bKra shis sMan ri

sMan ri Monastery is located in Thob rgyal xiang in rNam

gling rdzong, Shigatse. From the sTag gru kha ferry, it is a full day’s ride on

horseback. On the way there are two farming villages, mDzob bzang and Glang

phu. Two high mountain passes called Gong nyag la and dByar rnga la must be

crossed before reaching the monastery. Another route, passable by car, starting

at Shigatse, goes through rNam gling rdzong up to Thob rgyal xiang. From there to the monastery, halfway up the mountain, is a

half-day ride on horseback.

The monastery was founded in 1405 by mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan

(1356-1415), formerly a monk in gYas ru dBen sa kha. His successor, rGyal tshab

Rin chen rgyal mtshan, enlarged it with several monks’ living quarters. After

having been gradually expanded over four centuries, the monastery became an

important centre for the propagation of Bonpo doctrines. Apart from having two

assembly halls, it had many buildings and there were about three hundred monks

divided among four monastic colleges: Gling stod, Gling smad, Gling skad and

Gling zur and six hostels (khang tshan): A sta, Rong mi,

La dbyil, rGyal rong, Grub thob and Drel pa. The monk students came from

various regions of Tibet. Among the Bonpo, the monastery was considered the

source of all their monastic and liturgical traditions.

From the founder of the monastery, mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan, to the

abbot Shes rab blo gros, there were thirty-two abbots. The last abbot, Shes rab

blo gros, fled to India in 1959 and later died there. The monastery itself was

completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and remained unrestored for

about twenty years. Rebuilding of the monastery did not begin until 1984, and

it is still under reconstruction.

In 1970, the new sMan ri Monastery was founded at Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh,

India. With this establishment, the monastic tradition of sMan ri has been

revived through the efforts of its abbot, Lung rtogs bstan pa’i nyi ma

(b.1929), who is now counted as the thirty-third abbot of sMan ri.

The monastery had a system of abbotship. Abbots were appointed by a lottery

from among those well versed in religious philosophy and holding the dge bshes degree. The line of abbots is as follows:

1. Shes rab rgyal mtshan (1356-1415)
2. Rin chen rgyal mtshan
3. Nam mkha’ ye shes
4. Kun bzang rgyal mtshan
5. bsTan ’dzin rin chen rgyal mtshan
6. Tshul khrims rgyal mtshan
7. bSod nams ye shes
8. bSod nams g-yung druung
9. She tsu drung mu
10. Shes rab ’od zer
11. gYung drung rgyal mtshan
12. Shes rab blo gros
13. Shes rab ’od zer (2nd)
14. gTsug phud ’od zer
15. gYung drung tshul khrims
16. Rin chen ’od zer
17. Rin chen lhun grub
18. Shes rab bstan ’dzin
19. Shes rab dbang rgyal
20. gYung drung dbang rgyal
21. Phun tshogs rnam rgyal
22. bSod nams blo gros
23. Nyi ma bstan ’dzin
24. bSod nams phun tshogs
25. Shes rab g-yung drung
26. Sangs rgyas bstan ’dzin
27. bsTan ’dzin Tshul khrims
28. Phun tshogs blo gros
29. rGyal ba blo gros
30. bsTan pa blo gros
31. Nyi ma dbang rgyal
32. Shes rab blo gros
33. Lung rtogs bstan pa’i nyi ma

• mkhan po

• slob dpon

• dbu mdzad

• dge bskos

• bla brang gnyer pa

• grwa tshang spyi gnyer

• spyi gnyer

• spyi khyab

• las pa

• dkon gnyer

• khang tshan dge rgan

Sixty novices and monks

Students receive two lessons daily, each lasting one to two hours. In summer

and autumn, the monks usually go back to their homes.

Bonpo monasteries in Hor and Kong po regions send their young monk students to

be trained in sMan ri, where they receive education in traditional learning,

such as poetry, and training in elementary and advanced studies in Bonpo

metaphysics. Upon graduation, they return to their monasteries.

