Nalanda Monastery (Fr: ''le monastère Nalanda'', f. 1981) is the first Western monastery of the

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Gelugpa Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Tibetan Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass ...

(FPMT), an international network of

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodh_Gaya.html" ;"title="Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya">Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous')Kay, David N. (20 ...

dharma center A Dharma Centre (Sanskrit) or Dhamma Centre (Pali) is a non-monastic Buddhist centre in a community. According to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, the function of these centres is to preserve and spread the teachings ...

s. Named for Nalanda Monastery in ancient India, the French institution is located near Lavaur, about forty kilometers from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, and not far from another FPMT center, the Institut Vajra Yogini.

History

The site was purchased by Elizabeth Drukier, then director of the Institut Vajra Yogini, with the intention of using it as the European headquarters of the International Mahayana Institute (IMI), a group of Western monks following FPMT co-founders

Lama Yeshe Thubten Yeshe (1935–1984) was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery (1969) and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the Gelug tradition, and was considered unconventi ...

and

Lama Zopa Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (; born Dawa Chötar, 3 December 1945 – 13 April 2023) was a Tibetan Buddhist lama in the Gelug school. He is known for founding the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition and Maitripa College in Portl ...

. The monastery opened in a converted farmhouse, with Geshe Jampa Tegchog as its first abbot (served 1981-1994, afterwards abbot of Sera Je) and Ven. Adrian Feldman as its first director. Since 2000, its abbot has been Geshe Losang Jamphel.

Activities

Nalanda offers the FPMT Basic Program and (from 2013) FPMT Masters Program as well as various

pujas () is a worship ritual performed by Hindus to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honour a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event. It may honour or celebrate the presence of special guests, or their mem ...

(worship ceremonies) and one-off events. The current Abbott is Geshe Losang Jamphel, and the second teacher is Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen. In 2019, former Nalanda teacher Geshe Tashi Tsering was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

(Civil Division) for services to Buddhism in the UK. He taught at Nalanda Monastery for several years before going on to become the guiding Tibetan teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London.

References

External links

Official site
{{coord, 43.6901, N, 1.8491, E, source:wikidata, display=title Tibetan Buddhist monasteries Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition