Butter tea is a staple of the meals served
during puja

More than 2500 years after his passing, the Buddha's teachings are alive today, because they have been handed down from master to student in an unbroken, living lineage. As Western students of Buddhism, we directly and powerfully benefit from this living tradition.

Sera Je: rebuilding from the ruins
Sera Je monastery, in the mountains directly above Lhasa, was one of the three great Gelug seats of monastic learning in Tibet. It was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Some 150,000 Tibetans, including many high lamas and monks and nuns, have gone into exile since 1959.

Many of those who survived the dangerous journey out of Tibet were given refuge in India, where they spent long years in primitive refugee camps. When the Indian government granted the refugees land, the first priority was to re-establish the monastic universities. Thus Sera Je was founded again, in the southern Indian province of Karnataka, about 230 kilometres south-west of Bangalore.

Living conditions
Land and basic utilities were offered, enough for 300 monks. However, Sera Je's growth has been almost exponential, particularly in recent years. Families continue to send their sons out of Tibet in order that they might become monks and be able to study. Young Tibetan men whose families have made their homes in the villages that ring the monastery also come forward to ordain. Sera Je currently numbers about 3500 monks; another 1500 belong to neighbouring Sera Me monastery.

Fields once ringed the monastery temple and few scattered dwellings and cash crops like corn were grown to support the monastery. Today, there are few fields left as new building continues unabated in an effort to house the monks. The monastery has become a small town of tightly-packed buildings and twisting laneways.

Utilities are under serious pressure. Provision of clean drinking water remains a challenge and power cuts are routine. There is artisan water and many wells, but when the electricity is off, water must be pumped and carried by hand. On dark evenings when the power has failed, monks will gather around a few solar-powered outdoor lights to recite, study and debate. Otherwise, candles must suffice. Rubbish collection and disposal is rudimentary. Drainage is almost non-existent.

The level of tuberculosis, hepatitis and other contagious diseases has slowed thanks to a mammoth effort by the monastery to arrest their spread. However, given the over-crowding and inadequate diet, diseases like these remain a threat. Heart disease, diabetes and gastric ulcers are an increasing problem, especially as monks age. Some of the refugees suffer chronic physical pain or illness due to the hardships they have endured.

Monks sleep two, three, or even five to a room. They share toilets and washing facilities, which may be just a tap and a bucket. As for meals, they benefit from the generosity of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who sponsors simple meals for lunch and dinner, prepared by monks in vast cauldrons in the Sera Je main kitchen. If a sponsor offers breakfast, it is served during morning puja: slabs of Tibetan flat bread, washed down with butter tea.

Become a sponsor
Just $10 a month provides for a Sera Je monk.
Pledge your support

Everybody at House 12 pitched in to
prepare a feast to offer guests from Tibet

Organisation
Sera Je is organised into 13 colleges, or khangtsen, which are associated with a particular region of Tibet. Geshe Tashi Tsering and his many students belong to Tehor khangtsen, the name of the region in Tibet where Geshe-la was born. There is such a strong historical connection between this area and Sera Je that some 1500 monks belong to Tehor khangtsen alone.

A khangtsen is made of one or sometimes many different houses. Geshe Tashi Tsering and three other geshes head up House 12. Between them, they care for some 150 monks. The oldest of these have now passed their geshe exams and have students of their own.

Staying at the monastery, one is struck by the evident sense of family. The little boys are treated with a casual and genuine affection by all the older monks. The "gen" or master that heads each house assumes complete responsibility for each of the boys and young men entrusted to his care. Like a parent, he makes sure they have enough to eat, they get up in time to attend puja, that they are studying hard and doing well at school and that they are turning up for the monastery jobs they have been assigned. A "teaching gen" is also responsible for their spiritual welfare and development, teaching the monks in small groups appropriate to their age and level of understanding.

Study
Whatever their age or level of training, all the monks at Sera Je work incredibly hard. The days are long and standards are high. Much is required of them. It is said that every hour spent studying needs to be supported by two hours of accumulating merit. Accordingly, there is a strong emphasis not just on formal teachings, private study and debate but on pujas, personal practice and cheerfully undertaking the tasks required to keep the monastery functioning.

Sera Je has established a regular primary and secondary school for the younger monks, which is accredited with the local Indian authorities. They study in Tibetan but also learn Hindi. This helps foster good relations with the surrounding communities and is of practical benefit when shopping for necessities in the local villages. The days are long, because they study both secular subjects and religious texts, six days a week.

The older monks' day begins with puja and includes teachings, private study, memorisation, and debate. Younger monks will also do the necessary work around their own house and will be assigned to jobs within the monastery. For instance, they will be periodically rostered to volunteer in the Sera Je kitchen, which means a 2.30 am start before a full day of class.

The geshes of Houses 12 & 5

Sponsorship
The "12-5 sponsorship programme" was established in 1992 so that Western students could provide material support to monks in houses 12 and 5 and associated houses. These houses have a close association because the geshes who head them have known each other since they were boys. Together they studied in Lhasa, left Tibet, helped re-found Sera Je in India and completed their geshe studies. They were all students of Khensur Geshe Lozang Wangchuk, Geshe Tenpa Nyima and Geshe Loga (Lozang Dorje).

The sponsorship programme is run by volunteers, so every cent of sponsors' money goes directly to benefit the monks. Ten Australian dollars a month goes a fair way in rupees. It doesn't stretch to luxuries, but it helps meet the essential expenses: robes, texts, medicine given that food is already offered.

A sponsor is assigned one or more monks and some of these relationships now span 15 years. The regular monthly sponsorship goes to the monk's gen, who makes sure it is used appropriately. Some sponsors choose to offer extra money at Losar or other holy days and this goes directly to their monk.

Houses 12 and 5 continue to grow. On a recent visit to Sera Je, the volunteer programme managers met all the monks to check details and take new photos. They found more than 50 monks who need sponsorship. Good Fortune Trust is committed to finding support for these monks as soon as possible.

• By cheque, made out to the Good Fortune Trust
  Post to PO Box 783, Nambour QLD 4560, Australia
• By direct deposit to the Good Fortune Trust bank account
  Bank — Westpac, Nambour branch
  BSB and account number — 034-204 184337
  Please email us so we can check your gift is received.

Please let us know if your offering is for sponsorship or a donation. If you would like your donation to be used for a specific purpose, please tell us. Otherwise, we will use it in the area of greatest need.

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Thank you very much.