Besides their daily studies, the monks perform regular and frequent religious

services dedicated to the tutelary (yi dam) and protective

(bka’ skyong) deities.

• First month: on the 4th and 5th days, commemoration of the anniversary of

  the birth of mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan; from the 6th to the 15th, the

  examination of the candidates for the dge bshes degree;

  on the 8th, the bya mjal ceremony; on the 10th, a

  performance of the ritual cycle of Tshe dbang rig ’dzin; on the 14th and

  15th, the memorial service of the birth of sTon pa gShen rab.

• Second month: from the 19th day of the second month to the 9th day of the

  fourth month, twenty-one monk students went into retreat at dByar skya

  hermitage to devote themselves exclusively to debate.

• Fourth month: from the 10th day, all the hostels held assemblies of their

  own for prayers.

• Fifth month: a performance of the dgu gtor rite,

  which ended with the gtor rgyag ceremony and the ’cham dance.

• Sixth month: on the 10th day, performance of the ritual cycle of Tshe

  dbang rig ’dzin at ’Khrungs gzhis, the house of the Bru family situated

  below the monastery.

• Seventh month: from the 25th to the 29th, a performance of the ritual

  known as sPyi rim chen mo, based on the ritual cycles of Khro bo and Phur

  pa; the ceremony ended with the following ’cham dances:

  gShen rab dgu ’cham, gYung drung dgu ’cham, rNam brgyad, sTag ’cham and Seng

  ’cham, and the gtor rgyag ceremony called Me ri

  rtse.

• Eighth month: the celebration of the New Year, for thirteen days, during

  which all the monks were customarily served tea and barley flour.

• Ninth month: a performance of the ritual devoted to sMra ba’i seng ge,

  deity of wisdom, for a week, ending with the empowerment ceremony.

• Tenth month: offerings of the sacrificial cake a thousand times to sTag

  la me ’bar.

About the twelfth month some monks from the monastery were sent to perform

various rituals at the palace of the sacred Bonpo family known as Bru, situated

below the monastery. From the 17th century the palace was called ’Khrungs

gzhis, the ‘Birth place’, since the Second Panchen Lama, Blo bzang ye shes

(1663-1737), and the Fifth Panchen Lama, bsTan pa’i dbang phyug (1854-1882),

were both born to the Bru family.

The monastery provides tea and gruel at noon for monk students. As for the

regular monks in the monastery, their families are responsible for their living

expenses or in some cases the monks make a living reciting prayers and

conducting religious ceremonies outside the monastery. In summer and autumn

almost all the monks return to their homes.

There is a set of the bKa’ ’gyur published

by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87, and a printed

copy of The Collected Works of mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan printed in

Chamdo.

Money and articles donated by patrons are used mainly for the restoration of

the monastery and meals for the monk students.

There are two villages, Gang kha and sDing phu, at the foot of Mount sMan ri;

the villagers, who are farmers, are all followers of Bon.

On the 3rd day of the first month and 14th of the fifth month of the Tibetan

calendar all the villagers take part in the ceremony of propitiation of the

local deity of Mount dBal ri behind sDing phu village.

Agriculture

Ra lag (or Ru lag) gYung drung gling

Starting from the sTag gru kha ferry on the Lhasa-Shigatse highway, one arrives

at gYung drung gling Monastery after crossing a small bridge on the ’O yul Ra

chu river. When the river rises in summer, this small bridge is impassable;

instead, one must take a roundabout way, crossing another bridge, which takes

an hour to get to the monastery.

The monastery was founded by sNang ston Zla ba rgyal mtshan (b.1796) in 1834 on

the bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo river, at the foot of Mount ’O lha rGyal bzang.

Later, the second abbot, sKal bzang nyi ma (b.1841), extended it. Nyi ma bstan

’dzin (b.1813), the 23rd abbot of sMan ri Monastery, came to help set up

philosophical studies and became the chief teacher there. Later, the 5th abbot

of the monastery, mKhan chen Shes rab blo ldan, further extended the monastery

by building the temple mThong grol lha khang, and Shes rab grags pa, who was a

chief teacher, had the large assembly hall (’du khang)

built. There was a residence for the abbot (bla brang) and seven hostels (khang tshan) for the monk students, as well as individual

houses for the chief teacher and the monks who completed their studies.

Formerly, the monastery possessed a great number of gilt-bronze and copper

statues, including those of rNam par rgyal ba. In the temples there were

reliquary gilt-copper stupas containing the remains of abbots. The monastery

was an important seat of learning for Bonpo monks coming from Amdo, rGyal rong,

Khyung po, Hor, Khams and nomad regions in Byang thang. It was particularly

renowned for its extensive library and had its own woodblocks for printing

religious texts. There were normally about two hundred monks resident in the

monastery.

The 9th abbot, Shes rab bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1911-1979), had a large gilded

rooftop erected on the main hall; he also had a gilt-copper statue of rNam par

rgyal ba made, two storeys high. In 1959 he fled to India, and the monastery

itself was razed to the ground in 1965 during the Cultural Revolution. In 1982

Shes rab bstan ’dzin and Kun gsal blo gros, who were monks in the monastery

before its destruction, were put in charge of its reconstruction. They managed

to have the assembly hall and two temples rebuilt.

The monastery had a system of abbotship. Abbots were appointed by a lottery

from among those well versed in religious philosophy and having the dge bshes degree. The line of abbots of the monastery is as

follows:

1. sNang ston Zla ba rgyal mtshan
2. sKal bzang nyi ma
3. Phun tshogs dbang rgyal
4. Tshul khrims dbang rgyal
5. Shes rab blo ldan
6. Shes rab bstan pa’i nyi ma
7. Blo gros rgyal mtshan
8. Blo gros nyi ma
9. Shes rab bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan

• mkhan po

• slob dpon

• dbu mdzad

• dge bskos

• bla brang gnyer pa

• sgrub khang a mchod

• mchod dpon

• las pa

• dkon gnyer

• khang tshan dge rgan

• ja g-yog

Presently the monastery has no abbot, but there are about forty monk

students.

Monks are required to study both elementary and religious philosophy, mainly in

winter and spring. Since its reconstruction after the Cultural Revolution, the

monastery has kept seven dge bshes.

At present, other Bonpo monasteries, mainly in dBus and gTsang regions, send

their monks to study in gYung drung gling, and they are to return to their own

monasteries after completing their studies. In addition, various monasteries,

such as sKyid mkhar Ri zhing (No.4) and Pus mo sgang (No.8) in Gro mo, invite

tutors from gYung drung gling to their monasteries for a few months at a

time.

These consist of offering daily prayers and the propitiation of the monastery’s

protective deities.

- First month: on the 5th day, the memorial service of mNyam med Shes rab rgyal

mtshan; then, up to the 15th day, a debate on metaphysics ending with the

examination for the dge bshes degree.

- Fourth month: a congregation for prayers and debate for fifteen days.

- Fifth month: on the 15th, a performance of the ’Dzam gling spyi bsang ritual,

based on the brNgan bsang chen mo by sTong rgyung mthu chen.

- Eighth month: a festival celebrating the founding of the monastery.

- Eleventh month: on the 7th, the memorial service for the death of the founder

of the monastery.

- Twelfth month: from the 25th to the 30th, a performance of the dgu gtor rite, ending with the performance of religious

dances. In addition, the bskang gso ritual is regularly

performed for the guardians of the monastery.

During the summer the monks go to recite scriptures at private homes of farmers

and herdsmen in areas such as Nagchukha, Hor, and Khyung po. The rest of the

time the monks stay in the monastery, and their families provide their daily

necessities.

