Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery (bo-tw|t=སེ་ར་|w=Se-ra) (Se ra Theng chen gling) is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery. The origin of the name 'Sera' is not certain, but it may derive from the fact that the original site was surrounded by 'Wild Roses' ("se ra" in Tibetan). The original Sera monastery was in Lhasa, Tibet, about 5 km north of the Jokang in Lhasa. After the Chinese took control of Tibet in 1959, it was reconsituted in Bylakuppe [http://jace.seacrow.com/pics/places/bylakuppe Personal journal, Jonnalagadda Chandra Kiran] —photos taken by a tourist of the monastery and village in Bylakuppe.] , India, near Mysore.

History

Sera was founded in 1419, by Jamchen Chojey (Sakya Yeshe), a disciple of Tsong Khapa.

Like the Drepung and Ganden monasteries, it had several colleges:

Sera Mey Dratsang, built in 1419, which gave basic instruction to the monks. Sera Jey Dratsang, built in 1435, was the largest, and was reserved for wandering monks, especially Mongol monks. Ngagpa Dratsang, built in 1559, was a school for the teaching of the Gelukpa tantras.

Sera housed more than 5,000 monks in 1959. Although badly damaged, it is still standing and has been largely repaired. It now houses a few hundred Buddhist monks. [http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/tibet/lhasa/sera.htm Sera Monastery: Tibet Lhasa Travel Guide] —provides some history of Sera Monastery in Tibet, as well as information for tourists in Tibet who are interested in visiting the old monastery.]

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the destruction of the majority of the monasteries in Tibet, Sera monastery was reformed in Bylakuppe, India, near Mysore.

Because none of the monks of the Ngagpa Dratsang (Tantric College) survived the invasion [http://www.tibet.org/glow/seraje/seraje1.html Wildlife, Tamed Mind] —interview with David Patt, Glow Magazine, Spring, 1996. Contains some discussion of the rebuilding of Sera, and of the fate of Ngagpa Dratsang.] , only the Sera Mey College and Sera Jey College were reformed in India. [http://www.world-view.org/sera/ Sera Mey Monastery (Asian Classics Institute)] — Information about the new monastery in Bylakuppe]

Graduates of Sera Jey College who are known in the west include:
* Geshe Lhundub Sopa, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
* Geshe Rabten, an eminent monk who directed Tharpa Chloing Buddhist Center in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland
* Lama Thubten Yeshe, founder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPTM)
* Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, founder of the New Kadampa Tradition
* Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, a student of Lama Yeshe and presently director of FPMT

Graduates of Sera Mey college who are known in the west include:
* Pabongka Rinpoche—Author of Liberation in the Palm of Your Hands - a contorversial figure who lives in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
* Geshe Michael Roach
* Sermey Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin—former abbot of Sera Mey university in Bylakuppe

References

Other sources

*Dowman, Keith. 1988. "The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide". Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0
* [http://www.thdl.org/collections/cultgeo/mons/sera/ The Sera Monastery Project] at the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (THDL)
* [http://www.serajeyngari.org Ngari Khangtsen - hostel at Sera Jey Monestary, Bylakuppe]

External links

* [http://www.thdl.org/collections/cultgeo/mons/sera/hermitages/ The Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library Page on the Hermitages at Sera]
* [http://kekexili.typepad.com/life_on_the_tibetan_plate/2007/03/sera_monastery.html Life on the Tibetan Plateau: Sera Monastery]