New Delhi, India -- In the rolling hills of Bylakuppe, South India, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most reknowned institutions is facing a challenge that threatens the very foundation of its monastic life: its monks have nowhere to live.

Sera Mey Monastery, one of the great seats of the Geluk tradition, has watched its Gyalrong College grow beyond the capacity of its aging housing. More than 100 monks now depend on facilities that can no longer accommodate them. The Maitri Project has launched an urgent appeal to build Gyalrong House, a new dormitory with 65 rooms designed to give these monks a stable place to live, study, and practice.

For a tradition that has survived centuries of upheaval, this is a moment that calls for action.

A Legacy of Study and Practice

Sera Monastery was founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey Shakya Yeshi, a direct disciple of the great Tsongkhapa. Sera Mey, one of its original colleges, was established in the same year by Kunkhyen Jangchub Bumpa, another of Tsongkhapa’s principal disciples, so that “the three wheels of study and contemplation, meditative concentration and service of the monastic community could be turned continuously.”



That vision bore extraordinary fruit. Sera Mey has produced nineteen Ganden Tripas, the supreme heads of the Geluk tradition, and has been home to monks who served as tutors to the Dalai Lamas and authored some of Tibetan Buddhism’s most influential texts. Beginning with Kunkhyen Jangchub Bumpa, the monastery has been guided by 89 abbots who carried its religious and social responsibilities across the centuries.

After 1959, Sera Mey was re-established in exile in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India, where it continues to thrive as a center of monastic education and practice.

What Is Gyalrong College?

Gyalrong is one of the khangtsens (regional houses) that form the organizational backbone of Sera Mey. Historically, monks joined the house associated with their homeland; today, the choice is more personal. But the function remains the same: each khangtsen is responsible for the accommodation and basic needs of its monks.

A first-hand account from within Gyalrong House describes the practical, daily work of sustaining a monastic community: a nyerpa (quartermaster) ensuring enough firewood and food for several hundred monks; a resident guru guiding their studies; and the invocation of the regional mountain deity, Gyalmo Mudo, for the house’s continuity and prosperity.

This is not merely logistics. The khangtsen system is the living tissue of Tibetan monasticism, the structure through which monks are fed, housed, mentored, and integrated into a tradition that stretches back six centuries.

The Crisis

That system is now under strain. Gyalrong College’s existing housing can no longer accommodate its growing community. More than 100 monks are affected. Without adequate housing, the college cannot fulfill its historic role of providing a stable base for study and practice.

The Maitri Project has stepped forward with a plan. The total cost of Gyalrong House is approximately $768,485. So far, $152,615 has been raised, leaving a gap of $615,800. The Maitri Project has already contributed $100,000 toward a goal of $500,000.

Why Public Support Matters

Monasteries like Sera Mey do not survive on their own. They survive because communities, lay practitioners, scholars, pilgrims, and friends of the Dharma around the world, choose to sustain them.

The monks of Gyalrong College are not merely residents of a building. They are the inheritors and transmitters of a tradition that has shaped Tibetan Buddhism for 600 years. They are the future Ganden Tripas - the future tutors, the future authors, the future abbots. When they lack a place to live and study, the entire lineage feels the loss.

Supporting Gyalrong House is not charity. It is an investment in the continuity of the Dharma. It is a way for anyone, regardless of where they live or how much they can give, to participate in the unfolding of a tradition that has already given so much to the world.

How You Can Help

The Maitri Project offers several ways to support this urgent cause:

- Make a one-time gift of any amount.
- Become a monthly donor to provide sustained support.
- Sponsor a room for $12,000, half a room for $6,000, a quarter room for $3,000, or one-eighth of a room for $1,500.

Donations can be made at: https://donorbox.org/gyalrong-house

A Closing Thought

In 1419, a disciple of Tsongkhapa built a college so that monks could study, contemplate, and serve. Six centuries later, that same college is asking for help to keep that vision alive.

The monks of Gyalrong College have not stopped studying. They have not stopped practicing. They have not stopped serving. What they need now is a place to live.

Please give what you can. Every room built, every dollar given, every monthly commitment made is a brick in the foundation of a tradition that has weathered every storm history has thrown at it. Let us not be the generation that let it falter for lack of housing.

Support Gyalrong House today. Help give the monks a place to live, study, and practice.

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To learn more about The Maitri Project and the Gyalrong House appeal, visit their donation page at https://donorbox.org/gyalrong-house