Monastic Support Overview
“As followers of Shakyamuni Buddha, the best thing that we can do is what we call in Tibetan dzin-kyong, to protect and uphold his teachings, to keep them alive through studying and putting them into practice.” — Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Monastic universities (shedras) maintain stringent standards of academic excellence in Buddhist studies, similar to postgraduate programs in the West. Khyentse Foundation is committed to strengthening this tradition and to providing management training for Buddhist scholars, teachers, and leaders for future generations.
Khyentse Foundation has created an endowment to support Rinpoche’s institutions in China, India, and Bhutan (Dzongsar Monastery, Sichuan, China; Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute, Chauntra, India; Chökyi Gyatso Institute, Dewathang, Bhutan; Sangdhak Gaypailing Dharma Centre, Bartsham, Bhutan; and Tiger’s Tail Retreat Centre, Paro Bhutan). These institutes maintain traditional academic excellence while expanding their curricula with innovative methods. We invite guest lecturers to broaden the monks’ horizons with courses on the global economy, western history, and philosophy. The foundation also supports language programs, computer courses, and management and leadership programs, producing computer-literate Buddhist teacher-scholars who are fluent in both English and Chinese. Exchange programs with select western universities help khenpos to become familiar with western culture. In addition, current bookkeeping practices and yearly audits ensure that all KF funds are properly managed and accounted for.
Khyentse Foundation currently supports monks from more than 300 monasteries, from nearly all traditions throughout the Himalayan region.
Dzongsar Monastery
Khamje Valley in Derge, Sichuan, China
Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute
Chauntra, Himachal Pradesh, India
Chökyi Gyatso Institute
Dewathang, Bhutan
Financial Support
Health & Welbeing
Leadership Training
Graduates
Promoting a healthy monastic environment is integral to the cultivation of scholars and practitioners who can continue to provide guidance on the Buddha’s path to people around the world.
It costs about US$5 per day to feed a person in Derge. There are about 2,000 resident monks, nuns, and children in the Dzongsar Derge monastery, shedra, retreat center, and children’s school. That means the total food cost is US$10,000 per day, 365 days per year. Most residents are supported by their own families and the local community, and they also spend 2 months a year begging for alms, as is traditional. The foundation supplies only about 10% of their food costs, which still amounts to $365,000.
KF fully supports the food costs for the approximately 500 monks at DKCLI Chauntra, Together with the medical clinic, English program, library, and other administrative support, the total amounted to about US$180,000 in 2014.
Khyentse Foundation was originally created to help relieve Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche of the financial responsibilities that came with the legacy he inherited as a child. In 1999, he was personally supporting more than 700 monks at his various monasteries. Now he supports more than 2,500, but Khyentse Foundation takes care of the funding responsibilities.
Monks from more than 300 monasteries have attended Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute in Bir and Chauntra, India, and in that way we also support monks from nearly all traditions throughout the Himalayan region.
KF has given more than US$3 million to support monasteries in the last 10 years. More than $600,000 was distributed in 2014. At present levels, we need to raise a minimum of $350,000 per year to fulfill our commitments to the monasteries without dipping into our principle (based on an investment income of 5%).
We need to raise a minimum of $350,000 per year to fulfill our commitments to the monasteries without dipping into our principle (based on an investment income of 5%). Donate Now
KF provides much more than financial support to monasteries. Management and accounting mentorships, advanced leadership training, language programs, technology grants, and other innovations are modernizing the way the monasteries operate so that they can remain robust and relevant in the 21st century.
Monks from more than 300 monasteries have attended Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute in Bir and Chauntra, India, and in that way we also support monks from nearly all traditions throughout the Himalayan region.
It takes years of philosophical study and deep understanding of the Buddhadharma to become an authentic khenpo. More than 160 khenpos have graduated from DKCLI, and most of them have returned to their monasteries to be teachers or abbots.