Tibetan Buddhism Websites
Tibetan Studies WWW Virtual Library
The Tibetan Studies World Wide Web Virtual Library is maintained by Dr Matthew Ciolek of Australian National University. It is a very comprehensive resource on Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetan Government in Exile’s Official Web Site
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and truth about Tibetan Freedom and International Development.
Tibetan Community Information Resource and Directory of Tibetan Web sites. Local Meditation Centres in the Dharamsala area. A link to His Holiness’s teaching schedule (published by The Office of Tibet, London) is available on the DharamsalaNet Homepage (just look for the portrait of His Holiness and click!)
Web Site for His Holiness Sakya Trizin
An introduction to and biography of His Holiness Sakya Trizin.The site also contain up-dated news of his Dharma activities, recent, current, and planned.Web site for His Holiness Sakya Trizin”.
Karmapa: the Black Hat Lama of Tibet
This is the site of the 17th Karmapa Trinlay Thaye Dorje, the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Karmapa was the first incarnate lama (tulku) in Tibet.
This site is devoted to the authentic representation of the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the four major schools of Buddhism preserved and practiced in Tibet. The term Karma Triyana Dharmachakra is from the Sanskrit and translates loosely as “the place under the spiritual guidance and protection of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa (Karma) where all three (Tri) levels (yana) of the Buddha’s teachings (Dharma) are preserved and taught (chakra).” The term, as used for this Web site, refers in particular to His Holiness Karmapa’s main monastic seat in North America at Woodstock, New York, and generally to all of the projects and activities that manifest from there through His Holiness’s inspiration, blessings, and activities.
Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism
Sakya Monastery, located in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, provides access to the Buddha’s teachings and guidance in a community of practitioners. Sakya Monastery provides a place to learn from high-qualified and spiritual Tibetan Lamas in a beautiful traditional setting. Sakya Monastery’s Head Lama is His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya (Rinpoche), a non-sectarian master within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Sakya Monastery offers many classes, programs and empowerments for those interested in learning more about Tibetan Buddhist teachings and spiritual practices.
The Chagdud Gonpa Foundation is a Tibetan Vajrayana organization founded by H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche with dharma centers in South America, North America, Europe and Asia. The original Chagdud Gonpa was a monastery in Tibet, founded in the 12th century and rebuilt after a fire in the 13th century. From the time of it’s rebuilding to the present, the Gonpa has functioned as a center of Dharma, a place of teaching and practice, and, until 1959, as the primary seat of the 16 successive incarnations of Chagdud Rinpoche. The Chagdud Gonpa Foundation was established in 1983 by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche to preserve Nyingma teachings and to provide instruction in the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism, especially the arts, philosophy, and meditation practices. Chagdud Gonpa centers sponsor many events and retreats throughout the year.
Nyingma Centers was established in 1976 by Head Lama Tarthang Tulku as an umbrella organization to protect, unite and expand the distinct organizations of the Nyingma mandala. The six all-volunteer registered non-profit organizations of Nyingma Centers, their affiliated projects and international centers support a variety of activities focusing on spiritual growth, establishment of the Dharma in the West, support of Tibetans in exile, publishing in English and other western languages, publishing Buddhist texts in the Tibetan for distribution in Asia, and Buddhist cultural restoration projects in many parts of the world. The affiliated Nyingma Volunteer program offers individuals the opportunity to live, work, practice and study in a Buddhist community dedicated to preserving the precious wisdom of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and making this unparalleled knowledge available for the benefit of the world.
This is the network of centers founded by the the late Vidyadhara the Ven Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, renowned for his ability to present authentic Buddhist teachings in English in a modern idiom. The Shambhala organization currently consists of more than 150 centers, throughout the US and Europe (a few in South America and Asia), as well as major rural contemplative practice centers and a monastic center. Introductory programs in meditation as well as the complete path of Tibetan Buddhism of the Kagyu and Nyingma schools are presented. Trungpa Rinpoche was also renowned for his presentation of the teachings of Shambhala, related to the Kalacakra tantra, presented in a series of popular, non sectarian, secular meditation programs called Shambhala Training, based on creatinga vision of enlightened society and the tradition of warriorship. The Shambhala mandala of centers is currently directed by Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, eldest son of Trungpa Rinpoche. He is assisted in his teaching by a number of acaryas, senior students of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
WorldView is an organization devoted to the preservation, study and practice of authentic, accurate Tibetan Buddhism. WorldView’s purpose is to: preserve the remaining teachings of Buddhist masters of ancient India and Tibet. bring those teachings to the west and adapt them for western culture. make available a thorough, accurate and effective program of Buddhist study for anyone interested.