These include five sets of the bKa’ ’gyur

published by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87,

and two sets of The Collected Works of mNyam med Sherab rgyal mtshan and more

than ten separate volumes of scriptures.

The money the monks earn by conducting religious ceremonies and reciting

prayers is used mainly for the renovation of the monastery. No detailed account

is set up for this.

There are fifty households in Ru lag village, where followers of Bon and rNying

ma pa live together. The villagers are farmers who engage mainly in grain

production and also keep a small number of livestock.

Only the men and boys of each household participate in the propitiation

ceremony dedicated to the sacred mountain, ’O lha rGyal bzang, on the 3rd day

of the first month and the 15th of the fifth month.

Dar sding (also lding) Ri rgyal dgon; its formal name is Khri brtan nor bu

rtse.

A six-hour drive from Shigatse brings one to the seat of bZhad mthong smon

rdzong. From here it takes two hours to reach the monastery on foot. One can

also go there by bus.

Initially, there was only a small temple of the gShen family. In 1360 dMu gshen

Nyi ma rgyal mtshan, the fifteenth successor in the gShen lineage, not only

expanded the temple but also built the assembly hall and renamed Ri rgyal Khri

brtan nor bu rtse. It is situated on Mount Ri rgyal behind the village called

Dar sding. The seat of the gShen family is in Dar sding village, where the

temple known as gSer sgo khra mo was built in 1173 by Kun mkhyen Ye shes blo

gros, who was the ninth successor after gShen chen Klu dga’ (996-1035). In the

village there was the famous stupa called sKu ’bum rig byed khang. From the

beginning of the 15th century, the monastery became renown for its statues,

scriptures and stupas of the Bon religion. In 1966, during the Cultural

Revolution, the monastery on the mountain, the temple gSer sgo khra mo and the

great stupa were all completely destroyed. In 1982 the monks began to rebuild

the monastery. Led by Nor bu dbang rgyal, they first restored gSer sgo khra mo

in the village, then rebuilt Khri brtan nor bu rtse. It is said that there have

been twenty-five abbots from Kun mkhyen Ye shes blo gros to the present Nor bu

dbang rgyal.

Leadership was ensured by a system of abbotship, with the abbots coming mostly

from the gShen family.

Twenty monks

As the monastery has not organized any study classes for the monks, they have

to look for private tutors for their studies.

So far, this work has not yet begun.

Religious services dedicated to the tutelary and protective deities are

performed everyday.

• First month: on the 3rd day, a ceremony of offerings to the

  deities.

• Fourth month: on the 10th, offerings according to the Ma rgyud

  cycle.

• Fifth month: on the 10th, offerings according to the Ma rgyud

  cycle.

• Sixth month: on the 4th, a general ceremony of offerings to the tutelary

  deities.

• Seventh month: on the 1st, a general ceremony of offerings to the

  tutelary deities.

• Tenth month: on the 10th, offerings according to the Ma rgyud

  cycle.

• Eleventh month: on the 20th, a religious assembly for the practice of

  the Ma rgyud ritual cycle.

• Twelfth month: on the 15th, the anniversary of the birth of sTon pa

  gShen rab Mi bo.

Now and then, monks go to recite prayers and scriptures for Bon followers in

the nomad areas of Byang thang. They usually stay in the monastery or in their

homes, but they must be present for the offerings during the religious

assemblies and the religious services observed at certain times prescribed by

the monastery.

These include three sets of the bKa’ ’gyur

published by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87.

Each year the monastery organizes the monks to conduct religious ceremonies and

recite prayers at the homes of the herdsmen in the nomad area of Byang thang.

The money earned is used for the restoration of the monastery and for the

expenses of offerings during the religious assemblies and services observed at

certain prescribed times during the following year.

To the south of the monastery there is a village called Ne nang with about one

hundred households, and to the north a village named sKyid gzhong with about

forty households. The villagers in both are followers of Bon and are

farmers.

