Monk Sponsorship Project

 In the fall of 1994, the Venerable Lopon Tenzin Nambak Rinpoche initiated a 9 year Geshe Degree Program atTritan Norbutse Monastery in Swayambhunath, Nepal. The 9 year educational curriculum involves an extensive and rigorous comprehensive study of a broad spectrum of the Bonpo religious tradition, including 6 years study of Sutra, 2 years study of Tantra, and 1 year study of Dzogchen. The educational program also includes training in dialectical debating, the study of cosmology, the study of black astrology from Chinese sources and white astrology from Indian sources, study of Tibetan grammar, Tibetan script and calligraphy, Sanskrit grammar, the drawing of madalas and various religious iconography and images such as deities and stupas, the study of Bonpo medicine, and training in ritual worship such as torma construction, chanting, and the ritual of drums, cymbals and horns. Education in these varicus areas of study is provided by Lopon Rinpoche as well as a small group of senior Geshes whG were educated by Lopon Rinpoche in Dolanji, India.

One of the most unique features of the Bonpo monastic educational system involves training in dialectical debating of the Dzogchen view. In 1988, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the dialctical school which Lopon Rinpoche had founded in Dolanji„ India, His Holiness was pleasantly surprised to be informed that the Bonpos utilize the method of debating in the study of Dzogchen. His Holiness expressed great delight and enthusiasm when presented with the opportunity to observe the monks at Dolanji debate various philosophical points of the Dzogchen view.

Each week one monk is subjectod to an exhaustive and thorough oral examination by Lopon Rinpoche and all the other monks enrolled in the Geshe Degree Program. Each monk in turn poses questions to the examinee, even the youngest monks take a turn in asking questions. It is not unusual for the oral examination to last five or six hours. In the course of one year each monk in the program is tested two or three times in this manner.

Upon successful completion of the 9 year program, the monks are warded the distinguished Geshe degree by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Dharamsala in the context of a graduation ceremony.

In addition to the Geshe Degree Program, Lopon Rinpoche provides personal guidance and daily~nstruction to a small group of advanced practitioners who focus their studies on Dzogchen meditation. Lopon Rinpoche also oversees the monastic education of a smali group of orphaned junior monks who receive pre-GesPe training and instruction, which also includes training in dialectical debating.

In early 1994 there were only 20 monks at r,esidence in Tritan Norbutse, but since the inception of the Dialectical School the monastic population dramatically increased in a matter of months. Currently, there are more than 70 monks in residence. Several new monks arrive at Tritan Norbutse at a monthly basis. Most arrive directly from Tibet, but some come from Dolanji, India, and some from the border regions of Nepal, Dolpo and Mustanq.

The monks arrive with neither personal funds nor any personal belongings. Many monks own only a simple bed roll and their own clothing, consisting of one tattered set of monastic robes and one set of worn out shoes.Being Tibetan refugees, the monks come from poor farming and nomadic families, who are unable to provide any finacial support or living expenses for them.

Although the monks have very little material belongings, they arrive at Tritan Norbutse with a great amount of enthusiasm and consider it an honour and privilege to undergo a prolongod program of study with Lopon Rinpoche, whose scholarship in the Bonpo tradition is unsurpassed by any living Bonpo master. Lopon Rinpoche is one of the last remaining great spiritual teachers in an illustrous lineage of Bonpo Masters who received their eduacation in Tibet prior to the decimation of the Bonpo monastic system during the Cultural Revolution.Lopon Rinpoche is a crucial link in the ongoing continuum of the Bonpo educational system between the traditional setting of Tibet and the Bongo tradition in exile.To receive one s geshe Degree under the nine year tutelage of Lopon Rinpoche is a major life goal of all aspiring Bonpo monastic students.