Please visit ACIP’s dedicated website for complete information, programs, graphics images and digital texts. ACI uses scriptures from the original masters of India and Tibet to teach Buddhism adapted to western culture. Classes include: meditation, Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan language, a home-study correspondence course, and more. Sample lectures are available in RealAudio.
This site offers Videotapes and RealAudio files from the Asian Classics Institute. Associated with Geshe Michael Roach. It videotaping high quality Dharma teachings, providing free videotape duplication of these teachings, producing a weekly Public Access Cable TV show based on these teachings.
Quiet mountain Tibetan Website
This site provides excellent and extensive information pertaining to the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Karma Kagyu Buddhist Network (KKBN) is an international computer network which is operated by volunteer coordinators in order to enable and enhance communication between organizations, centers, groups and individuals. The KKBN provides information about the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, supports communication among interested parties and introduces a world-wide online Sangha. The KKBN exists under the spiritual guidance of the 17th Karmapa, Thaye Dorje and is directed by Lama Ole Nydahl.
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Web site. Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-1984) and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, together as teacher and disciple since their exile in India, met their first Western student in 1965 and by 1971 had settled at Kopan, near Kathmandu in Nepal. Due to demand, they began teaching Buddhist philosophy and meditation to increasing numbers of travellers, who in turn started groups and centers in their own countries.
Rigpa is an international network of meditation centers and groups under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche and HE Dzogchen Rinpoche. Sogyal Rinpoche has lived and taught in the West for more than twenty years, Rinpoche has developed a profound insight into the modern mind. His rare gift for communication cuts through cultural, religious and psychological barriers to reveal the essential truths of the Buddha’s teaching. The ease, humor, and warmth with which he teaches opens the hearts and minds of his audience to an intensely personal experience of their own true nature. Rinpoche travels widely in Europe, North America, Australia and parts of Asia, leading retreats and trainings based on his book, which offer spiritual care for the living and the dying.
Founded by The Venerable Shylapa Rinpoche, Rangrig Yeshe is devoted to preserving Buddhist teachings and to promoting the benefit of all sentient beings. Shyalpa Rinpoche has established centers worldwide, including Dzogchen Ati Ling in the United States and the Shyalpa Monastery in Nepal. Rinpoche leads retreats and pilgrimages in Nepal and Tibet and sponsors Tibetan refugee children. Rinpoche’s profound understanding of Western culture allows him to present authentic teachings in a manner which is fresh, direct, and of unique benefit to each individual.
Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center
Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center hosts programs and retreats in a contemplative setting. RMSC is located on 600 acres in a valley of forests and meadows in the northern Colorado Rockies. It is a place where people can practice and study various meditation traditions, train in contemplative arts, connect with the natural elements, and rediscover their own richness, gentleness, and compassion.
Padmasambhava Buddhist Center spreads the teachings of Buddhism according to the Nyingma school lineage of Tibet. The Center was first established in New York in 1989, with the encouragement of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, by the Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab, Rinpoche and Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, Rinpoche. Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, known informally as “the Khenpos,” are the teachers and spiritual leaders of PBC. They also direct the activities of the New York Center, its many branches in the U.S.A., Puerto Rico and Russia, and its retreat center Padma Samye Ling in upstate New York.
Founded by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and based in the Santa Cruz mountains of California, the Vajrayana Foundation has been established to preserve and teach dharma in the West. We offer group and private retreats, the Vajarayana Foundation College of Buddhist Studies, the Tibetan Arts Institue and more.
This link is dedicated to teaching Dzogchen, “The Inherent Great Perfection,” considered by some to be the highest teaching of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Cambridge Sangha (Massachusetts) was formed in 1992 by practitioners and students interested in Dzogchen and the teachings of Lama Surya Das. Since then the sangha has grown into a community that provides ongoing support of its members’ spiritual development and practice, as well as an opportunity for the general public to experience the unique practice of Dzogchen in an accessible environment.
Ligmincha Institute, founded by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in 1992, was created to preserve the Tibetan Bön culture and teachings, especially the practices of dzogchen. The web site provides information on Bön and dzogchen as well as the activities of Ligmincha Institute and associated centers.
