Ordained Sangha

2018 participants in the annual Gelug Examination.

Every year the best scholars from the main Gelug monasteries come together for the annual Gelug Examination. This year, which is an annual custom, the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund offered US$20,955 for daily food, travel expenses, and for teacher stipends for the main teachers of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition. 864 monks participated in this year’s exam at Sera Lachi, South India, in September.

Monks enjoying a meal sponsored by the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund.

Stipends were offered to the 128 current abbots, past abbots, and main teachers of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition. This small offering of money supports these teachers’ basic needs and allows them to be able to focus more of their time on transmitting Dharma to their students at the monasteries and strengthening their own practices.

Examination in progress.

The Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund would like to congratulate all the monks for their successful completion of this challenging event. Due to the grant offered each year from this fund, all qualified monks are able to participate in the debate and examination, rather than being exempt due to prohibitive costs.

For twenty years, FPMT has been sponsoring this important event. Please rejoice in this ongoing support to past, present, and future teachers of the Gelug tradition. 

Since its inception, the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund, an extension of the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund, has supported senior teachers each year of the main Gelug monasteries, plus hundreds of monks attending the traditional winter debate and annual Gelug exam. 

Lay woman and nuns from Jamyang Choeling Institute, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, Jangchub Choeling Nunnery. Nuns’ Jang Guncho, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2018.

For the second time, the annual Nuns’ Jang Guncho (annual winter debate session) was held at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery (Kopan Nunnery), in Kathmandu, Nepal, from October 3-November 3, 2018. Approximately 710 nuns, 17 teachers, and some lay women from ten nunneries in India and Nepal gathered for one month-long training session in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, through the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund, was happy to offer food for one day of this event plus a small cash offering for each participant.

The first Nuns’ Jang Guncho took place in Dharamsala, India, in 1995 and provides an opportunity for nunneries to gather together to train in and practice debate. This is an incredible opportunity for the nuns to receive such a valuable and thorough education, an opportunity that was previously not offered. 

After the conclusion of the Nuns’ Jang Guncho, a two-day celebration was observed for the  Geshema Damcha, the final step in the geshema ceremony rituals. Every nun from each nunnery debated five major texts of Buddhist philosophy during the celebration. Two Kopan nuns are already geshemas from Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery and four more will become geshemas in 2020 after successful completion of two more exams.

Please rejoice that this annual event, which for centuries was only available to monks, continues to take place and bring together so many nuns in such a beneficial way.

You can read more about the 2018 Nuns’ Jang Guncho and firsthand details of the event from participating Kopan nuns. 

Please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

The monks of Gaden Tharpa Choling Monastery in front of the new Nyung Nä temple.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with the reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rinpoche at Sera Je Monastery, Bulakyppe, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Gaden Tharpa Choling Monastery in Kalimpong, India, was founded by the First Domo Geshe Rinpoche in 1912 while traveling on pilgrimage. Lama Zopa Rinpoche established a connection with the Domo Geshe Rinpoche lineage when he took ordination at Domo Drugkar Gompa in Tibet, also established by the First Domo Geshe Rinpoche. Since 2015, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has also been supporting the current reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rinpoche by sponsoring food offered to him daily, as well as the salaries for some of his teachers. In a letter of thanks to Tharpa Choeling Monastery in 2010, Lama Zopa Rinpoche further explains the connection. 

The new temple during construction.

Due to the kindness of a benefactor, the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was pleased to offer a US$25,000 grant toward the building of a Nyung Nä temple at the monastery. About this retreat practice Rinpoche commented, “Nyung näs take such a short time, but bring strong purification. So many eons can be purified in this life; it makes it so easy to have attainments.” Nyung nä practice is an intensive two-day purification retreat that includes fasting, precepts, prostrations, prayers, mantra recitation, and offerings. Nyung nä is a practice based on the deity, Thousand-Arm Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion, and is extremely powerful for healing illness, purifying negative karma, and opening the heart to compassion.

We are happy to report that this temple has now been completed. Please rejoice that this is now finished and will facilitate many powerful and beneficial retreats long into the future. 

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, September, 2018. Photo by Lobsang Sherab.

