Contact Info

Contacts

Email: hello@goodfortunetrust.org

Tel: 0438 386 223 (within Australia)

Tel: +61 438 386 223 (from abroad)

Address

P.O. Box 1227

Spring Hill

Queensland (QLD)

4004

Australia

Team: Who we are

We are an initiative of students of Khensur Rinpoche, Geshe Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan lama who has been teaching Western students in south-east Queensland since 1990. It is supported by several hundred sponsors and benefactors around Australia and overseas. Many are Buddhists and students of Khensur Rinpoche, while others may be neither, but have sympathy for the plight of the Tibetan people and wish to help.

The Good Fortune Trust is rebuilding Khangmar monastery, a small and very poor monastery in eastern Tibet, and supporting the nuns in nearby Jhilu Ritrek nunnery. It also supports hundreds of monks studying the traditional monastic curriculum in the Sera Je monastery-in-exile in southern India.

This website has news about the different projects managed by the Trust and well as many beautiful photos taken in remote parts of Tibet. It tries to offer some insight into Tibetan Buddhism - in particular the lives of Tibetan (and Western) monks and nuns - and the vital role that comprehensive study plays in the Gelug-pa tradition.

The Good Fortune Trust is grateful for all the generous support it receives, through both occasional and ongoing donations, and the time cheerfully volunteered by the small team who manage the Trust's activities.

The Good Fortune Trust is grateful for all the generous support it receives: both occasional and ongoing donations and the time cheerfully volunteered by the small team who manage the Trust’s activities.

Our bank account details are here below.

Donate

Official Stuff

Western monks and nuns who have ordained in the Tibetan tradition are still few in number. They are an object of curious attention from both Tibetans and people in their own cultures!

Tibetan lamas who are willing to ordain Westerns are still quite rare.

Western monks and nuns must be able to support themselves financially. Most do not have the opportunity to live in community with other monks or nuns as monastic centres are exceedingly rare in the West. The Chenrezig Nuns’ Community in Australia is remarkable for its size and longevity: it is currently home to approximately 20 nuns.

History

The Gelug tradition is the most recently established of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded early in the 15th century by Lama Tsong Khapa, a great Tibetan master and reformer who did much to bring about a second blossoming of the dharma in Tibet.

The Gelug tradition is characterised by its emphasis on monasticism and scholasticism (although not at the expense of practice and retreat, as is sometimes wrongly believed). In the great monastic universities of old Tibet, extensive programmes of study and practice were developed. The most capable monks, after several decades of concerted effort, would be awarded their geshe degree.

This tradition has been restored in the Tibetan monasteries re-established in India following the effects of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in Tibet. From Sera, Ganden and Drepung, highly qualified teachers have travelled throughout the world to share the dharma. Thus, while lay teachers are common in other traditions, most Gelug teachers are monks.

About Tibetan Buddhism

To be ordained as a monk or nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, one must receive permission from a qualified teacher. The form of the ordination ceremony and the vows taken by monastics can be traced through an unbroken lineage all the way back to the historical Buddha. Taking ordination is a life-time commitment, a way of freeing oneself from too many worldly concerns in order to devote oneself to the study and practice of Buddhist teachings.

Monasticism was common in old Tibet — some sources suggest as many as one adult man in three was a monk. Despite the events of the past half century, nuns and monks are still respected and valued in Tibet. Every year, many children and young people make the arduous journey from Tibet to India so that they may join a monastic institution where a comprehensive course of study is available.