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Ordained Sangha
Tenzin Ösel Hita with monks at Sera Je Monastery.
The Sera Je Food Fund began in 1991 when Tenzin Ösel Hita, the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, entered Sera Je Monastery in southern India at age six. It is customary for a monk’s sponsor to make offerings to all Sangha on the day of officially entering the monastery and Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted the offering to be of the greatest practical benefit to the monastery itself. After discussion with the abbot of Sera Je Monastery, it was determined that the most beneficial offering would be to create a food fund whereby all of the monks at Sera Je Monastery could be offered quality meals for free. Out of his incredible compassion, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was not simply offering lunch on the day of Lama Osel Rinpoche’s entrance to the monastery but, without precedent, taking on the responsibility of providing meals to every monk at Sera Je for the rest of their lives.
Initially, the fund offered money to each monk for lunch. At that time there were 1,300 monks and the annual cost was about US$25,000.
It became apparent that it would be much easier for the monks to have the meals cooked and offered, so in 1997, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$25,000 for a new kitchen and began paying the salary of seven fulltime cooks. At that time there were 1,900 monks and the annual cost was about US$175,000.
In 1997, six years after starting the fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Sera Je Monastery. At that time, many of the older geshes, some with tears in their eyes, thanked Rinpoche and spoke of how the fund was benefiting the monastery. Monks could now attend all the morning debate sessions instead of taking time out to prepare meals. Additionally, the fund alleviated the great burden teachers carried while providing for students who had no resources.
In 1998, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility of offering dinner to each monk.
The Sera Je Food Fund supports 2,500 monks at Sera Je Monastery.
In 2003, in addition to offering lunch and dinner, breakfast began to be sponsored by the Sera Je Food Fund three months a year. At that time there were 2,300 monks receiving meals and the annual cost was US$240,000.
In 2008, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility to offer three meals a day to all monks of Sera Je. Osel Labrang took over management on the ground, ensuring the quality of the food and managing all aspects of buying and preparing the food.
In 2012 In addition to offering all the meals to all the monks at Sera Je Monastery the Sera Je Food Fund also took on the responsibility to offer breakfast to the 800 monks who attend the Sera Je school.
In 2017 the fund became self-sufficient through an endowment fund. At the beginning of the year, the abbot and monks of Sera Je Monastery offered a long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche to thank Rinpoche and the FPMT organization for this incredible offering made over a quarter of a century. At that time we discussed with the monastery that the endowment and ongoing management of the food fund now be managed entirely by Sera Je Monastery.
We have been in discussion to ensure that this transition is smooth and that the endowment and ongoing interest raised will be used exclusively for the food fund. The official handover of the project began in May 2017 and the endowment will be transferred over a period of a few years to ensure the transition is going well. Therefore the Sera Je Food Fund is now closed as an FPMT charitable project.
Supporting monks and nuns is one of the highest priorities for Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the FPMT organization, because the preservation of the Buddhadharma is dependent on the existence of Sangha.
We invite you to join us in developing the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund which is offering support to monasteries, nunneries, and individual monks and nuns for food, accommodation, health care and education. This fund is not limited to any one institution and able to benefit many nunneries, monasteries and Sangha in need.
