Inside the main shrine room,  Fall 2006 photo by Khenpo Tsering.

2007 Summer

Forty people are working this summer on the construction crew at the Surmang shedra—and we need to buy them more materials.   The shedra (school)—by far the largest project in rebuilding the home monastery of Trungpa Rinpoche in eastern Tibet—is nearing completion.  In this, the fourth and penultimate year of construction, the key is to close the building in.  If we in the West can supply sufficient funds, the planned opening for the shedra will be able to take place next year.  

Window installation in a residential section of the shedra complex    July 2007

Construction status:  Aluminum window frames have now been installed in most of the complex.  Most of the decorative cast concrete window trim and roof cornices are now in place.  The masonry crew is now working on the upper section of the front portico of the lhakang and on the front gate.  Insulation and plastering of the interiors of the approximately fifty rooms in the shedra complex—a huge job—is nearing completion.  The solar electric installation by the Chinese government just below the shedra is expected to start producing power in September.  Pouring of concrete subfloors will start before long.  Door installation will follow once the subfloors are in.

More construction materials are now needed.  Previously, most of the construction materials have been concrete, rebar, and wood for forms.  Sand and gravel for the concrete is purchased from local Tibetans and wood is milled on-site.  Now, more expensive materials also need to be purchased.  As one example, a team has started installing the floor pipes for the solar heating system—a relatively expensive item.    Glass for the windows will be especially difficult and expensive to ship over the very rough road more than six hundred miles from the closest major city, Xining.

Chökyi Senge Trungpa XII Rinpoche and monks performing the Surmang Chakrasamvara dance     March 2007

Trungpa XII Rinpoche, now 18 years old, is continuing his studies at Surmang Namgyaltse.  He will take up residence in the shedra complex at Dutsi Til once it is completed.  Acharya Larry Mermelstein has recently brought greetings to Trungpa Rinpoche from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the western Shambhala sangha.  Konchok Foundation continues to provide support for Trungpa Rinpoche’s living expenses.

Educational plans.   The plan in building the shedra complex is to start providing education to local youths and adults, females as well as males, in both dharma and secular subjects.  There are no schools at present in this valley.  There is housing inside the shedra complex for approximately 70 students; others will have to stay in local houses until such time as some inexpensive additional housing can be built.

If the construction can stay on track, Khenpo Tsering Gyurme wants to start the first classes on a small scale at Surmang soon.  The construction must remain the first priority for now.  It is too difficult to hold classes of any scale for a sustained period in tents.  However, with the construction now headed into the home stretch, if funds permit, Khenpo would like to hold some classes this fall for a limited group of students in a tent and gradually step this up next year as the building gets ready for occupancy.

Wayen.  Three members of the Konchok Foundation Board of Directors: David Bolduc and Bob and Lindy King, are traveling to Wayen in August, as well as to Surmang.  They will work with Lama Chonam and local people on plans and preparations for a shedra at Wayen, a site important to the previous Mipham Rinpoche in the Golok region of Tibet.  This planned Wayen shedra will be considerably smaller and less expensive to build than the shedra complex at Surmang Dutsi Til.

Your help is needed.  Thank you to the more than two hundred donors who participated in the spring campaign for Surmang in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the parinirvana of Chögyam Trungpa.  More money must be sent to Tibet soon in order to keep the crew at work.  Can you help?

Donor gifts.  Khenpo Tsering is arranging for donors of $250 or more to receive a reproduction on fabric of a newly commissioned thangka of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.  We are also providing all donors this year with a copy of a photograph of the Vidyadhara and his teacher Khenpo Gangshar taken in the late 1950s.  Also, if you donate this year and you have not already received the 2005 gift of a relic from the kargenma (the castle which served as home to the Trungpas) or the 2006 gift of dutsi prepared from the Dutsi Til mother dutsi—please let us know and we can send those to you.

If you can help, please go to Donate Now. Thank you!

Front portico of the shedra lhakang (shrine hall) nears completion    July 2007