Each household in the village normally participates in all the following

ceremonies: a ceremony of offerings to the local deities on the 3rd day of the

first month of the Tibetan calendar, an important activity during the Tibetan

New Year; the Bumping Harvest Festival (called ’Ong skor) on the 4th of the

sixth month; a general ceremony of offerings to the local deities on the 1st of

the seventh month.

sKyid mkhar Ri zhing dgon

One can either drive from Pa nam rdzong, about thirty kilometres, or ride on

horseback directly from Gyantse by climbing over Yang ga pass. In the past,

when there was no road going straight there, one would go on horseback from

Gyantse. Ri zhing Monastery presently belongs to the sKyid mkhar xiang administration.

Ri zhing Monastery was founded by Zhu yas Legs po in the eleventh century. Zhu

sKye se chen po and Zhu sGrol ba gshen rgyal initiated the way of expounding

scriptures and practising Bonpo teachings, and because of this the monastery

became very famous. At the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682), Zhu bsTan

’dzin nyi rgyal was recognized as one of the high-ranking lamas in Tibet. It is

said that Zhu bsTan ’dzin nyi rgyal once had an audience with the Manchu

emperor and the Manchu court gave him a large number of gifts.

The monastery owned thirteen estates, which were donated by the Tibetan

government. It is said that there were once, in its heyday, East, West and

Middle hostels (khang tshan) with three hundred monks in

the monastery. Before 1959 there were sixty monks. It was totally destroyed

during the Cultural Revolution, and now only its ruins remain. About 1984 Tshe

ring rdo rje, a descendant of the Zhu family, organized a few households to

restore the hermitage called gYu ’brang phyug mo. Later, a small temple was

gradually built, but the site of the monastery has been moved to another

place.

In the past, the heads of the monastery were men of the Zhu family.

Ten

After joining the monastery, monks go for elementary studies and the study of

Bon doctrines in gYung drung gling (No.2) for a few years. Upon completion of

their studies, they return to the monastery to take part in normal religious

services.

With the exception of sending some monks for studies in gYung drung gling,

there are no exchanges with other monasteries.

These consist of daily prayers to the tutelary deities and religious services

dedicated to protective deities of the monastery.

• First month: on the 3rd day, the ceremony of offerings to the local

  deities on Mount sPo bo rtse dmar and also on Mount Zhu bo, which is

  situated behind the monastery; the celebration is joined in by all members

  of the local community.

• Sixth month: on the 15th day, the celebration of the festival known as

  sKyid po bla ma’i dus chen, ‘Festival of the joyous Lamas’; the celebration,

  which is held at the monastery, is attended by both the clergy and

  laymen.

The monks return to their homes whenever there are no religious assemblies in

the monastery. Although supplemented by the money they earn by going to recite

prayers and scriptures for laymen, they depend mainly on their families for

their daily necessities.

These include a set of the bKa’ ’gyur

published by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87,

and seven cases of the Chamdo edition of the Collected Works of mNyam med Shes

rab rgyal mtshan.

The monastery itself has no income at all, so each household in the village

contributes to the provision of all the expenses for the ceremony of

offerings.

There are, altogether, five villages with two hundred households, where

followers of Bon and Buddhism (dGe lugs pa) live together.

See Annual rituals above

Although the area is regarded as semi-agricultural and semi-nomad, the

villagers are mainly engaged in agricultural work.

dPal ri khud yang dben bde chen sgang

After driving 480 kilometres from Shigatse, one reaches Mount Mu la, whence a

further drive of thirty kilometres takes one to La phu village. The hermitage

is located near the village. Travellers on foot usually stay one night in

Tingri, then reach the hermitage early the next day.

