The
Venerable Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche An extensive website with information on the Venerable
Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche's teaching schedule, publications,
and worldwide network of dharma centres established by
his students.
Projects
Sponsored by the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche
The
Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, Abbot of Gampo Abbey, has
sponsored a number of projects to foster the Dharma, preserve
Tibetan culture and provide educational opportunities
for the Tibetan exile community.
Tara
Abbey, which was founded in 1992, provides monastic
support for 114 nuns from Tibet and the Himalayan
regions of Nepal. It is located in Swayambhu at
the western end of the Kathmandu Valley.
In
1982 Thrangu Rinpoche built his first monastery
outside of Tibet in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal.
The Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery in Boudhanath
is the center of monastic life for nearly 250 monks.
Since the late 1980's Thrangu Rinpoche has been
overseeing the rebuilding of his monastery in Tibet.
The temple, monks quarters, the Stupa, and shedra
(monastic college) are now completely restored and
at this time there are 135 monks in residence.
Namo
Buddha, which is located in the mountains about
2 ½ hours from Kathmandu, is one of the most
important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Nepal and
one of the holiest in this part of the world. Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche has built a retreat center, a college
for higher Buddhist studies (Shedra), a translation
and publication house, a house for the office and
staff and several guesthouses. As well, a new temple
is under construction.
The
clinic was opened its doors in April, 1995 and serves
the local villages as well as the 30 monks in residence.
As of July, 1996 this clinic had medical records
for 2,060 people! The clinic is open three days
a week, except on holidays, from 3 p.m. until 5
p.m. and is currently staffed by a monk health assistant,
Karma Yonten, and a local Tamang villager, trained
as a medic in the Indian Army.
Thrangu
Rinpoche established Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding
School in 1987, with a view to providing an education
for children from the Himalayas. The students are
both Tibetan and Nepali from the Himalayan region,
but they are Tibetan in terms of language, culture
and philosophy, so apart from offering these children
a secular education, Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding
School also helps to preserve Tibetan Buddhism as
well as the language and the cultural identity of
Himalayan peoples.
In
the fall of 1999, Thrangu Rinpoche completed his
project to build an institute of buddhist studies
in Sarnath near Varanasi. Sarnath is where the Lord
Buddha first turned the wheel of the dharma for
sentient beings. It is a very auspicious place for
learning. There are many great buddhist universities
such as Sanskrit University and Tibetan Vajrayana
University located there. His Holiness Jamgon Kongtrul
Rinpoche was working on plans to build his monastery
there but passed away before starting construction.
Thrangu Rinpoche feels by building his institute,
it would please the mind of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche.
The institute is to be called the Vajravidya Institute
which was the name of the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa.
It means "indestructible knowledge".
Namo
Buddha Publications is a non-profit organization
to publish and distribute all of Thrangu Rinpoche's
teachings. It was founded in 1989 and now has available
28 paperback books in English as well as tapes,
CDs, and DVDs by Rinpoche.
A
North American retreat centre being built under
the direction of Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche near Crestone
Colorado on land donated by the Manitou Foundation.
The first of the three phases of the construction
project was completed in February of 2005.
Thrangu
Dharma Society, PJ Malaysia Site dedicated to Venerable Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
which includes an extensive collection of teachings, information
on numerous initiatives undertaken by Venerable Kenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche. The site includes an extensive collection
of photographs including a visit by H. H. Gyalwa Karmapa
to the Vajra Vidya Institute.
