Windhorse

The Windhorse (དར་ལྕོག) is a legendary Tibetan creature, considered to carry prayers from the earth to the heavenly gods using the strength and speed of the wind. This basic symbol is thought to possess powerful energy—an energy that carries colossal power to the lives of all beings who come into contact with …

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན། ) is the major religion of Tibetans around the world. It covers the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism along with Tantric and Shamanic rituals, and is in some part influenced by Bon, the ancient, indigenous religion of Tibet. Apart from the traditions of koras, prayer flags, mantras, and …

Sertar (Seda)

Seda (色达) is located at an elevation of about 4,000 meters in a remote valley on the Tibetan Plateau, in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the western part of Sichuan province in China. The Tibetans know Seda by the name of Sertar (གསེར་ཐར།), which means Golden Horse. Though Sertar …

Saka Dawa

Saka Dawa (also known as Saga Dawa) (ས་ག་ཟླ་བ།) represents the holiest and most sacred days in Tibetan Buddhism. Falling on the fourth month of the Tibetan Calendar, the religious festivities of Saka Dawa peak on the 15th Lunar Day when there is a full moon. This day is associated with …

Sertar Larung Gar (school & monastery)

Population Explosion at Sertar Larung Gar Known around the world as the largest school for Tibetan Buddhism, Sertar Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Institute and Monastery (གསེར་རྟ་བླ་རུང་དགོན་པ།) has caused the population of its surrounding town to grow exponentially in recent years. This monastic community is located in a remote and treeless …

Rongwu Monastery

Rongwu Monastery

History of Rongwu Monastery Named for the Rongwu River, which it is located alongside, the Rongwu Monastery (རོང་པོ་དགོན་པ།)rests in Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and is less than 200 km from Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province. The Monastery first began as a site for three temples in 1341. …

Nyingma Sect

The Nyingma sect (རྙིང་མ་པ། ) of Tibetan Buddhism is the oldest amongst the four schools and the second largest after Gelugpa sect. Nyingma in Tibetan means “ancient” and has roots going back to the 8th century when the indigenous Bon religion was strongly adhered to by Tibetans. The Nyingma sect …

Gelugpa Sect

The Gelugpa Sect  (དགེ་ལུགས་པ།)of Tibetan Buddhism, despite being the youngest, is the largest and most important school of thought. Having emerged in the 15th Century through the reforming efforts of Tsongkhapa, adherance to the Gelugpa sect is considered to be purest form of Tibetan Buddhism. The sect achieved its peak …

Chorten (Stupa)

A row of chortens

Chorten or Stupa (མཆོད་རྟེན་དཀར་པོ།) is an important religious monument in Buddhism, symbolizing Buddha’s presence. It also holds precious Buddhist relics and sometimes even preserved bodies of renowned lamas. Tibetans believe that performing Koras of the monument is an act of high merit. Structure of Chorten The shape of the Stupa …