Gaden Shartse Norling

Gaden Monastery is one of the three most renowned monasteries of Tibet. It was actually prophesized by the Buddha himself 2500 years before is founding date in 1409. It was magnificently built on a large hillside of Drigri mountain, which was calm, peaceful and highly suitable place for spiritual development. The monastery is located at approximately 50 kilometers east of Tibet capital city Lhasa and was established in 1409 by Je Tsongkhapa.  Je Tsongkhapa was identified as an emananiation of  Manjushri (embodiment of all Buddha’s wisdom), as Avalokiteshvara (embodiment of all Buddha’s compassion), and as a Vajrapani (embodiment of all Buddha’s ability). There were two colleges within Gaden monastery named Shartse and Jangtse.

Reputed to have had more then 3,300 monks during early years of its existence, it then grew to 5,000 monks by the time of the Chinese invasion in 1950.

Gaden quickly became well-known for it’s strong educational studies combined with moral discipline.  Monks soon came to study from every part of Tibet. Though monks came from all ages, the youngest monks started at age seven. Regardless of their focus of study, all the monks engaged in Gaden’s rigorous study programs for many years. In addition to vast philosophical study, there was also training in different vocations, religious music, arts, sculpture, and administrative work.

In both Gaden Shartse and Gaden Jangtse, Buddhist sutra and tantra are taught and practiced in a combined program. This contrasts with the many other Gelug monasteries in which the study of sutra and tantra are kept separate. Thus the monks who have completed their studies at Gaden have gained knowledge in both the sutra and tantra practices.

BEGINNINGS OF GADEN IN INDIA

In 1950 the Chinese army invaded and occupied Tibet. In 1959 His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was forced to escape to India for his own safety. India, with deep kindness, offered the Tibetans a safe place to live and keep their traditional culture and religion. Over two hundred thousand Tibetans have followed His Holiness into exile and are now living in India or Nepal.

During this transition, education for the children became a priority of the Tibetan exiled government and schools were quickly established. Elder Tibetans observed that in the majority of these schools, the curriculum was strongly influenced by Indian life and a comprehensive Tibetan education was unintentionally ignored. This problem was compounded by the fact that the Cultural Revolution was simultaneously destroying all centers of Tibetan education inside Tibet. These conditions led some of the refugees to pool their efforts together and, with support and modest contributions from fellow Tibetans, they re-established Gaden Monastery in South India to keep Tibetan education, culture, and pure Buddhist teachings alive.

SHARTSE MONASTIC COLLEGE

The beginning of Gaden Monastery in India was very difficult due to the dramatic climate differences from Tibet and severe heat. In spite of this, in 1969 Gaden Shartse was formed by 85 refugee monks in remote village in the state of Karnataka, South India. The first members of Shartse settled in the refuge colony of Mundgod, one night’s drive from Bangalore. Army tents were provided through donations and the monks put together a bamboo and thatch building to serve as a common hall. In this humble structure they slept, ate, prayed, debated and studied. Many monks died of sickness and exhaustion. With trial and error, they learned to adjust to their new environment and were able to make a modest living by farming on the land provided by the state government of Karnataka.

Over time the population of Shartse increased to more then 1500 monks, including resident scholar, writers, administrators and students from different parts of the world including Tibet, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Mangolia, Taiwan, Europe and U.S.A. Gradually, educational programs began to demonstrate sustained growth and success and so admission, instruction and accommodations were provided free of cost. Preference was given to children who were either orphans or from very poor families.

However, being located refugee community in an under-developed nation and with growing numbers of students at Shartse, we still need to do much more to provide a basic living, healthcare and other essential necessities for our students and teachers.