Help Support Ahbay Rinpoche's Monastery Project

Friends of Geshe Lama Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche humbly invite you to support Rinpoche’s tireless efforts to benefit all sentient beings.

Ahbay Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist monk from the Gelugpa tradition, living in exile in South India. He is recognised by His Holiness The Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of hermit Lama Ahbay Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche and head of the Yega Choling Monastery.

As such he is responsible for many monk students, education, health and wellbeing and their upbringing, in the case of the younger monks in his care. He also has many student practitioners and friends all over the world, that learn and practice under his guidance and whom he performs pujas and prayers for on a daily basis.

Rinpoche gives so much to everyone he meets as he travels the world, spreading his wisdom of loving kindness and compassion (and his infectious laughter). Therefore we feel it is essential for us to give back to him to support him to carry on his incredible work to help reduce the great suffering in the world.

Ahbay Rinpoche needs help building his own Monastery that will house, feed, clothe and educate his monks up to a university standard so they may carry on his excellent work sharing how to live a peaceful and harmonious life with people around the world. The Monastery will also help house, feed and clothe many Tibetan refugees in exile and provide a welcoming prayer and retreat space for Rinpoche's global friends and Sangha.

At present Rinpoche faces many limitations in correctly performing his duties and fulfilling his responsibility as the head of The Yega Choling Monastery as he currently lives in a small 15” x 15” room within the Gaden Khangtsen Monastery hostel in Karnataka State, South India. When his friends and followers visit Rinpoche they have to stay at nearby hotels and lodges and sometimes he also stays at his friend's house when performing major pujas and ceremonies as these require bigger space and resources.

100% of donations (minus the small Gofundme transaction fee) go directly to Ahbay Rinpoche's Monastery fund. Your offering will be of great value and highly meaningful as it helps create a space where even more prayers can be sent out for the benefit of all sentient beings and the doors of the Monastery will be open for all friends and supporters to visit. Rinpoche has dedicated his life to helping others and through this project his benefit can keep increasing but he cannot manifest it alone, so he needs our support and commitment.

***AUGUST 2023 UPDATE***

Thanks to all of your kind and generous donations Ahbay Rinpoche has been making great progress with his Monastery project and we want to update you as to how your phenomenal donations are being invested.

Rinpoche acquired 3 sections of land within a five minute walk from the main Gaden Jangtse Monastery where he currently resides. In total the land covers around 5.5 acres, the 1st section of land is to be used as farmland, the 2nd section will house the Monastery and houses and the 3rd section of land hosts the abundant orchard of fruit trees.

The initial focus was on preparing the land and creating a truly magnificent Monastery permaculture project. This important work has already regenerated hard unused land into a bountiful area that will be able to sustainably feed the Monastery, its visitors and its surrounding neighbours.

The next stage of the project is a big push to start laying the foundations and building the Monastery itself. Rinpoche is so very grateful to each and every one of you for your tremendous generosity practice in helping him get this far and hopes and prays you will be able to continue to support the coming building costs which break down as follows:

MONASTERY BUILDING COSTS

Main Temple = £40,952

Library = £4,285

Yoga Room = £2,857

Torma Room = £2,952

Office = £4,285

Guest Bedrooms & Bathrooms = £25,714

Rinpoche’s Bedroom & Bathroom = £5,238

Rinpoche’s Kitchen & Dining Room = £5,523

Rinpoche’s Meditation Room = £10,476

Rinpoche’s Living Room = £2,857

Monk Students Bedrooms & Bathrooms = £51,428

Common Toilets & Bathrooms = £2,619

Laundry Rooms = £1,904

Main Living Room = £5,238

Main Kitchen = £5,324

Main Dining Room = £1,428

Metal Corrugated Roof = £2,274

If your good karma and fortune means you are in a position to sponsor a whole area of the Monastery as detailed above Rinpoche will be very happy to dedicate the area in your name or the name of a loved one with many prayers and a framed photo or plaque in the room you have sponsored - Please mention this in your message when you donate.

Initially the land acquired was very hard so Rinpoche and his team organised tractors and JCBs to plough and till the soil to soften it and to clean the entire area before planting hundreds of fruit trees that will surround the Monastery and the houses when they are built.

