During the time of the decrease in my merit, the Buddha Dharma
in the land of snow (Tibet) was diminishing. This was especially
the fate of the Karma Kagyu Monastery called Thrangu Tashi
Choling Monastery in Kham that was founded and blessed by
His Holiness the 7th Gyalwa Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso. At that
time I became a refugee and did not know where to go.
During this time of hardship, having the motivation to keep
my monastery alive, I purchased a small piece of land in front
of the Great Stupa of Boudhanath in Kathmandu, Nepal and built
a small monastery, which I named Thrangu Tashi Choling.
After building the monastery in Boudha, it was difficult
to find children who wanted to become monks. I decided to
ask some people I knew about finding children who wished to
be monks. They said, "Nowadays all people want to go to school
and study or to do business and earn much money. It's almost
impossible to find children to become monks."
After hearing this, I was very depressed and disappointed
but nevertheless I made a fruitful aspiration with good motivation
and put many Chakras (mandalas) of the Sangha and Harmony
of the Sangha into the main Buddha statue of the monastery.
As a result of that, Tenzin Dorie became the first monk from
Nupri Village, Gorkha, Nepal. Eventually the number of monks
grew and flourished and soon there were almost as many monks
as in the monastery in Tibet.
The country where I built the new Thrangu Monastery is a
country that accepts all kinds of religions and has faith
and devotion to them. The southern regions near India are
mainly dominated by Hindus. In the center are the Newari people
who practice and study Vajrayana Buddhism in Sanskrit. In
the northern regions, bordering on Tibet, the people practice
Buddhism according to the Kangyur (sutras of the Buddha) and
Tengyur (the commentaries of great masters). The people of
the southern regions of the Himalayan Mountains have very
good faith in and devotion to the Buddha Dharma. They avoid
killing and take special vows on the full moon and new moon
days. They often perform Ganachakra Puja (tsok) on the 10th
and 25th days of each month of the Tibetan calendar.
Because of these people's good faith and devotion and their
diligence in the practice of Vajrayana Buddhism, I became
determined to build a monastery so that it can host a monastic
sangha who could teach through their vast knowledge of Buddhism.
I discussed this idea with my monks from Nupri and they all
agreed to assist me in building this monastery. Therefore,
I have founded the monastery called Nupri Thrangu Tashi Choling
Monastery which is now under construction and which will be
part of the government registration of Namo Buddha Meditation
and Education Center.
Thrangu Rinpoche
12-11-2001
Translated on November 19, 2001
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