Gaden Relief Projects Helping Tibetans preserve their unique culture Appeal

Appeal for Tashi Lhapug Monastery

Dear friends of the Dharma,

Tashi Lhapug Monastery is situated in a beautiful valley on the bank of the Mekong river, halfway between Lhasa and the famous Lake Kokonor in Eastern Tibet. Tashi Lhapug was built by the great Mahasiddha Gertse Chogyamtso. The Fifth Dalai Lama gave his blessings and donated religous objects to this monastery. Higher up in the bare, reddish rocks above the monastery was perched Tashi Lhapug's centre for school of philosophic studies.

Tashi Lhapug on the bank of the Mekong

In the spring of 1943, on route to China, an American expedition lead by Lt.Col. Ilia Tolstoy (grandson of Leo Tolstoy) and Brooke Dolan arrived at Tashi Lhapug Monastery and the town of Zadoh. They stayed as guests of the lamas at Tashi Lhapug. My grandfather was mayor of Zadoh and he welcomed them. Ilia and Brooke were very impressed with the kindness of the lamas and neighbouring villagers. Around the monastery wild animals, such blue sheep, musk deers, and gazelle, roamed without fear of human beings.

Before 1958 there were seven hundred monks living at Tashi Lhapug. In 1958 the communist Red Guards destroyed all of the buildings and sent the high lamas to prison and the monks to labour camps near Xining in China.

In 1985 government policies became flexible towards monasteries and the lamas of Tashi Lhapug and my grandfather received permission to rebuild. The main temple and some of the monks rooms were rebuilt, but because poor quality building materials were used the temple is very damp and leaking. It needs major renovations, and it needs a proper kitchen and better hygiene facilities. Drs. Candace Cole and Robbie Chase of Gaden Relief recently visited the monastery. They found that almost all the monks are suffering from digestive problems due to contaminated drinking water.

Makeshift health clinic set up by Gaden Relief doctors

There are sixty monks living at Tashi Lhapug. This monastery is famous for its disciplined dedication to their spiritual practise. These monks get up at 4 am every morning and do sadhanas of the major deities for hours. Some of the old monks are like Bodhisattvas and Arhats – they pray all the time for the benefit of all beings. Lama Nawang has been meditating in the cave above the monastery for the last 20 years and Lama Legtan lives at the protector shrine room and has been doing Mahakala pujas for years. Lama Tabkay has been teaching and giving spiritual advice to young monks and lay people. Many of the young monks are very energetic in their study of Buddhist philosophy: twenty five of them are studying at the newly built school for philosophic studies.

Tashi Lhapug monks are dedicated to their practice

Tashi Lhapug Monastery's remote mountainous location has upsides and downsides. One upside is there are no distractions like some monasteries are facing today. A downside is it is too far for people to reach, so it gets fewer benefactors and donations compared to monasteries closer to the cities. On a spiritual level Tashi Lhapug is a rich monastery but on material level Tashi Lhapug is a poor monastery.

In front of the newly built school for philosophic studies

I think a lot about how am I going to support my monastery and the monks. I am dedicating a lot of my time and energy to preserve this precious monastery, the only Gelug monastery in Zadoh County. I consider my support for this monastery my Dharma practise, for the perservation of Buddha Dharma in Tibet for future generations.

I would like to raise funds for Tashi Lhapug for the following purposes:

1. Renovation of the old temple
2. New kitchen
3. Food and food supplements for all the monks
4. Stipend for geshe teacher for the monastery school

We need your support. Please consider making donations, large or small. Just as one drop of water makes the ocean bigger, your support will benefit so many beings.

Yours in the Dharma,