Since the Cultural Revolution the availability of Bonpo teachigs in Tibet is quite limited. Currently, monks can only receive teachings at the Sutra level, because there are generally no teachers available to teach the higher level teachings of Tantra and Dzogchen.The Bonpo education in Tibet primarily focusses upon the Preliminary Practises, meditation, and a 100 day tummo retreat. As a result, in order to receive a complete ebucation in the Bonpo tradition, monks must leave Tibet in order to obtain these teachings from Lopon Rinpoche.

Lopon Rinpoche's primary goal in establishing the Dialectic School is to train Bonpo monks in exile in order that they can eventually bring the precious Bonpo teachings back to Tibet. Lopon Rinpoche hopes that the Geshes he trains will carry the seeds of the precious Bonpo teachings back to Tibet so the Bonpo tradition will be preserved, and it will again blossom and flourish in its own country.

In order to ensure that the Geshe Degree Program can continue to be operational and to provide for the basic living expenses and educational needs of the ever increasing monastic population, Tritan Norbutse is in dire need of ongoing and dependable financial support. Currently, due to many friends of Tibetan origin and of Western countries, Tritan Norbutse is able to supply the most basic nceds for the monks. The population is still increasing, though, and so are the costs of living in Nepal. With the present financial resources it is impossible to provide adequate bedding, healthier food, basic school supplies, clothing and medical care for the monks. The monastery lachs an adequate amount of texts for the monks to study with and lacks funds to photocopy additional texts for all the monks.

The monastery is in need of $ 1,400 monthly simply to pay for the basic operational costs of electricity and cooking fuel, and to provide for a simple daily diet for all the monks consisting of tsampa, sometimes bread and Tibetan tea for breakfast, rice and lentils or soup with bread on alternate days for lunch, and rice thukpa (soup) or wheat thukpa for dinner, with sweet tea in the afternoon.

The Tritan Norbutse Monk Sponsorship Project is a way, we Western Bonpo students can practice generosity and help the Dialectic School and Meditation Group continue to educate Bonpo monks in exiie. It is our hope and prayer that the Bonpo tradition will not only survive but that it will tUrive, expand and flourish, and continue to bring unlimited blessings, expansive insights, and the precious gift of liberation to all sentient beings.

The suggested sponsorship pledge is $ 30 per month
for each monk.

This includes food, school equipment, general medical care. It does neither include clothes nor bedding, which were traditionally provided by the family. Our monks are either orphans, or they come from remote areas, so this probiem is not yet solved.

Of course any amount or donation is greatly appreciated. If one individual cannot afford to sponsor one monk, it is suggestod that a group of people collaborate to spnsor one monk or a group of monks.

There are also several other projects at the monastery that require urgent sponsorship. One such project involves the establishing of a Bonpo library.

We envision this library as a home for the vast compendium of the Bonpo textual tradition. We also plan to preserve and catalog taped copies of Lopon Rinpoche s precious teachings in Tibetan and English. We plan to set aside a space for a gallery in order to display Bonpo sacred works of art such as thangkas and mandalas. In addition, we hope to collect and preserve numerous English language books related to Bonpo and other Word religions, philosophies, and Western sciences. The library will not only serve as a study and a resource center for the Tritan Norbutse monks, but we also hope it will serve as a learning and study center for all our Western friends.

At present the estimated cost for building this library on the monastery grounds is approximately $ 35,000 to $ 38,000.

For those wishing to sponsor a monk it is strongly suggested that the funds for an entire year, or any major portion of a year, be provided in one instaliment. It is not practical to send monthly instaliments to Nepal due to chronic problems with the mail service related to loss and theft.

We request you to give your instaliment of 1998 to Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche or to Lopon Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche, while they are on tour in Europe and U.S.A.

Our teacher Lopön Tenzin Namdak recently (july-august 1999) had the opportunity for a brief visit to his home country (kham, Eastern Tibet) and found that people were lacking many basic necessities, mainly medical care.

If you want to help, it is better to send money, as sending western medicine would be too complicated & they cannot really use it , but as Rinpoche knows means & ways to send money personally, it would be most advisable to transfer money to his own account :

 Thank you for your interest in our projects!

May the donors benefit from their generosity!

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