Recently Lama Zopa Rinpoche shared a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the Sera Je Food Fund for twenty-seven years of operation. The food fund provided free meals to all of the monks of Sera Je Monastery for nearly three decades before handing over an endowment to the monastery which allows this offering to continue long into the future. 

Rinpoche wanted to send his sincere thanks to all who made the food fund and endowment possible, an achievement for the entire FPMT organization which is truly worth rejoicing about:

Thank you very, very, very much! Thank you very, very much! So much merit you created, so many lifetimes to enjoy, to meet Dharma, to achieve enlightenment, not only to be free from samsara, but to achieve enlightenment. Free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering by you, and bring to enlightenment. So, thank you very much.

Rinpoche explains the incredible benefits of having offered food to Sangha through the Sera Food Fund for so many years:

You have to recognize the good karma, how much unbelievable good karma you collected. So many years, so many years, so many years, wow! You have to rejoice, rejoice! No time for depression, no space for depression in the life! Can’t imagine! For so many years, you have offered dinner, lunch, breakfast, can’t imagine, wow!

On the impact on the lives of all who benefit from the monks’ education and training including the Sera Je monks who go on to teach in FPMT centers around the world:

Now, in many countries in the world, so many people are receiving lamrim teachings, philosophy teachings. Those people who offered food, they developed their education, they got their education and so many people in the world are receiving benefit from them. This is not material benefit but this is benefit for the mind!

Rinpoche discussing the merit of offering food to those who share one’s guru:

All those Sera Je monks, they are His Holiness’s disciples also. So, you are making offerings to the pores of your guru. In that case, every day, every breakfast, every lunch, every dinner, even if it was just one time, the merit you collect by making offering to one disciple of the same guru, His Holiness, you collect FAARRRRRRRRR more merits than offering to numberless Buddhas, numberless Dharma, numberless Sangha, numberless statues, numberless stupas, numberless scriptures. They become so small compared to offering to one pore of the guru, a disciple.

On behalf of all who have been involved in the Sera Food Fund for the last twenty-seven years we would like to join Rinpoche—who made this project possible due to his incredible courage, kindness, and compassion—in thanking everyone from our heart. Thank you for your kind support, time, effort, and service over so many years. Many people came together to make this possible.

You can watch this entire message from Rinpoche on YouTube. An edited transcript of this message is also available via PDF. 

Please also enjoy this recent in-depth look at the accomplishments and historical context of the Sera Je Fund over the last twenty-seven years. All are welcome to view this article in eZine or PDF format. 

You can read more about the history and impact of the Sera Je Food Fund. 

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

Karnataka, India. Photo courtesy of FPMT Charitable Projects.

The latest issue of Mandala magazine features an extensive article, “Sustaining the Pure Unbroken Lineage of Buddha’s Teachings in This World: The Legacy of the Sera Je Food Fund,” which is an in-depth look at the accomplishments and historical context of the Sera Je Fund over the last twenty-seven years. All are welcome to enjoy this article in eZine or PDF format. 

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) with some of the nuns of Dorje Pamo Monastery.

Dorje Pamo Monastery is in the process of becoming a new nunnery for approximately twelve FPMT nuns in the South of France. The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was pleased to offer US$93,760 toward the building of a gompa, reception area, offices, and library. Funding for renovating the nuns’ quarters was secured from other sources. Due to past fire damage, and the need to expand residential accommodations, renovation work must be completed before this is a functioning nunnery. The property has the potential to accommodate 15 or more nuns. 

Dorje Pamo Monastery nuns show Yangsi Rinpoche around the facilities during an August 2018 visit. Photo courtesy of Dorje Pamo Facebook page.

FPMT monks and nuns are collectively known as the International Mahayana Institute (IMI), which has more than 300 monastics, and among them 180 nuns, of which approximately 60 are European. There is much need for a monastic community for IMI nuns in Western Europe.

The gompa building of Dorje Pamo Monastery.

The new Dorje Pamo Monastery is located 5 miles [8 kilometers] from Nalanda Monastery, where both a Basic Program and Master Program are taught, making it easy for the nuns to join the study programs there. 

