We share with you an update to the project we are funding from 2021, thanks to the contribution of the 8 × 1000 that you all decide to donate to the Italian Buddhist Union.
For us monks and nuns of Sangha Onlus this humanitarian intervention is of special importance because it was the home of Geshe Ciampa Ghiatso, and it could be the abode in which he will live, once his reincarnation is recognized. We believe it is essential to recognize the kindness of our Master and thus to help those who, today in this difficult global situation, need help.
We are close to Mysore (in a village in Karnataka, at the Sera Monastery, in South India). The project intends to support monastic infrastructures with particular regard to the settlement areas of Tibetan refugees.
Specifically, we are collaborating in the renovation of House number 3 of the Sera Jey Monastery (one of the oldest in the old Sera), which houses monks exiled from Tibet, where they cannot access the level of education provided in the monastic universities built in India. , after the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959.
The renovation will affect the monastic residences and a small meditation room.
HISTORY OF THE HOUSE n.3
Sera it is the most populated university monastic complex outside Tibet.
Until the end of the 80s of the last century, the master Geshe Tashi Bum took care of the training of the monks and of everything that the "House 3" needed (the name derives from the house number, inside the complex monastic).
On his departure, Ven. Geshe Ciampa Ghiatso, his disciple (first Abbot of the Monastery of Sangha Onlus and Master resident in Pomaia at the Lama Tzong Khapa Institute), becomes the successor in the responsibility of House 3 and its students.
Known by everyone in Pomaia as "Geshe-la", he often went to his home in India at the Monastery. Geshe-là was very generous and collaborated in various initiatives and projects related to the monastery and Tibet, also supporting requests for personal help that came from families residing in Sera Jey and from the nearby refugee camps.
Right in front of house no. 3 there was a building that Geshe-la decided to buy in the 90s to make it a hostel and gather the numerous Tibetan monks who still escaped from Tibet at the time to take refuge in India and devote themselves to study.
The building was not in excellent condition but, at first, with some minor restoration it was made habitable. It consisted of bamboo canes and tiles and, in the following years, was seriously damaged due to the climatic conditions of the place (very rainy during the monsoons and very hot during the first months of the year). Geshe-la had expressed the desire to renovate it but unfortunately she was unable to complete this project due to her illness and disappearance in 2007.
THE PROJECT AND THE BENEFICIARIES
Geshe Tenzin Norbu and Ven. Thupten Zopa, the older monks currently residing there, are following the works and informing us of their progress.
The necessary works mainly concern the renovation of the water and electricity networks and the reconstruction of the ruined areas, including the bathrooms and living quarters.
Once completed, the house will house around 30 monks.
We will keep you posted.