bDe chen sgang was originally a hermitage established by the recluse sPa ston

dPal mchog (b.1040) of the sacred Bonpo family known as sPa, whose seat was

found in La phug village. Later, the hermitage was extended into a monastery by

sPa dPal ldan bzang po and then became an important centre of learning for

Bonpo followers in Western Tibet. The monastery produced several monk-scholars:

for example, Tre ston rGyal mtshan dpal who had compiled a type of

encyclopedia, in the monastery, of Bon and Buddhist doctrines, entitled Bon sgo gsal byed and the well-known historian, sPa bsTan rgyal

bzang po, who wrote several works in the same place in the 15th century. Later,

a branch of the sPa family migrated to Ye tha, in the Hor region, northern

Tibet, where it became prosperous, and as a result the monastery at La phug

declined and became once again a hermitage. It is still a small hermitage where

a few married religious practitioners (ser khyim)

reside.

The hermitage has no one leading it.

One monk and four ser khyim

The only monk has gone to study in gYung drung gling Monastery (No.2). He is

expected to return and teach other people.

These consist of performing frequent religious services dedicated to the

tutelary and protective deities in the sgrub khang

sanctuary.

The hermitage cannot afford to hold any religious assemblies and is not

expected to do so.

Apart from going out to recite scriptures and prayers, the ser

khyim live with their families most of the time.

There is a set of the bKa’ ’gyur published

by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87.

The meagre income of the hermitage is used for its renovation.

The local village is called La phug, where followers of Bon and Buddhism live

together.

The villagers propitiate local deities and erect propitiatory flags on the

mountain behind the hermitage on the 3rd day of the first month and the 14th of

the fifth month.

A semi-agricultural and semi-nomad settlement.

bZang ri dgon (often wrongly spelled Zangs ri); its formal name is lHun grub

mthong smon gling.

The monastery is situated on Mount bZang po ri, behind bZang ri village. It is

accessible by car. After reaching Nye mo bridge on the way from Lhasa to

Shigatse, and driving northward for eight kilometres, one arrives at the county

seat of Nye mo. From here a drive of three kilometres takes one to bZang ri

village.

bZang ri Monastery was founded in 1096 by mKhas pa Tshul khrims dpal chen. It

became a great centre for studies in metaphysics, where, over the years,

hundreds of monks studied. It was also a place where tantric meditation and

rituals were commonly practised. However, the monastery soon began to decline,

and did so for several generations. Later it was looked after by sPa ston ’Od

gsal rgyal mtshan, a descendant of the sPa family. This master’s main seat was

at sMan gong in Shangs. His chief disciple was Zhang ston Ba thang pa. There

then followed several masters, such as Zhang ston Tshul khrims blo ldan, Sum

ston lHa ’bum, Sum ston ’Dul ba bzang po, Sum ston bZang po dpal, mKhas grub

rGyal mtshan mchog legs of rMe’u and Rong ston Shes rab ’od zer, all of whom

were active in the monastery. The monastery was mainly maintained by the

members of the rMe’u family. There have been, altogether to date, forty

descendants of the rMe’u family down to the present rMe’u Nyi zla dbang grags.

The monastery was originally located east of bZang ri village and was destroyed

during the Cultural Revolution. In 1982, its site was moved up to the top of

the hill behind the village and was then rebuilt.

The monastery had successive abbots, who mainly came from the rMe’u family.

Fifteen.

This consists mainly of two aspects: 1) sending monks to gYung drung gling

Monastery (No.2) for elementary studies in philosophy; 2) teaching Bonpo

knowledge and conducting various rituals under the guidance of the old monks

within the monastery.

See No. 6 above.

These comprise mainly the reciting of prayers to invoke the tutelary (yi dam) and protective (bka’ skyong)

deities.

• Sixth month: on the 4th day, a ceremony of colouring the Bonpo

  images.

• Twelfth month: on the 29th, offerings to the local deities.

There is a copy of the bKa’ ’gyur published

by Ayung Lama and sKal bzang phun tshogs in Chengdu, 1985-87.

