History of Ling Khangtsen

Ling Khangtsen was established in the 15th century to house monks from the Derge Lingtsang area of Tibet during their studies at Drepung Loseling Monastic University in Lhasa, Tibet. There were about 500 monks living at Ling Khangtsen when the communist army invaded Tibet in 1959. Sadly, Ling Khangtsen was destroyed, along with much of Drepung Loseling, during this invasion.

In 1970, a small group of Ling Khangtsen monks resettled in South India when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama reestablished Drepung Loseling Monastic University. Today, there are more than 50 monks living and studying in Ling Khangtsen. Of these, 40 are new arrivals from Tibet who fled during the last several years.

Relationship with Ling Rinpoche Lineage

Ling Khangtsen is best known for its relationship with the Ling Rinpoche lineage. Most recently Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was the senior tutor to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. He fled with His Holiness from Tibet to India. His Holiness frequently refers to Kyabje Ling Rinpoche as "my root Guru."

Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was a great scholar and teacher. He also was the 97 Gaden Tripa. The Gaden Tripa is the spiritual head of the Gelugpa Sect, the largest sect in Tibetan Buddhism. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was the Gaden Tripa for about 14 years. He served at the request of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people for the longest period that anyone sat on the Gaden throne. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche died in 1984.

Prior to Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, three earlier incarnations of Ling Rinpoche were tutors for previous Dalai Lamas, including the 13th, the 12th and the 6th Dalai Lamas. Three incarnations of Ling Rinpoche were also Gaden Tripas. Over many years, the Ling Rinpoche incarnations founded many monasteries in Tibet and taught students in every Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the monks in Ling Khangtsen come from these monasteries.

Today, the current incarnation of Ling Rinpoche is the spiritual head and leader of Ling Khangtsen.

He was born in India in 1985 and is studying at Drepung Loseling Monastic University. He is known as Ling Choktul Rinpoche.

Ling Khangtsen Today

Ling Khangtsen is located near Hubli City in Karnataka state, South India. Ling Khangtsen has four reincarnated lamas and around forty five monks mostly new arrival from Tibet. The 50 monks of Ling Khangtsen live in one building with 14 rooms. As a result, living conditions are extremely crowded, with three or more monks in each room. Sanitary conditions are poor due to the overcrowding and limited facilities. In addition, 28 Ling Khangtsen monks have moved to other monasteries because there are not enough rooms to accommodate them. To make matters worse, new arrivals from Tibet keep coming to Ling Khangtsen, and there is no place for them to stay.

The prayer hall for Ling Khangtsen was built when Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was alive and Ling Khangtsen had less than 10 monks. It is the most important part of the Khangtsen because all the monks gather in the prayer hall for daily prayers, for regular teaching, and for special ceremonies. The current prayer hall can accommodate only 20 monks. This leaves more than half of Ling Khangtsen's 50 monks outside or unable to participate during prayers, teachings, and ceremonies. In addition, the Khangtsen cannot host ceremonies or teachings for Choktul Ling Rinpoche because many monks would come from Drepung Loseling and other monasteries and the Khangtsen prayer hall cannot accommodate them.

Ling Khangtsen does not currently have a library or classrooms. Without a library, many members of the Khangtsen, including most of the new arrivals from Tibet, have no access to the texts they need for their religious studies.

Without any classroom, it is impossible for members of the Khangtsen to study Tibetan or modern subjects outside of their overcrowded rooms. In addition, the Khangtsen would like to collect all the teachings of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and the prior Ling Rinpoches so that the students of Ling Khangtsen could study them, but there is no place to house such a collection.

How You Can Help

There are many ways you can help Ling Khangtsen:

Sponsor a Monk:

Many of the Ling Khangtsen monks need sponsors. Sponsorship helps the monks obtain food, clothing, study materials, medicines, and other necessities. Because many of the monks have come from Tibet and have no support, your sponsorship can make a real difference in their lives. Full sponsorship for one monk for one year costs $240 (US), or $20 per month. This amounts to only 66 cents per day! With this sponsorship you will receive the name and picture of the monk you sponsor, and correspondence via mail or email is certainly encouraged.

If you would prefer to make a donation, for any amount, to support the monks in general, and not sponsor an individual monk for a year, that is of course, much appreciated as well, and your donations will be distributed as most needed.

Contribute to the Medical Emergency Fund:

Many of the monks that come to Ling Khangtsen from Tibet are ill when they arrive in India. In addition, many of these monks are not used to the Indian climate and food. As a result, they frequently become sick after a few months in India. Further, many monks in the Khangtsen suffer from tuberculosis, malaria, and other serious illnesses that are common in South India and among Tibetan refugees.

Ling Khangtsen has established a Medical Emergency Fund to take care of its sick monks. You can contribute to this Fund by indicating that you wish to support the Medical Emergency Fund with any contribution that you make.

Ling Khangtsen Building Project:

Drepung Loseling Monastic University has provided Ling Khangtsen with land for expansion purposes. The Khangtsen would like to build a new multipurpose facility. This facility would contain a prayer hall, a library, classrooms, living quarters, and guest quarters. The new facility would be large enough to accommodate all the Ling Khangtsen monks, including those who have moved to other monasteries because of the limited space in current facilities. In addition, the new facility will take into account expected growth in the number of monks living at Ling Khangtsen as new monks continue to arrive from Tibet. It will also include space that will be needed to accommodate the many people who will come to hear Choktul Ling Rinpoche teach in the future.

In 2002 Ling Khangtsen had the opportunity to purchase some additional land very near the monastery for their future needs.

Ling Khangtsen has established the Ling Khangtsen Building Fund to sponsor this development. You can contribute to this Fund by indicating that you wish to support the Building Fund.

Ling Khangtsen is in the early stages of this Building Project. We are looking for an architect and an engineer to work with us. We expect to develop detailed architectural and engineering plans quickly, but we need financial support to pay for the professional services that we will need for this large, and important, undertaking.

Contribute to the Ling Khangtsen General Fund:

There are those times when unexpected needs and emergencies present themselves, for instance, on the 7th of April 2001 the Late Venerable Gungbar Chetsang Rinpoche died, and the fire puja and funeral ceremony had associated expenses. As an additional example, the Khangtsen intends to collect all the available teachings of Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and the prior Ling Rinpoches to establish a library of his works, the physical collection of these writings will require specific funds. These are one-time projects that are of specific importance to the monks.

Volunteer:

There are many things you could do to help Ling Khangtsen. If you know about architecture, engineering, or construction, you might be able to help us with our Building Project. If you would like to teach English, other modern subjects, or computers, you might be able to come to India and help in these areas. In your own country, you might be able to organize a support group or help us from your own home on projects that we undertake. If you would like to volunteer, please write to us or send us an email.

 

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