monk-sponsorship

Monk Sponsorship

Tibetan children play a very special role as they are tasked with preserving and enriching their culture and more important the Buddhist religion.

LEARN MORE

Sponsoring a Tibetan Monk at Sera Monastery

Due to the policies of China’s cultural revolution in the 1960s, religious activities were no longer allowed in Tibet and the practice of Buddhism was disavowed. Many Tibetan monasteries were destroyed; Tibetan cultural education, language and their spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama were condemned. As a result, many Tibetans and monastics, including the Dalai Lama fled to India and Nepal where they can guard their heritage and treasured knowledge.... It all began with a dangerous journey crossing the border check points and a long grueling walk across the Himalayan mountains.

Sera Mey Monastery

Sera Monastic Universities are of the Gelug tradition which can be traced back to Shakyamuni Buddha. It is the lineage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and it is where Phakyab Rinpoche graduated with his Geshe Degree.

Parents who send their child to a monastery believe that they will be reborn in a better state or when a child is ill and gets better, the parents promise in prayer to send that child to a monastery out of gratitude.

Of course, many Tibetan children have a natural desire to become a monastic as it is very common. After arrival at the Monastery, young monks have little contact with their parents with no female influence in their life. The monks are guided by a “father figure” who helps them with any health issues, managing pocket money and Buddhist studies. This “guide" has the greatest influence on the child since he is the one closest to him.

sera mey schooling

The minimum age at Sera is 6 years old although age 9-10 is the perfect age to become a monk.

At Sera the students study religious texts but they also get a modern education such as general science, mathematics, social studies, Tibetan calligraphy, Tibetan language and grammar, English and Hindi.

From class 7 on children begin studying philosophical texts and begin debating sessions.

Sera is split into two schools; Sera Jey and Sera Mey. They house approximately 5000 monks. Their Buddhist studies will take at least 20 to 35 years after which they take exams and receive Geshe degree levels (Bachelors, Masters and PhD).

The heavy monthly burden for Sera to feed, cloth and provide basic needs and services of electricity and water can be overwhelming. Please consider sponsoring a monk on a monthly basis if you can.

Note: Healing Buddha Foundation is a non-profit organization 501(c)(3).

In the future, if you are interested in building a relationship with a child monk, we can put you in touch with him or his Gyen (teacher).

CONTACT