Pemi Ngyugu Choling Monastery stands high in the Himalayan village of Thaley, in Indrawati Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchok, close to the Langtang range. It was founded in 2015 by Acharya Khenpo Karma Rigzin Sherpa, who was himself born in Thaley.
Although the people of this Himalayan region are Buddhist, there have long been too few Dharma teachers to give teachings and spiritual guidance. The monastery was built to answer that need: a monastic school, a prayer hall for Dharma practitioners, and a school for orphans and children of the region.
Today around 50 young monks study and live at the monastery. The new monastic complex is being developed as a centre of Buddhist learning, preservation and spirituality, inclusive of all the Mahayana traditions and accessible to all.
Where we are going
How we get there
Khenpo Karma Rigzin Sherpa was born on 27 February 1988 in Thaley, a Himalayan village near the Langtang range. In 1998, at ten years of age, he became a monk at the Royal White Monastery in Jorpati, Kathmandu. After completing his monastic studies in 2006, he began higher Buddhist studies at the Karma Shri Nalanda Institute in Rumtek in 2007, and was awarded the Acharya master's degree in Buddhist philosophy in 2018.
He is based in Nepal, where he teaches around 80 young monks, and serves as principal abbot of Karma Drubchen Choling Monastery (the Royal White Monastery), the main seat of the late Venerable Master Tanpai Gyaltsen Rinpoche in Jorpati. In 2015 he founded Pemi Ngyugu Choling Monastery.
“Building statues of Guru Rinpoche will bring immeasurable benefit, peace, happiness and freedom to the world. Due to Padmasambhava's great compassion, Mahayana Buddhism flourished in Tibet and has now spread throughout the world. Because of that, so many people have experienced the path to enlightenment, and the lives of countless sentient beings have become meaningful.”
Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, is perhaps the most universally cherished saint in all of Tibetan Buddhism. He came to Tibet from India in the 8th century and helped establish a pure lineage that is practised around the world by all four major schools today. Prayers to him remove obstacles on the path, prevent harm, create peace in the world, and help us accomplish all we wish on the spiritual path.
We invite you to join us in building these beacons of peace and freedom. Anyone who contributes will create unbelievable merit.
“For those sentient beings who have not met me, statues of me in the future will become the light eliminating the darkness of ignorance.”Guru Padmasambhava
