Shechen Monastery () is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and trans ...

tradition of

Tibetan Buddhism 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 ...

. It was originally located in

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...

, Tibet, but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

and was rebuilt in Nepal in 1985.

History

The original Shechen Monastery was located southwest of Langduo Township in

on the route to Dzogchen Monastery in what is now

Dêgê County Dêgê County (; ) is a county in southern China, which was formerly one of the Kham region's five independent kingdoms - the Kingdom of Derge - but is now administered as a county in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in far northwestern Sic ...

, Garzê Prefecture,

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It was founded in 1695 by Shechen Rabjam Tenpé Gyaltsen, though it is sometimes claimed to have been built by Gyurme Kunzang Namgyal in 1734. It became extremely influential in the 18th and 19th centuries, with up to 160 satellite monasteries dotting the hillsides. The monastery was destroyed in the 1950s as part of the Communist Chinese government's

. In the 1980s,

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 198 ...

transplanted the rich tradition of the original Shechen Monastery to a new home near the great Stupa of Bodhnath in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Shechen Monastery today

The monastery serves as the main seat of the Shechen tradition in exile. There are more than 300 monks at Shechen Monastery. The monastery teaches music, dance, painting and Buddhist philosophy. Its elementary school provides "a modern education for children between five and fourteen years of age." The present abbot is the seventh

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche Shechen Monastery () is one of the "Six Mother Monasteries" of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally located in Kham, Tibet, but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in Nepal in ...

, the grandson of

Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 198 ...

. Prominent members of the monastery include the Yangsi (Tib.ཡང་སྲིད reincarnation) of

Khandro Lhamo Khandro Lhamo (1914 - 30 March 2003) was a doctor of Tibetan medicine, who was also a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism who helped to build and maintain Shechen Monastery in Nepal. Biography Lhamo was born in Kham in eastern Tibet to a modest ...

Matthieu Ricard Matthieu Ricard (; ne, माथ्यु रिका, born 15 February 1946) is a French writer, photographer, translator and Buddhist monk who resides at Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal. Matthieu Ricard grew up among the perso ...

and Changling Rinpoche.

Footnotes

References

* Dudjom Rinpoche and Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje. ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: its Fundamentals and History''. Two Volumes. 1991. Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje with Matthew Kapstein. Wisdom Publications, Boston.

External links

Shechen Monastery in Nepal - the main Shechen website

Shechen Monastery in Tibet

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche's profile at Rigpa wiki
Buddhist temples in Tibet Buddhist temples in Nepal 1695 establishments in Asia Religious organizations established in 1695 Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Tibetan Buddhist temples in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Nyingma monasteries and temples 1985 establishments in Nepal Buddhist monasteries in Sichuan {{Buddhism-monastery-stub