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Thrangu Tara Abbey Tibetan Monastary Tibetan Children's School International Awareness

Ngom, Tibet In the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the great treasure finder, Terton Rayna Lingpa, prophecized that "in the land of Ngom a being called Ra-gha A-se will be born. He is the reincarnation of Chenrezin (Avalokitesvara) and there will be thirteen reincarnations of this great being. Anyone who meets him or receives teachings from him will be reborn in paradise." We are currently blessed with the presence of the seventh Karma Chakme Rinpoche. Chakme Ra-gha A-se first did his practice and meditation at a place called Zhamdhok-Paritsay, which became a holy place because of the prayers he did there. Later Karma Chakme the Fifth built a retreat center on that spot and a monastery nearby. The monastery is called Nemdho Tashi Choeling Gompa and the retreat center is called Nemdho Parit-Say Retreat. When the Communist Chinese forcibly took over his village of Ngom, Karma Chakme's monastery, Nemdho Tashi Choeling, was completely demolished and many villagers and monks were killed. At that time Rinpoche fled to India. Rinpoche now lives in Nepal but is too old to travel to give teachings. Therefore he is unable to obtain enough money to send to his monastery to help rebuild it and provide for the monastery's support. The monastery is located in a remote area of Tibet. The nearest large city is Chamdo. From there, it is another 3 hours by car and one hour by horse. Enough money was raised to rebuild the monastery and the structure for the main shrine hall. However the statues to grace the shrine room and the monks quarters are yet to be made. The monks are very poor and the local people of Ngom are also facing economic hardships and difficulties, so they can hardly give anything to support the daily functioning of the monastery, as is the Tibetan custom. Only recently through donations that were provided by The Neydo Foundation was running water installed at the monastery. Up until that point, the monks had to walk one hour to the Ngom Chu River to replenish their water supply. Presently some of the monks who have the means have built small rooms for themselves in the monastery area. The rest of the monks who are not able to do this assemble during the pujas (religious ceremonies) during the day and then return to their homes in the night as there is no place to stay in the monastery. Another problem faced by the monastery is that according to the monastic tradition, it is very important to perform certain big pujas for several months (prayers such as those for worldwide peace and removal of obstacles for all beings). These prayers are not being performed in their entirety due to the weak financial condition of the monastery and the surrounding villagers who are unable to lend any extra financial support. It is the hope of The Neydo Foundation to raise US$50,000 to provide for the rebuilding of the monk's quarters and the furnishing of the main shrine hall with religious statues. Contact Address for questions and donations: Toni Lubetsky, President The Neydo Foundation 608 Fifth Avenue, Suite 201 New York, NY 10020 (212) 414-0080 phone (212) 262-9799 fax E-mail: tonibet@aol.com Website: www.neydo.com Click here to make a donation towards this project