Taklung Kagyu Monastery
Tinchuli, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Pal Kadgyu Shedrup Tashi Dhargay Phuntsok Ling monastery in Tinchuli, Kathmandu is a centre for the study and practice of the precious Taklung Kagyu teachings. These teachings began with the great master Taklung Tangpa in the twelfth century and have been widespread in Kham Riwoche, Tibet ever since.

Riwoche Monastery Tibet

For eight-hundred years this wonderful monastery was among the greatest in Tibet. Its construction was unique, its monks vast in number, and it is said that its halls were filled with gold statues, and precious texts written in pure gold and silver: there were twenty sets of the one hundred and two volumes of the Words of the Buddha (Kangyur) alone. The monastery was built to teach, practice, and transmit the precious Taklung Kagyu teachings under the guidance of His Holiness Shabdrung Rinpoche, His Holiness Jedrung Rinpoche, and His Holiness Phakchock Rinpoche.

The teachings of the Taklung Kagyu were passed down from Tilopa, through Naropa, Marpa, Mila, Gampopa, and then to Gampopa’s student Pagmo Drupa. Pagmo Trupa’s main student was Taklung Tanga Tashi Pal, known as the one with supreme devotion. He was the founder of the Taklung Kagyu lineage. The Taklung Kagyu is of course mainly Kagyu, but it also contains teachings from the Nyingma school. For example, the very special Nyingma teachings of the masters Sange Wön and Jedrung Jampal Jung-ney.

After the Cultural Revolution in Tibet, monks, texts, and practices were scattered in all directions. Some of the Taklung Kagyu monks and practitioners found their way to Boudhanath in Kathmandu, Nepal to the side of the re-incarnation of their teacher, the 7th Phakchok Rinpoche. The community of lay people and monastics acquired a small piece of land and began to build a small monastery. In the year 2000, the responsibility of this monastery, Pal Kadgyu Shedrup Tashi Dhargay Phuntsok Ling, was passed to Phakchok Rinpoche.

 
Before works began                               March of 2009

At that time, the construction work was significantly incomplete. Now however, with the help of many of Rinpoche’s students and their generous support, we have completed the construction of the previously existing buildings and are in the process of adding on another ten rooms so that more monks can come and join the monastery. The upcoming works include:
1) Finishing the sanitation;
2) Furnishing the new monks’ rooms and classrooms;
3) Installing electrical fixtures in the new monks’ rooms and classrooms;
4) Painting both the inside and outside of the new monks’ quarters;
5) Building a retaining wall to secure the previously built rooms on the lower side of the monastery;
6) Renovating and fitting the new kitchen, dining hall, and store room;
7) Building a new staircase for access to the new monks’ quarters; and
8) Building three small roofs on the new monks’ quarters to protect them from the monsoon rainwater.

In the near future, we would also like to install solar electricity panels so that we no longer need to rely on the scarce government power supply. We are also planning to install rainwater harvesting, so that we can not only solve the monastery’s water supply problem, but also reduce the monastery’s use of ground water and government water, both of which are already in scarce supply.

 before Monks quarters                              March 2009 Monks quarters

The works done so far have completely transformed the monastery; the monks’ living conditions have greatly improved and the monastery has now become a place where the monks can begin to really study and practice. Here the treasury of the Taklung Kagyu teachings is being reassembled, brought back to life for future generations. Once these last few construction works are finished, many more young monks will be able to come and join the monastery. In the near future, sixty young monks at a time will be trained to study, practice, and pass on these unique teachings.