Normally it costs the monastery a large sum, in money and materials, for the

provision of meals at religious assemblies and for the renovation of the

monastery. So far no clear account is kept at hand. While the monastery

provides the monks with one meal every day, the monks have to bear the rest of

their living expenses themselves. From what he earns reciting prayers at

private homes, a monk is required to turn in one yuan per day to the monastery;

he is allowed to keep the rest.

There are 114 households in bZan ri village, all follow the Bon religion.

A ceremony of offerings by the whole village to the local deities on Mount

bZang ri is performed on the 4th day of the sixth month and the 29th of the

twelfth month.

The villagers mostly make their living as farmers, and are engaged in grain

production.

mKhar sna bsam gtan gling

mKhar sna Monastery was situated at the foot of Mount sMan ri. Since there is

no road leading to the place it can only be reached on horseback or on

foot.

Originally it was a hermitage in the hills where monks of gYas ru dBen sa kha

Monastery practised meditation. Shes rab g-yung drung (b.1838), the 25th Abbot

of sMan ri Monastery(No.1) expanded it into a monastery. It was completely

destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. To date, the monastery has not been

formally restored.

The full name is gSang sngags theg chen g-yung drung gling.

After a nine-hour drive from Shigatse, one reaches Ya tung in Gro mo, whence a

three-hour journey on foot takes one to Pus mo sgang. One can also drive

there.

Pus mo sgang Monastery was founded by gYung drung dbang rgyal, who was a hermit

living on Mount sKyid mu sman ri in Gro mo. The monastery was then maintained

by a series of fourteen masters up to bsTan pa rgya mtsho. He fled to Bhutan in

1959. The monastery was completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In

1985 its restoration began. Before 1959, there were sixty monks. gYung drung

tshe ring and his son Tshe ring dbang ’dus are in charge of the monastery.

The monastery had a system of abbotship.

Six

Two monks have been sent to study in gYung drung gling Monastery (No.2). Since

there are no formal study classes in the monastery, the rest of the young monks

learn prayers and scriptures under the guidance of the old monks.

With the exception of sending one or two monk students to study under the

master Kun gsal blo gros in gYung drung gling, there are no exchanges with

other monasteries.

These consist of the frequent performance of religious services dedicated to

the tutelary and protective deities, and the recitation of prayers and

scriptures.

• First month: on the 5th day, the memorial service of mNyam med Shes rab

  rgyal mtshan based on the gYung drung klong

  rgyas.

• Second month: on the 10th, a performance of the tshes

  bcu ceremony in which prayers are said to Dran pa nam mkha’ and his

  twin sons Tshe dbang rig ’dzin and Pad ma mthong grol.

• Third month: from the 13th to the 16th, a religious assembly.
• Fifth month: on the 13th and 16th, performances of religious services

  dedicated to the tutelary and protective deities, in which the common people

  near the monastery participate.

• Eleventh month: from the 7th to the 16th, a ceremony of offerings to the

  tutelary deity, during which time religious dances take place the whole day,

  as well as the propitiation of the local deity Brag btsan rgod ’bar ba on

  the mountain behind the monastery.

In summer and autumn the monks return to their homes to live with their

families; in winter and spring they go back to the monastery for religious

activities and studies.

There are sixteen cases of the Khro skyab edition of the Khams chen, a set of the Ngan

song sbyong ba’i gzungs written in gold and twelve cases of

scriptures given by gYung drung gling Monastery.

Since the monastery has a meagre income, the relevant expenses are mainly borne

by patrons.

There is one village with thirty-five households, all of whom are Bon

followers.

On the 3rd day of the first month, the 15th of the fourth month and the 16th of

the eleventh month, all the villagers take part in the ceremonies of offerings

to the local deities on Mount sPo bo tshe dmar and Mount Zhu bo ri at the back

of the monastery.

The villagers are mainly engaged in farming, with lumbering as a side

occupation.