The Shri Gautam Buddha Vihara, Swoyambhu

            Starting from long ago, the teachings of the resplendent Drukpa Kargyü had been propagated on a vast scale all over Nepal’s Himalayan ranges. Had a steady degeneration taken place in modern times; the esteem for the Drukpa School had eroded and its practices and even its texts had become exceedingly rare. Noticing this, and with in mind the vast goal of benefiting the teachings and transmigration beings, the esteemed Lama Thrinly Namgyel in 1985 made a fresh start with reestablishing the Drukpa Kargyü presence in Nepal. Many long years of constant hardship and enthusiastic perseverance eventually resulted in the completion of a fine five-storeyed monastery, built in the shape of “the Resplendent Copper-Colored Mountain” (Guru Rinpoche’s Buddha Sphere).

            Regarding its esteemed Lama Thrinley Namgyel: his principal Guru and mentor was Master Sonam Sangpo, a direct disciple of that leader among realized sages Shakya-shri who long ago took upon himself the burden of restoring “the three Stupas of Nepal”. Lama Thrineley Namgyel also bowed down to the feet of the Refuge Lord Thugsey, of the Gyalwang Karmapa, of the Refuge Lords Dudjom and Dilgo Kheyntse, of Precious Masters Pawo and Kalu Rinpoche; of Dungse Thrinley Norbu and the Lord Abbot Yonten Ho, of Khenchen Noryang, Refuge Lord Ade’u Rinpoche and others; receiving from them scriptural transmissions, empowerments, oral instructions and so forth. At present he has assumed the functions of religious administrator and main instructor.

            The genuine lineage of the resplendent Drukpa Kargyu started as follows. A miraculous transformation (i.e.’ later incarnation’) of Naropa, the chief among realized sages in the sacred country of India, and of Gampopa, the crown ornament of all the Transmitted Precepts (Kagyu), appeared as the supreme Dharma Lord and Protector of transmigrations Gyare Yeshe Dorje, thereby beyond dispute fulfilling an earlier prophecy. He was born in 1161, within Upper Nyang of the Central Tsang province in Tibet. Having attended upon the maha-siddha Ling-re and others, he took control of the capital of realization beyond meditation. He ‘opened the gate’ of the sacred place of Tsari (as a region fit for retreat practice) and experienced himself direct visions of Chakra Samvara and of the seven heroic Tathagata Buddha’s (of the present eon), and received from them a teaching on dependent arising. At Jan chub-ling in Nampu he perceived the emanations of nine great adepts (maha-siddhas) in the form of nine dragons and heard their roar; and in view of a karmic connection with their majestic flight, he gave to both the sacred spot and to the teaching transmitted there the name of “Drukpa”, i.e. ‘Dragon’. Establishing his spiritual headquarters at Druk, at Ralung in southern Tibet and at Longdol, he combined three essential instruction lineages into one, which was further disseminated from there. Starting from his heart-sons Pa and Kyang, Gya and Dre, Lo and Go, all of whom had taken his teachings to heart, his disciples soon became innumerable. From them originated the transmissions that eventually become known as the Upper, Lower and Middle Drukpa lineages. They gradually spread all over Tibet, all over India in places such as Ladakh, Garsha, Khunu, Spiti, Sikkim and elsewhere, and also in Bhutan and Nepal. Of recent they have further become diffused in South-East Asia, North & South America and Europe.

            Within the Shri Gautam Buddha Vihara, the ground floor houses the monks’ quarters. Above this is the temple, within which the Buddha of the Three Times from the chief icons, next to sacred images of the Thousand Buddha (of the Auspicious Kalpa), the seven Buddha (of the present eon), the Teacher’s seven Patriarch successors, the saintly scholars known as the Six Ornaments of India and the Two Supreme ones. The frescoes represent the twelve deeds of the Buddha and six different mandalas that show the sixteen Sthaviras – of a beauty such that the sight of it inspires one with exquisite delight.

            The next floor houses a library with many works translated from Sanskrit, such as the Kagyur collection of the Conqueror Buddha’s precepts and the Tengyur collection of the commentaries, on the meanings as intended by him, authored by the scholars (of India); besides a nonsectarian collection of works belonging to both the Early (Nyingma) and the Later Propagation (Kagyü, Sakya and Gelug) of the Dharma to Tibet. Also there is an image of Guru Rinpoche Padma Sambhava the size of an adult and made of a mixture of clay and precious medicines.

            Above that resides the Yidam deity Bliss Supreme, Chakra Samvara as the presiding deity within the Thirteen Gods system, vastly famous throughout Nepal for having been viewed as the focus of their personal practice by numerous hidden Yogins; it is one story high and made of clay mixed with precious medicines. Also there are the images of the six mandalas, Sambara’s and others, as well as of the set of six Yidam deities of Lord Mila; and a visual representation of all the lineage Gurus in the profound Dharmas of Naropa Maha-siddha known as “the Six Doctrines of Naro”, up to its present day representatives, Lama Drubwang Sonam Sangpo and the excellent Refuge Lord Thugse Rinpoche.

            The next floor has fresco representations of the eight-four maha-siddhas of India, together with an abbreviated form of the field for accumulation (Vajradhara and the Five Families of Conqueror Buddhas) as connected with the Guru Puja.

            Adjacent to the monastery is a chapel with the sacred images of the thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Avalokiteshvara, Lord All-encompassioning Glance, together with the eight attendant Bodhisattvas, as well as statues of Manju-ghosha, Gentle Voice, and Vajra-pani, Vajra In Hand. It further houses a huge prayer wheel containing a hundred million Mani mantras of Maha-karunika, the Great Compassionate One. The wall frescoes represent the Sixteen Sthaviras together with the Omniscient Padma Karpo, the eight wondrous symbols of good fortune, and so forth.

            Such then is the magnificent vihara and the excellent sacred representations of the Buddha’s Body, Speech and Mind that can be encountered there.

            At the time of establishing this monastic foundation, assistance on a vast scale was provided from beginning to end by the ninth Chogtrul incarnation, Refuge Lord Dzigar Rinpoche, by various donors, disciples and so forth. To all of them we hereby would like to express our sincere thanks and we vow, by our ongoing prayer wishes, to dedicate these roots of positive activity to the enlightenment of all. It is due to their genuine faith and devotion towards these wholesome roots of positive activity and to their sincere generosity that at present the foundation for the teaching has been established, a sangha community involved in an ongoing cycle of reading and study and in a cycle of concentration devoid of all disturbance by other activities and so forth, ever increasing in enthusiastic perseverance. We welcome these supporters of us to further assume their ongoing sponsorship towards our institution.

            This monastery is located opposite to the office of the Natural History Museum, located on the circumambulation road of Swayambhu stupa. Refuge Lord Dzigar Chogthrul Rinpoche has appointed Acharya Shedrup Tenzin as its abbot. At present, under his guidance are over thirty monks, engaged in the Dharma practice according to our tradition and in Buddhist study in general, to the best of their ability; continuously, on a daily basis, engaged in the morning and evening prayer meetings; with all day prayer rites on the tenth and the twenty-fifth (of the moon calendar) as well as on the chief Buddhist festival days, etc.

     The above is a short exposé on our institution. May thereby fine positive actions increase!

  1 The other two stupas being those of Buddha and of Namo Buddha.

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