Abbot Khen Rinpoche with a class of young monks

The Panchen Lama and the Revitalization of Tashi Lhunpo

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was founded in 1447 in Shigatse, Tibet, by the first Dalai Lama, and served as the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas since the 17th century. Until 1959, 5,000 monks lived at the monastery. Under the Chinese occupation, many senior lamas and monks left Tibet to re-establish their monasteries in India, Nepal and Bhutan, but the late Panchen Lama did not leave and only 250 monks from Tashi Lhunpo were able to escape into exile. In 1972, under the patronage of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tashi Lhunpo was re-established in south India. While other monasteries have been able to rebuild and flourish in exile, Tashi Lhunpo has languished as one of the smallest and poorest of the Tibetan monasteries in the exile community.

In 2005, His Holiness the Dalai Lama requested Khen Rinpoche Kachen Lobzang Tsetan to serve as the Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo and revitalize its unique scholarly and ritual practice traditions so that it can serve in the future as the seat of the young Panchen Lama should he succeed in fleeing Tibet. Tashi Lhunpo's two monastic colleges have particularly rich traditions of 'chams', the masked dances presented on festival days in the Tibetan calendar and related ritual arts. The monastery is mounting an urgent effort to preserve the dance traditions of both colleges before the last remaining dance master to hold this unique knowledge passes. He is currently 70 years old.

Tashi Lhunpo monks gather for mid-day meal

In addition to this specific initiative, Tashi Lhunpo is struggling to upgrade its existing site and facilities, which are extremely inadequate for the health, education and well-being of the monks and for the practice of their traditions. In addition to providing food, clothing, and health care, the monastery needs to build a larger assembly hall and residential space. A chicken farm next to the monastery's property is causing serious health problems for the monks and is polluting the environment. Tashi Lhunpo would like to purchase the farm and convert it into an agriculture-based income-generating project for the long-term sustainability of the monastery.

The Panchen Lama-Tashi Lhunpo Project (PLTL) has been established in the U.S. under the direction of Khen Rinpoche Kachen Lobzang Tsetan. The project is raising funds to expand and improve the property and buildings, in a modest style, in order to increase the number of monks from 350 to 1,500 as requested by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has approved and blessed the project. PLTL has applied for its own nonprofit status but until this has been approved, The Tibet Fund, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (www.tibetfund.org) has agreed to receive donations on behalf of PLTL.