The Kumbum Chamtse Ling Monastery–located on the grounds of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center–is dedicated to the promotion of world peace and harmony. It fosters interfaith dialogue and is open to persons of all faiths who wish to come to the temple to meditate, participate in retreat programs, and attend Buddhist Dharma teachings.

The monastery is a result of the vision of Thubten Norbu (Tagtser Rinpoche) who was determined to promote interfaith dialogue in the Bloomington, Indiana area and, indeed, throughout the world.

The Chamtse Ling Temple cornerstone was laid by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in July 1996 when he visited the center to give a teaching on “Aspirational Bodhichitta.” At that time, he gave the temple its name: “Chamtse Ling” or “Field of Compassion.”

Construction of the temple began in 2002 and was finally completed in 2003. His Holiness returned to the Tibetan Cultural Center in September 2003 and consecrated the temple in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that involved members of 11 faiths: Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Society of Friends, Bahai, Jewish, Hindu, Shinto, Sikh,Unitarian, and Native American. Muhammed Ali, a member of the religion of Islam, was a special guest who co-hosted the ceremony with His Holiness.

Under the new direction proposed by His Holiness, the temple has been renamed “Kumbum Chamtse Ling Monastery” in honor of the great Kumbum Monastery located in Eastern Tibet. Our resident monks from Kumbum are working with Arjia Rinpoche in creating “Kumbum West”–a learning institution dedicated to the teaching of Language, Philosophy, Medicine/ Astrologolical Sciences, and Meditation.

These resident monks are active in performing Community Service in the Bloomington area.  Once a week, they devote three hours of their time to helping out at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard or serving a meal at the Shalom Center.  In addition, our Spiritual Teacher, Geshe Lotin, and our translator, Tenzin Namgyal, make monthly visits to the inmates at the Putnam County Correctional Facility to help the men grow in their spiritual development.

The Spiritual Teacher at Kumbum Chamtse Ling is Geshe Lobtin (Lotin). He arrived from Drepung Gomang, a refugee monastery in south India, in July of 2003. Geshe-la gives Dharma teachings each Sunday and conducts a question/answer session each Thursday. Geshe Lobtin

Board of Directors

Arjia Rinpoche, President and Director
Sudhaka Koneru, Treasurer
Mary Pattison, Secretary
Peggy Hitchcock, Friend
Curtis Jones, Friend
Elaine Irwin Mellencamp, Friend
Harry Strope, Friend
Robert Thurman, Professor of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.