News & Updates

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 Children’s educational program at Surmang is starting its winter 2016-2017 program this month. Last year more than 150 children participated; a similar number is expected this year. Donors to the Konchok Foundation provide all of the support necessary for this program, including food for the children and teachers, teacher

The Chakrasamvara dance is a celebratory occasion that annually gathers up to a thousand local people at Surmang to watch the festivities over three days. Since 2009, the Twelfth Trungpa, Chökyi Senge Rinpoche, has led off the dance, and more than forty monks participated this year in its performance. The

The Konchok Foundation is delighted to welcome our new Board Members, appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Our new board members include: Chuck Lief, President of Naropa University Jessie Litven, Shambhala International Jon Ransohoff, Bay Area Shambhalian Mark Curtin, Rusung for Albuquerque Shambhala Center Thanks to each of them for stepping

For Losar, the Tibetan new year, the winter session of the Children’s Education Program at the Surmang Shedra ended with a festive graduation and awards ceremony. The Surmang Shedra will hold another session for children after the new year celebrations wind down. These sessions of the Children’s Education Program are

The Konchok Foundation is delighted to announce that the Surmang Shedra will launch this fall. Last October, the Pema Chödrön Foundation offered a $150,000 Matching Grant to complete the Surmang Shedra and hold an Opening Ceremony. This has created a tremendous upsurge of energy to bring this project to fruition

The children of Surmang are back in session! Right now, there are more than 120 girls and boys studying reading and writing in Tibetan, as well as basic math, this winter at the shedra. The children come from throughout the valley where Surmang Dutsi Til monastery is located. Classes are

We are delighted to announce the enthusiastic support and participation of the Pema Chödrön Foundation in the form of a $150,000 grant over the next eight months, $125,000 of which is a matching grant though we hope to match the full $150,000. The matching grant is half the money needed

In April 2010, a terrible earthquake struck Jyekundo (Yushu), the closest city to Surmang. Thousands of people were killed and injured, and tens of thousands lost their homes. Surmang experienced reverberations, but the major concern was for Jyekundo and the devastated region near the epicenter. Many people from the Surmang