Surmang Dutsi Til is reopening its nunnery for the first time since 1959. Construction has now begun on a lhakang (shrine hall) for the nunnery. The location is several miles south of the monastery grounds near Tsokyendo village in eastern Tibet. Nearly one hundred nuns are using the Surmang shedra
On June 14th, two days after Lady Könchok Palden entered samadhi, a magnificent rainbow appeared in the sky over the site of a new Dutsi Til nunnery now being constructed in the Surmang Valley. The rainbow came forth during the consecration of the new site near Tsokyendo village. The nunnery will be under
Hundreds of children and families in the Surmang region celebrated the end of the winter session of the Children’s Education Program in March 2019. The program is held annually at the Surmang Shedra and other satellite sites. Approximately 250 children participated this winter at the the Shedra at Dutsi Til
by Jon Ransohoff Our pilgrimage to Surmang Monastery in August 2018 was a challenging and enriching adventure. All of us felt blessed with an experience of intimacy with the place and people of Surmang even without the Shedra consecration. Guided by Conscious Journey, we fellow travelers collaborated in stirring pot
The leadership of Surmang Dutsi Til monastery has just informed us that a key element required for the planned August 3 consecration of the shedra and the monastery lhakang cannot be finished in time. Therefore, the consecration will have to be postponed until 2019. The large shrine statues, or rupas,
The largest program yet for children at Surmang in Tibet, with 250 participants, culminated in a celebration just before Losar (Tibetan New Year) in February. Family members joined the children in the shedra courtyard to witness singing, dancing, presentation of gifts (school backpacks and books), and celebratory khatas for the
Total donations received in 2017 were approximately $54,000. Due to the anticipated consecration of the Surmang shedra in 2018, a major push was made in 2017, and will continue in 2018, for final completion of that building complex. Some funds were still available from donations over the prior two years,
The Konchok Foundation is delighted to announce the consecration of the Surmang Shedra on August 3, 2018. This represents the culmination of a fifteen-year effort to build and launch the shedra (monastic college) at Surmang Dutsi Til monastery in Tibet. The Twelfth Trungpa, Chökyi Senge Rinpoche, has personally invited donors
Once again, the Pema Chödrön Foundation has stepped forward to help Surmang. In combination with two anonymous donors, they have generously given $147,000 and challenged the sangha by offering to match 1:1 donations toward the 2018 fundraising campaign. The Matching Grant Campaign is designed to: • support the growth of
Two Konchok Foundation board members, Lyndon Comstock and Jessie Litven, were part of a group of Westerners who visited Surmang Dutsi Til this summer. A major purpose of their trip was to meet with Chöseng Trungpa Rinpoche (left with Lyndon Comstock) to learn about the remarkable progress made in his