Ven. Chantal Carrerot, coordinator of the new nunnery explained: “Monastic communities that provide a proper environment where Buddhists nuns can live according to their vows, where they can practice together, where new nuns can be educated, and where all can be taken care of, are very rare in the world, even more so in the Western world. That a few such projects are coming forward at this time in various places in the FPMT is a source of great rejoicing!”

There is a critical need for monastic communities to provide a proper environment where nuns can live according to their vows, practice together, pursue their education, and receive care.  Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said that without proper monastic communities and discipline, it will be very difficult to preserve and spread the Dharma. We are very happy to be able to offer support to this new monastic community.

Please stay tuned for news on the official opening of this nunnery and also progress on the renovation. All are welcome to help bring this beneficial project to fruition. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries.

The outstanding students of Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery received prizes in recognition of their achievements.

Since 2009 sponsorship has been offered to the nuns of Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery, Nepal. Funds have been offered to complete two 100 million mani retreats (100 million recitations of the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM) every year. In addition to the 100 million mani retreats, offerings are made to cover the cost of food for all during this period as well as an offering for a qualified geshe to stay during the retreat in order to give lamrim teachings. Additionally, a grant was offered to the nunnery for much needed new accommodation in 2014.

During Saka Dawa the nuns engaged in eight sets of nyung nä retreats for universal peace and for the long lives of our their teachers, friends, and supporters. They have recently completed the first 100 million mani retreat of the year and are now engaged in the second. Over the past nine years the nuns have completed seventeen 100 million mani retreats. Please rejoice! 

You can read more about the incredible achievements and dedication of these nuns. 

By offering any amount to the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund you enable support to this nunnery to continue. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries.

The young monks of Idgaa Choizinling Dratsang.

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund offers sponsorship of daily lunch for the young monks studying at Idgaa Choizinling Dratsang in Mongolia. Recently US$9,000 was offered to cover May 2018 to April 2019. 

Idgaa Choizinling was established in 2003 through Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling due to the kindness of many benefactors. Idgaa is strongly connected to Sera Je Monastery in India and serves as a focal point of Buddhist learning in Mongolia. Since its inception, FPMT has been offering food to the monks studying there. 

The monks of Idgaa Choizinling Dratsang.

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund supports ordained monks and nuns as well as monasteries and nunneries by providing sponsorship for food, accommodations, educational needs, and health care for Sangha. 

As Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently commented, “By offering even to one Sangha, whatever you can — even one dollar, one cup of tea, one piece of bread — there is much merit. And when it is to larger monasteries where there are several thousand monks, it is unbelievable merit.

“Also thinking that they are the disciples of same guru, the pores of the guru, such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, then you collect the highest merit, the most extensive merit.”

Please rejoice in this offering of daily food to these earnest monks who study and practice so sincerely to keep Buddhism alive in Mongolia.

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries.

The nunnery was devastated by the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Shri Sengedrak Ngedhon Samten Choeling Retreat Center, a Kagyu nunnery, was badly damaged in the 2015 earthquake that devastated Nepal and surrounding areas. This nunnery, located on the border of Nepal and Tibet (on the Nepal side), is under the guidance of Zigar Monastery Abbot Tinley Dorje who is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers and has been offering Rinpoche precious oral transmissions for the past two years in Tso Pema, India. 

In 2017 Tinley Dorje requested that Lama Zopa Rinpoche support the rebuilding of this nunnery. The nuns had been living in temporary shelter in modest conditions. Following the earthquake, construction was needed for thirty-five retreat houses, one main prayer hall, a retreat house for the abbot, and five standard toilets. The FPMT Social Services Fund offered three grants totaling US$185,000 for the rebuilding of this nunnery.  This is an incredible way FPMT can support ordained Sangha, and nuns in particular, who are not exclusively from the Gelug tradition. 

Kitchen and retreat house severely damaged by the 2016 earthquake.

Sangha offering puja where the new nunnery is being built.

