Kopan Monastery is a

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

monastery near

Boudhanath Bouddha ( ne, बौद्धनाथ; ; , ), also known as Boudhanath, Khasti Chaitya and Khāsa Chaitya is a stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.Snellgrove, David. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors'', 2 vols., p. 3 ...

, on the outskirts of

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. It is a member 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 Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Mahayana Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass over ...

(FPMT), an international network of

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

dharma centers, and once served as its headquarters. The monastery was established by the FPMT's founders, Lamas

Thubten 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 unconventio ...

and

Thubten Zopa Rinpoche Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (; born Dawa Chötar) is a Nepali lama from Khumbu, the entryway to Mount Everest. Biography Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, also called Lama Zopa Rinpoche has an extensive biography of him in the book ''The Lawudo Lama'' by Jamyan ...

, who bought the property from Nepal's royal astrologer in 1969. Its name comes from the name of the hill on which it was built. Kopan has become especially famous for teaching Buddhism to visiting Western foreigners. The first of what would become annual month-long (November–December) meditation courses was held in 1971. These courses generally combine traditional

Lam Rim Lam or LAM may refer to: Organizations * Laguna Art Museum, California, US * Lam Eng Rubber, a Malaysian manufacturer * Lam Research, American semiconductor equipment company * LAM Mozambique Airlines, flag carrier airline of Mozambique * Librari ...

teachings with informal discussion, several periods of guided meditation, and a vegetarian diet. Kopan now encompasses two separate institutions: the monastery, atop Kopan Hill, and the nearby Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery (known as the Kopan Nunnery). The nunnery was established in 1979 by Lama Yeshe to provide spiritual and practical education modeled on that received by the monks. In 2009 the nunnery began raising money to expand its housing and education capacity, which has grown from 4 to 400 in less than 35 years, using such sites as

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...

. Kopan Monastery has also recently become a popular recreational destination for Kathmandu residents and tourists. On Saturdays it regularly receives hundreds of visitors from 10 AM to 4 PM. The monastery is not open to the public on other days of the week.

External links

Kopan Monastery

Kopan Nunnery

Foundation of the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT)

Buddhist Starting Point (Canada)
Buddhist monasteries in Nepal Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal Gelug monasteries Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition 1969 establishments in Nepal {{Nepal-struct-stub

See also

External links