Once the soil was clean and soft, lines were marked out for planting and many ditches were dug for planting. Various types of seeds and different kinds of trees like bananas, mangos, guava, bananas, coconuts, lemons, papaya and a multitude of other varieties of fruit trees.

There was just one water source on the land which was not enough as Rinpoche naturally wanted to make sure they had enough water supply to properly feed the miles of irrigation pipes needed to keep the trees hydrated. In order to remedy this, an expert was employed to identify a second source of primary water on the land and another pump was set up so there will be a plentiful supply of water to ensure the trees have abundant irrigation and hydration.

Many local Indian workers helped to prepare the soil, dig the ditches, implement the water irrigation system and plant the trees and extensive prayers and pujas were performed by Rinpoche and his monks to bless the land and the earth and for the prosperity and growth of the trees and plants.

1950 fruit trees have been planted so far and in the coming weeks and months 1500 more will be planted plus of course many flowers and ornamental plants will be planted around the main Monastery temple.

You will see from the photos below that the prayers for the land and trees as they were planted were dedicated to the names of all you wonderful sponsors who have kindly donated. You can be sure that you are a very important part of this project and we hope you are able to continue to support its momentum now as it moves forward.

All of the produce the farmland and fruit orchard will provide will be used to ensure the Monastery is sustainable and can live off its own land and can share its produce with all its visitors, local residents and neighbouring monasteries.

Rinpoche is always very happy to receive and host his friends from all around the world and if you are lucky enough to visit him you will even be able to pick your own fruits for breakfast from around the Monastery!

A specialist engineer and architect have been hand picked by Rinpoche to draw up the plans for the Monastery and the surrounding houses and the final blueprint official 3D architectural plans have now been created.

Geshe Lama Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche’s Story

Ahbay Rinpoche was born in Darjeeling, India, in 1973 (in exile from Tibet), and in 1980, when he was seven years old, he became a monk at Gaden Jangtse Monastery in South India.

After 2 years of being at the Monastery at 9 years old, in 1982, he took vows to become fully initiated into monkhood under the tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Khabche Ling Rinpoche who gave him the name Thupten Tendar.

In 1985, when he was twelve, His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognised him as the reincarnation of the hermit Lama Ahbay Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, who lived in a cave and was famous for his supernatural powers.

In the same year, he was enthroned as Lama Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche Jigme Thupten Tender in the Gaden Jangtse Monastery in South India.

In his previous incarnation as hermit Lama Ahbay Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, the animals of the forest, deer, and monkeys would come to him, and people from all walks of life would seek him out for blessings.

Lama Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche was the founder of the Yega Choling Monastery in Tibet. Therefore Lama Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche Jigme Thupten Tendar has inherited full responsibility for the Yega Choling Monastery and its monks.

From the age of 13 to 35 years old (1986 to 2008), Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche studied in depth the 5 major texts of Sutra Tibetan Buddhism philosophy within the Gelupa lineage. Then, at 36 years old, he attained a Geshe degree, which is a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy (PhD).

After becoming a Geshe he studied Tantric Buddhist philosophy for a further year at Guymed Tantric Monastery University.

Geshe Lama Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche travels the world to share his teachings and blessings at the invitation of friends and students and is much loved by all who meet him.

He has become well-known in many countries such as the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, USA and Malaysia for his meaningful, gentle and wise teachings on finding and creating peace, mindfulness, compassion and happiness.

In these times of great turbulence, his gentle, approachable nature and great sense of humour enhance his ability to bring life-changing experiences to all who have the good fortune to meet with him.

Keep in touch with Geshe Lama Ahbay Tulku Rinpoche

Ahbay Rinpoche is always delighted to make new friends and connections and if you share your contact details* with him he is very good at staying in touch!

*If you wish to share your contact details and be added to a mailing list so we can keep you up to date with when Rinpoche next comes to your country please click the contact organiser button below and send the following information:

- Your Location

- Full Name

- Email Address

- Phone Number (optional)

- Message for Rinpoche (optional)

- How you heard about this gofundme page (optional)

Rinpoche greatly appreciates your incredible kindness and generosity practice to support his Monastery project, and we humbly thank you for your support from the bottom of our hearts because it's through phenomenally generous people like you that Rinpoche's important work in the world is possible