel gas stoves and two steel storage boxes for storing baked breads.

To help illustrate the scale of what is offered through the Sera Je Food Fund, in one month:

• Nearly 25,000 bananas were offered
• 6,166 pounds of rice and 4,369 pounds of dahl were prepared
• 10,579 pounds of baking powder and flour were incorporated into recipes
• 2,509 bundles of green vegetables and 6,382 pounds of combined other vegetables were served
• 107 bottles of soy sauce were utilized
• 3,580 cups of cooking oil and 65 gas cylinders were needed

You may join in this colossal effort to offer three nutritious meals every day to the monks studying at Sera Je Monastery.

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Kitchen helpers preparing for meals to feed 30,000 visitors expected on July 6 for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 78th birthday celebration.

The Sera Je Food Fund Kitchen is preparing to offer food to 30,000 visitors to the monastery in honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Sera Je from July 5-12, and in celebration of his 78th birthday on July 6. Many monks stayed all night to help prepare the food; a massive, collective effort.

The menu includes: tea and bread for the morning long life initiation, tea and sweet rice for the birthday celebration, and fried rice and butter tea for lunch.

To support the Sera Je Food Fund:
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Some of the monks of Dhakpo Khangtsen.

Dhakpo Khangtsen in much need of renovations.

June 2013: Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund was very happy to offer US$21,058 to Sera Je Dhakpo Khangtsen for the building of new rooms for the monks. Dhakpo Khangtsen remains one of the poorest Khangtsens (houses) at Sera Je Monastery. It does not have its own Gompa and the monks living there do not have adequate rooms, kitchen, toilet and bathroom facilities. This donation will go toward new rooms for the monks and will help with some much needed renovation.

Monks debating during last year’s Winter Debate. April 2013: The Lama Tsong Khapa Teachers Fund offered US$22,396.26 for the 2012 Winter Debate (Jang Gun-choe). 635 of the top debaters from Sera Je traveled to Drepung Monastery to participate with 8,000 monks from 11 different monasteries. The main participating Institutes were Sera, Drepung, Gaden, Tashi Lhunpo, Gyuto, Gyudme, Rato and Dhakpo Shedrup Dhargeyling monasteries and they met to debate two sessions a day for a minimum of seven hours. Many monks debated until the wee hours of the night.

The Lama Tsong Khapa Teachers Fund covered the cost of travel and food for the 635 monks from Sera Je Monastery to attend the month-long debate.

Monks debating during last year’s Winter Debate. The Great Winter Debate has been an integral part Tibet Buddhism and dates back to the time of Lama TsongKhapa. The debate mainly consists of the most earnest and competent scholars from the great monasteries. The primary course of study during the Winter Debate is Pramanavartika (Tsema Namdrel) by Acharya Dharmakirti on subjects such as epistemology, valid cognition, dialectics, and the Art of Liberation.

Learn more about the Winter Debate.

The Lama Tsong Khapa Teachers Fund also offered a full set of monk’s robes to 27 top scholars who memorized Shantidava’s The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life and an additional full set of robes to another 196 monks: 94 who successfully memorized The Essence of Eloquence (Dang-Nge), 91 who memorized The Clear Meaning of Paramita (Drelpa-Don-Sel), 10 who memorized Skab Dangpoi Spyi Don by Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsen, and one who successfully memorized The Collection of Six Treaties on the Middle Way.