The main structure completed, materials are being gathered to build
the monks’ living quarters and to bring water to the entire village.
A long life stupa as well as a perimeter wall have been erected

Peace Times 14

by Enzo Di Lauro

Situated some twenty miles from Shigatse in central Tibet, the new Gangchen Monastery continues to grow. The four floors which make up the main building have been completed: the external walls are painted in the traditional burgundy colour and the windows are painted with ornamental designs in the colours of the Five Supreme Healers; the internal walls are beautifully painted with murals illustrating the life of Buddha and his two preceeding incarnations, as well as some forty tangkhas (sacred paintings on cloth), representing the great tantric masters of the past.

One of the new monsatery's rooms houses a large statue of Buddha Shakyamuni (two floors high), which was blessed and filled with precious substances last summer, both by Lama Gangchen and the young Brazilian Lama Michel as well as the nine year old Panchen Otrul Rinpoche (one of the simultaneous and distinct manifestations relating to body, speech and mind) recognised four years ago as one of the manifestations of His Holinesss the Xth Panchen Lama who died in 1989.

In anticipation for the spring, after the harsh Tibetan winter, materials are being prepared, such as wood, stone, sand, cement and paint which are needed to build the necessary living quarters for monks who presently live in rather precarious and uncomfortable conditions.

In order to protect the small retreat centre perched in the mountain above the Monastery, a perimeter wall was constructed between the months of September and December 1999, thus keeping out animals and shielding the structure as much as possible from atmospheric agents. Moreover, a small longlife stupa was built for Lama Gangchen who, from reincarnation to reincarnation for over four hundred years, has been taking care of this Monastery famous in Tibetan history for preserving precious and sacred tantric teachings.

Lastly, a new medical dispensary has opened its doors, while the construction of a school is still being projected.

Next summer on the other hand, work will begin to bring water to the Monastery and the entire village: to do so it will be necessary to create a water system with a pump capable of drawing water from quite a distance. The small town of Gangchen is situated in one of the driest areas of Tibet: to this day, the local population is forced to get the water from a tiny well which centuries ago Lama Gangchen miraculously manifested from the rocks, in a lifetime when he was known as the great master Panchen Zangpo Tashi.

Meanwhile, the necessity to find the funds to bring electricity to the village is another priority to be considered.

The work which is bringing back to life the Monastery of Gangchen as well as the entire village (both destroyed during the cultural revultion in 1959) is proceeding in record time, owing to the commitment and selfless dedication of the members of the Lama Gangchen World Peace Foundation, a United Nations affiliated non-governmental organisation since 1996. Anyone wishing to contribute to the project in Gangchen Village can contact «Help in Action».