Please rejoice that this grant has been offered so that the nuns can continue their monastic life under better, safer, and more condusive conditions. In a letter accompanying the final grant, Lama Zopa Rinpoche said the following to the monks and nuns of the monastery and nunnery: 

I don’t have much to say but in short I want to request all the monks and nuns who are disciples of Kyabje Sendak Rinpoche [who founded the monastery and passed away in 2005] to practice according to what Rinpoche has advised. In order to attain enlightenment, practice the root of the path, guru devotion, by developing the faith of seeing Kyabje Sendak Rinpoche as the embodiment of the Three Supreme Jewels. With that single-pointed devotion, the actual action based on living in harmony and pure morality, practice according to Rinpoche’s teachings and thus get enlightened joyously without having any fear now, at time the of death, and in all future times and places all sentient beings, who have been our mother since beginingless lives and guided us with great kindness, into the state of enlightenment.

The new nunnery is under construction thanks to three grants from the FPMT Social Services Fund.

To date, US$1,714,864.78 in grants has been distributed from the FPMT Social Services Fund toward rebuilding and disaster relief following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes.

The Social Services Fund contributes to many beneficial charitable projects as funds allow. You can learn more about these activities, or make a donation of any amount. 

The Sera Lachi monks. Photo courtesy of the Sera Lachi Facebook page.

Thanks to a very kind benefactor plus funds offered from Lama Zopa Rinpoche personally, over US$73,000 was offered from the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund toward a desperately needed new sewage system at Sera Lachi in southern India.  Sera Lachi is made up of Sera Je and Sera Mey Monasteries. 6,000 monks study between the two monasteries. 

This grant contributes to making the environment at Sera Lachi clean, hygienic, safe, and conducive to thoughtful study for the Sangha on the grounds. This is just one way the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund is able to offer support to thousands of monks at one time. 

Please rejoice in the funding of this important project which benefits the Sangha, the environment, and in turn, all who will receive teachings and guidance from these monks in the future. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and donate any amount to help ensure grants like this continue. 

Rolwaling Monastery, Nepal.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche as a young student. Rinpoche attended Rolwaling Monastery between the ages of 7-12.

Thanks to a kind and generous donor, in 2016, a substantial grant was offered from the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund to Rolwaling Monastery in Nepal, at the Tibet border, for the rebuilding of their gompa which was nearly destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. The buildings were already in poor condition (the gompa hadn’t been renovated since 1957), and the destruction of the earthquake proved too much for the structures to withstand. Rolwaling Sangag Choling is a community-centered monastery and its history spans about nine generations. It is the only monastery in the entire community of Sherpa Buddhists.This monastery is particularly precious to FPMT as Lama Zopa Rinpoche attended this monastery between the ages of 7-12. Geshe Jinpa, a Kopan monk, is overseeing this project and seeing it through to finalization. 

This project not only included the new gompa. A two-storey kitchen was built with dining and lama rooms, a butter lamp house, and an office and storage building were completed. Additionally, a two-storey building has been built between the main gompa and kitchen containing a large prayer wheel beneath and a deity room upstairs; and a very strong stone gabion was built to protect the buildings from the river flowing past and to give a stable support for the structure and also provide an expansion of the courtyard so that more people can be accommodated during teachings and festivals. A passage and fence was built all around the gompa and premises.

Damage to the Rolwaling gompa was extensive following the earthquake.

We are happy to report that a final grant has recently been offered toward the completion of this gompa. This gompa is the sole place in the area where daily prayers, offerings, pujas, retreats, Buddhist teachings, death and dying services, and community events for lay students and ordained Sangha (which can serve up to 300 people at once) are offered.

Please rejoice in this offering made possible by this generous grant. The rebuilding of this gompa helps preserve the local culture and reestablish the monastery as a place for Buddhist practice and community.

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

Some of the monks of Thame Monastery.

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was very pleased to offer a grant for over US$10,000 to Thame Monastery in the Solo Khumbu District of Nepal. The grant will cover the cost of food for all the monks during 2018. The monastery houses nine elderly and thirteen young monks. Thame Monastery is one of the oldest in the region, and is famous for the annual Mani Rimdu Festival.

Thame Monastery

Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born in Thame which is located very close to Lawudo. FPMT is very happy to support the Sangha of Thame through this offering of food, to contribute to holy object restoration in the area through a recent grant for a large stupa which is being rebuilt in the area, and through support following destruction due to the 2015 earthquake which devastated the area. 

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world.