Six Monk representatives from Gaden Shartse Monastery
on India
return to Austin once again for an event filled 10 days!
The Shartse monastery to which these monks belong,
has a long history beginning in the 15th century.
Today the monastery provides educational opportunities
and is a thriving community.
Accommodation, food, and instruction are all free
and are provided by the monastic administration.
Shartse
Monastery offers complete basic courses in Tibetan History,
Literature, Poetry, Grammar, English, and Mathematics
as prerequisites for more advanced courses.
Additionally, there are optional subjects such as Painting,
Calligraphy, Tailoring, Tibetan Butter Sculpture formation,
and Sand Mandala creation. Aside from the two English language
and mathematics teachers who are recruited from outside the Monastery,
every member of the staff has graduated from the Monastery.
Teachers are considered to be the source of both academic
and spiritual development of their students.
Following the democratic constitution promulgated by
His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1964, all Tibetan institutions now
function as parts of a democratic government.
Although privately administered,
the College is also administered on an election basis.
Every three years eight board members are elected to serve as directors.
Unlike other active educational centers of its size in India,
Gaden Shartse
Monastery does not receive any government funding
from India or abroad.
Thus the need to meet the financial obligations of the Monastery is urgent.
There are very limited and unreliable sources of income,
and the majority of revenue is generated from tours abroad.
There will be several opportunities during their stay in Austin,
to learn of the Tibetan and monastic way of life.
