International Mahayana Institute Sangha, Nalanda Monastery, Lavaur, France, 1983. Foreground left side: Francesco Prevosti. Photo (L to R): Dieter Kratzer, Murray Wright, Adrian Feldmann/Gyatso, Jean-Marie, Jimi Neale, David Marks, Geshe Tegchok, Pierro Siriani (rear), Steve Carlier, Martin Willson, Thuben Sherab Sherpa (rear), Lama Thubten Yeshe, Elizabeth Drukier, Joseph Fontaine, Merry Colony (middle), Martine Darrou (rear), Father Bastiani (a local priest, in blue), Sangye Khadro (middle), Thubten Chodron, Anne-Marie, Beppe Molinari, Celia Smith. Photo courtesy Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Nalanda Monastery, located in Labastide St. Georges, Lavaur, France, is a thriving international center for Dharma study and practice. As a way to celebrate four decades of hard work and devotion, former center director Ven. Tendar and Ven. Jampa (Joris van Bakel) hosted online interviews with many people integral to the founding and development of the monastery. Here Vens. Tendar and Jampa share more on the video series and anniversary activities:

More than forty years ago Nalanda Monastery was founded in an old run-down building in the South of France. Now Nalanda is a flourishing monastery with almost thirty monks, two resident geshes, and an incredibly rich history. As a way to celebrate our fortieth anniversary, we have taken the opportunity to go back in time and see how Nalanda has developed over the years into what it is today. In addition, we want to honor Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his wish to preserve our rich history, honor those who came before us, and understand where we come from. We also wanted to do this while we still have the opportunity to hear the direct experiences of those who started it all. 

With these things in mind we started a series of interviews that we call “Nalanda Monastery 40th Anniversary, Honouring Our Former Generations.” With our former directors spread out around the world and our newly acquired Zoom skills, we decided to stream the interviews, which are in English and French. The resulting video recordings create a kind of virtual time capsule, and thus they will be available for all those who come after us as well. In addition to the world-wide Zoom audience, we have a gompa filled with monks, students, and volunteers, who are all eager to learn more about the history of the place they call home.

Nalanda monks during a special 40th-anniversary event with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nalanda Monastery, October 2021. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.

We started the series interviewing the French nun Ven. Elisabeth Drukier, who we might refer to as our founding mother as she was instrumental in acquiring the Rouzegas property that we now call our home. Ven. Elisabeth is currently the director of Kalachakra Centre in Paris. More than forty years ago, she was the director of Institut Vajra Yogini, which is also in the South of France. One day she had to call Lama Yeshe to notify him that one of the towers of the Vajra Yogini property had burned down. To this Lama Yeshe replied with great delight, and it turned out that this event would indeed be a great event. The insurance money for the fire allowed for the purchase of the Rouzegas property. It is these kind of priceless stories that make up the history of Nalanda Monastery. Toward the end of the video, Ven. Elisabeth was joined by Ven. Chantal, who is now the director of the nearby Monastére Dorje Pamo. Ven. Chantal also had many stories to share of her memories of these early Nalanda days.

Our second interview was with the first Nalanda monk: Ven. Thubten Gyatso (Adrian Feldmann), an Australian monk who has offered service in many capacities within the FPMT organization. Ven. Gyatso shared his very vivid memories of those first nights in the old building, which looked more like a ghost house than a monastery at that time. Ven. Gyatso told a precious story about the visit by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama to Nalanda in the 1980s. As His Holiness was preparing to depart from Nalanda by car, just before stepping into the car, His Holiness stood next to the old gate and suddenly looked back at Nalanda. Time seemed to stop while His Holiness made strong prayers. This particular instant was not only recognized by Ven. Gyatso as a defining moment for Nalanda, but also by others who we interviewed later. 

For our third interview, we talked to Geshe Losang Jamphel, our greatly respected and cherished current abbot. It is due to Geshe Jamphel’s incredible persistence that Nalanda is flourishing. Geshe-la came to Nalanda in 2000 and in the interview described his journey from a small Tibetan village to crossing the Himalayas into India to eventually arriving in the small French village that we now call our home. Not only did Geshe-la talk about his experiences in Nalanda, but he also took the time to thank all of those that helped him and that are still helping him today.

Our fourth interview was with English monk Ven. Steve Carlier, who joined us online from the United States. Ven. Steve served as a translator for Geshe Jampa Tegchuk, who was abbot of Nalanda in the 1980s, and now teaches at Land of Medicine Buddha in the United States. Our fifth interview was with the American student John Feuille, who served as an acting director of the monastery in the 80s and director during 1998-99. Both Ven. Steve and John talked about their time at Nalanda, mainly during the 1980s, and inspired a sense of wonder in us. As John Feuille said, “Think about Nalanda, about the whole FPMT, it is almost an impossible thing in this age.” 

In a highlight of this series, on October 16, a group of former directors and people who contributed greatly to the monastery were interviewed. This interview includes memories from Ven. Roger Kunsang, Ven. Gyaltsen, Ven. Tendar, Henri Charpentier, and Stephan (Pende) Wormland. Ven. Tendar symbolically handed over the keys of the monastery to our new director Ven. Tharchin. In a separate video interview, Canadian student Jean-François Bergevin, who was a monk at Nalanda in the 1990s and then served as director from 1999-2002, shares stories from this period and also talks about the construction of the public building at Nalanda, completed in 2008. A special video presentation on the building is included in this video.

On October 18, we received a great honor when Lama Zopa Rinpoche himself offered us a live teaching from his room at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. It was wonderful to have Rinpoche participate in our fortieth anniversary celebration in this way.

Please rejoice with us for all the years of Dharma study and practice at Nalanda Monastery. May it continue long into the future.

Group picture of sangha at Nalanda with Ganden Tripa Lobsang Tenzin. Sangha at Nalanda Monastery with Ganden Tripa Lobsang Tenzin, Geshe Jampel, and Geshe Gyaltsen, Nalanda Monastery, France, September 2019. Photo by Harald Weichhart. Also pictured: Attendant of Ganden Tripa, Vens. Sherab, Lektsok, Irene, Gendun, Sangpo, Choepel, Geshe Graham Woodhouse, Vens. Tenzin, Thekchog, Tharchin, Zopa, Tsultrim, Jamyang, Tsondru, Tenpa, Tendar, Thubten, Khunken, Tsultrim, Gendun, Zoksang, Gyaltsen, Ani Tenzin, and Ven. Raffa.

You can learn about Nalanda Monastery by visiting their website. Find the “Nalanda Monastery 40th Anniversary, Honouring Our Former Generations” videos and more on Nalanda Monastery’s YouTube channel.

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