By Amanda Buckley
The Shar Gaden Nampar Gyalway Ling, is a Mahayana monastic university for higher Buddhist studies, located in the Tibetan camp in Mandgod, South India.
There are more than 800 resident monks studying Mahayana Buddhist phylosophy, Tantric courses, as well as general education. Many students came from diverse areas of the Himalayan region such as Tibet, Mongolia, and Nepal to deepen their studies of Sutra and Tantra. The Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jinpa Rinpoche is the current abbot of Shar Gaden.
Our spiritual director HH Zasep Tulku Rinpoche has developed a strong relationship with this monastery , and some of its senior monks, and visited it, along with his students. Some of Shar Gaden monks visited Canada, Mongolia and US, meeting with Ven Zasep Rinpoche and his students and friends, and participating in pujas and retreats.
In the winter of 2020 Gyara Tulku Rinpoche from Shar Gaden accompanied Zasep Tulku Rinpoche on a visit to Toronto.The Toronto community was fortunate to receive Dharma teachings from our precious Lama Zasep Tulku, and also to host Gyara Rinpoche and benefit from his activities.
Gyara Rinpoche was able to to see how Dharma is practised by lay western students. At the request of Ven. Zasep Rinpoche, Gyara Rinpoche bestowed Lama Je Tsongkhapa empowerment on local Sangha.
As it become impossible to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gyara Rinpoche has been teaching Dharma on Zoom and many students from Toronto are able to participate.
Member of Gaden Relief Projects Board has been teaching English to some of the Shar Gaden monks via Zoom
Gaden Relief Projects took a decision at 2020 board meeting to help support Shar Gaden Monastery on an ongoing basis and we are now accepting donations for this project.
With the continued rise in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths in India, our help to the monastery became vital. We received appeal letters from the Shar Gaden clinic and the school. GRP was able to provide help for the clinic, and hopes to accumulate enough funds to help with meals for the boy monks, text books, blackboards, repair of the school building and leaking roof, and numerous other educational needs.
We believe there will be many benefits for all in fostering and promoting the close links with Shar Gaden
