Triten Norbutse Bönpo Monastery
monk sponsorship project

The workshop of Triten Norbutse

 The original Triten Norbutse monastery

was established in the fourteenth century in the province of Tsang in central Tibet by Shen Nyima Gyaltsen, a Nagpa of the Shen lineage who was particularly known for his tantric powers, and his commentary on the Ma Gyud, or Mother Tantra. The monastery thrived for many centuries, being supported by several devoutly Bonpo villages nearby, and became important for the study and practice of the Ma Gyud and the protector Sidpai Gaylmo of the red mule. Unfortunately under the Chinese occupation, Triten Norbutse was completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

The story of the modern Triten Norbutse monastery in Nepal began in 1977, when Lopon Tenzin Namdak traveled from Menri monastery in India to Swayambhu near Kathmandu to search for land for a monastery to serve the Bonpo community in Nepal.

 3 main purposes in establishing a Bön monastery

the need to preserve the Bonpo culture and religion outside Tibet at a time when circumstances following the Chinese occupation made it very difficult to do so inside Tibet; the advantage of establishing the monastery near Swayambhu stupa, that had been miraculously blessed by Tonpa Shenrab; and to give the possibility to the Bonpos of Dolpo and Mustang, the outer regions of Nepal, to receive further education in their religion, for, although there are over twenty Bön monasteries in these areas, none are able to offer this possibility.

However, at that time he was not successful, so he returned to India, where he continued to teach.

In 1986 the first group of Bonpo monks completed their geshe examination outside Tibet.

Since Tibet was open to visitors at that time Lopon Tenzin Namdak decided to travel there. On the way he stopped in Nepal near Boudhanath at the house of a Bonpo refugee named Norbu Lama. Although at that time the financial situation was very bleak, he asked his friends in the Bonpo community in Kathmandu to look for a piece of land near Swayambhu because on his return from Tibet he would buy it. At the time his plan seemed very bold and highly improbable; but on his way back to ndia he received news that an advance on a piece of land in Swayambhu had been paid, with money borrowed from Bonpo friends in Kathmandu. Lopon himself donated the money for the acquisition of the land from the gifts that he had received while giving teachings in Tibet.

When he first went to see the land, there was no proper path from the Ring Road, and the land itself, which was on the side of a steep mountain, was jungle overgrown with weeds. After Lopon Tenzin Namdak returned to ndia in 1987 Norbu Lama started to direct the building of three rooms on the land, with the generous financial assistance of Professor Lin Yun of the University of California at Berkeley. Although at first the situation with the local population was difficult, eventually it improved and a relationship of trust and respect was established.

In December of 1988 Lopon Tenzin Namdak returned to Kathmandu with two geshes, and when the three rooms were completed they decided to move in, even though there were no household items. They were soon joined by four refugee Bonpo monks who had recently escaped from Tibet.

By 1989 three more rooms, a library and a basic Gompa were added, and over the next three years a big kitchen, dining room, additional sleeping rooms, toilets and a guest reception room were built, with the help of the French organization Association l'Etape, which sent volunteers and building materials.

In 1991 the building of a new Gompa began, under the personal supervision of Lopon Tenzin Namdak. Artists were called from Bhutan to make the large statue of Tonpa Shenrab, sponsored by a Bonpo layman, Ma-rong Chö-je and his family in Dolanji. The other two statues, of Drenpa Namkha (representing the power of all the siddhas) and of Nyamed Sherab Gyaltsen (founder of the original Menri monastery) were made by Tibetan sculptors and offered by two other Bonpo families (Tenzin Ngo-drup and Jam-ga) in Dolanji. The internal decorations and the pictures of the Guardians, Midu and Sipe Gyalmo, were drawn by Bhutanese artists, while the 19 painted mandalas, the pictures of the 1000 Buddhas, the large pictures of Nampar Gyalwa and of Sherab Jyamma (the Goddess of Wisdom), the drawings of the Buddhas of the three times and of Nyamed Sherab Gyaltsen and all the external decorations are the work of Bonpo artist monks of Triten Norbutse.

In 1992 a large prayer wheel (khorchen) was built, sponsored by Tenpa Rigdzin and his family in Kathmandu, and many new volumes increased the monastery library.
These include texts of all the major traditions of Tibet as well as books in many other languages, as Lopon Tenzin Namdak believes that students should read all kinds of books, not only Bön texts.
Following his visit to Tibet in the same year he brought back several books that were no longer available outside Tibet, in order to publish them in ndia; these were also added to the library, which also housed the first copy of the BönbKa-gyur (Canon) outside Tibet, composed of 149 volumes. 1992 was also the year when geshe Nyima Wangyal, who had studied under Lopon Tenzin Namdak at Dolanji and was among the first to complete the geshe course there, was enthroned as Abbot of Triten Norbutse.

Over the next two years houses for dark and white retreats and a new enlarged kitchen were built. The Dialectics School and Meditation Group were officially established in 1994 and in November 1995 the monastery was inaugurated with seven days of puja also in the presence of Menri Trizin Rinpoche. A house for the teachers of the monastery was begun in 1995 and completed in 1996

During 1997 a new building to accommodate 60 monks was constructed, along with a stupa commemorating the Abbot of the Bonpo monastery at Dhorpatan, Yundrung Kuleg, who had passed in 1996.

Future plans include the construction of a retreat and practice building for the monks in the meditation school, and the purchase of land below the monastery in order to drill a well for drinking water.

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