To the sounds of chanting from a number of Buddhist traditions, including Tibetan, Sri Lankan, and Thai schools of Buddhism, along with a Mongolian throat singer, practitioners welcomed the newly expanded Gaden Samdrupling Buddhist Monastery in Colerain Township, northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. The ceremony was open to the public and took place on 22 November. Also included at the event was blessing from renowned teacher His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche.

Before the event, Jamyang Lama, a resident teacher and monk at Gaden Samdrupling, said, “It’s a very rare and special opportunity for us to be able to have him come and open this place in the monastery.” (WVXU)

According to a press release, His Holiness is:

. . . the eighteenth in a lineage of eminent Indian and Tibetan masters and 4th in the line of Trijang Rinpoches. The supreme reincarnation was born on October 15, 1982, in a Tibetan family in Dalhousie, Northern India and was officially recognized by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on April 23, 1985. Rinpoche has completed his primary studies under his root guru H.E. Kyabje Lati Rinpoche and Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche. Presently Rinpoche is doing further studies under the guidance of H.E. Dagpo Rinpoche, H.E. Yongyal Rinpoche.

(WVXU)

In a Facebook post following the event, Colerain Township observed:

What a beautiful ceremony!

Today, the Gaden Samdrupling Monastery held an opening blessing ceremony for the new Buddhist temple here in Colerain Township. Renowned Buddhist Teacher His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche and others were present to say a few words. There were also several talented musicians who performed during the ceremony.

In 2007, the GSL Monastery purchased 8.5 acres of land in Colerain Township so that a new gompa (meditation space or temple) could be built on the grounds. The Monastery was built according to traditional Tibetan architectural design.

(Facebook)

Greg Griffith, a longtime student of Ven. Jamyang Lama and Ven. Geshe Kuten Lama, said of the event: “Today, after a long wait, and many challenges including a wait for donations and the right adjacent property, construction, and the disappointments of further delays due to COVID, we finally held our grand opening of our monastery at Gaden Samdrupling.” He added: “It was a wonderful event with more than 30 monks, nuns, lamas, geshes, and rinpoches, traditional Mongolian musicians, more than 200 people and Tibetan monastery food. I feel very lucky to be a small part of it. . . .” (Facebook)

Jamyang Lama noted that the temple was built with eco-friendly, sustainable, and modern materials, while maintaining a historic aesthetic, and that the space would have areas set aside for community gathering as well as a private residence to house monks and visiting teachers.

“We tried to build it [like] a traditional Buddhist monastery you can see in Himalayas, in the mountains of Tibet, and so forth. When you go in there, you will see this unique kind of architectural building with many kinds of different colors and so forth. So, if you can’t travel to Nepal, India, or faraway Tibet, you can just come here to just get a glimpse of the experience of cultural Tibetan Buddhism,” he said. (WVXU)

The monastery follows in the Gelug tradition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

See more

Tibetan Buddhism teacher will offer blessing on new temple in Colerain Township (WVXU)
Gaden Samdrupling Monastery (Facebook)
Trijang Buddhist Institute

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