Set up in 1985 by the Ven Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey who had taught thousands of westerners over 13 years at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India. Currently the lama is Ven Thupten Tulku. The site has information about the Centre, its teachers, classes, online newsletter, articles and links to internet resources.
Is a Tibetan centres affiliated to the Dalai Lama inspired “The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition”. This Tibetan Buddhist site has some great graphics and good content, so is certainly worth a visit. It has a Virtual Thangka gallery with excellent graphics and brilliant Tibetan Buddhist screen savers which can be downloaded for free!
Dharmapala Centre – Tibetan Art
School of Thangkas Paintings. This sites sells tibetan art for the benefit of artists in Nepal and an orphan house in Katmandu. Please have a look at the pages to see the qualtiy of the Thangkas.
Kunzang Palyul Choling, a Nyingma temple and center located in Poolesville, Maryland, USA, the resident lama of which is Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, the first Western woman recognized and enthroned as a tulku.
Heritage Trust Translations and transcriptions of teachings on Buddhist meditation and esoteric practices.
This website is in both English and French. Kadampa Buddhism is a special tradition of Mahayana Buddhism founded by Atisha, an Indian Buddhist Master who is largely responsable for the reintroduction of Buddhism in Tibet during the 11th century. Kadampa Buddhists integrate all the teachings of Buddha into their practice of Lamrim applying their understanding of Lamrim into their daily lives.
Institute of Buddhist Learning and Practice
The Institute of Buddhist Learning & Practice has branches in Australia, Asia, and canada, with Sydney as the headquarters. The spiritual director is His Eminence Khejok Rinpoche and the lineage is Gelugpa of Tibetan Buddhism.
Evam Choden Tibetan Buddhist Centre
The Ewam Choden Tibetan Buddhist Center of 245 Cambridge, Kensington, California 94708. Spiritual Director is Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche.
An international institute for Buddhist higher studies in Boudhanath, Nepal, modeled on a traditional Tibetan Shedra, under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and Chokling Rinpoche. The Rangjung Yeshe Institute Shedra Studies Program was established in 1997 by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche for those wishing to deepen their insight and understanding of the Buddha’s teachings.
Vajrayana Buddhist Center – Chicago
A non-profit organization offering introductory meditation classes and retreats throughout the Chicago area, as well as in Madison, WI. Vajrayana Center also offers the Foundation Program, a structured program of study in the basic subjects of Mahayana Buddhism [correspondence program available]. Classes are taught in English by western Buddhist monk Gen Kelsang Khedrub and are open to everyone.
Dechen Dharma Community are a group of centres across Europe and the UK under the guidance of Karma Thinley Rinpoche and Lama Jampa Thaye, both Kagyu and Sakya masters and recognised authentic lineage holders. They have been established for more than 20 years.
Madhyamaka Centre (Yorkshire, England)
Madhyamaka Centrewas founded in 1983 by a Tibetan Lama called Geshe Kelsang, who had been invited to England by a group of people wanting to learn authentic meditation techniques from a qualified master. The centre started in Hebden Bridge, and later moved to the city of York. As it grew in popularity it moved again, this time to Kilnwick Percy Hall just outside York, where there was sufficient space to accommodate its growing programme of activities.
Official website of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, Supreme Head of the Nyingmapa, and Palyul centers worldwide. Teaching and retreat schedules of His Holiness and authorized Palyul teachers, center addresses, and other resources to students of His Holiness or to those new to Buddhism are all available here.
Ven. Thubten Chodron’s Home Page
Comprehensive and up-to-date information about Ven. Thubten Chodron, her Teachings, Dharma Activity Schedules (Dharma Classes, Meditation Retreats, etc), Publications, Book Reviews and other special events. Born in 1950, Ven. Thubten Chodron grew up near Los Angeles. She studied and practiced Buddhism of the Tibetan tradition for many years in India and Nepal. Ven Chodron was a co-organizer of “Life as a Western Buddhist Nun”, and took part in the conferences of Western Buddhist teachers with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1993 and 1994. She currently lives and teaches in Seattle with the Dharma Friendship Foundation and continues to travel worldwide to teach the Dharma.
Tibetan Tonglen (Mind Training)
This site is a comparative database of commentaries on the Tonglen/Lojong practice and the seven points of Mind Training by Osho, Trungpa, Pema Chodron, Jamgon Kongtrul, and Alan Wallace. It also incudes an on-line bookstore of books and tapes on the Mind training practice.
Tibetan Tonglen (Mind Training)
This site is a comparative database of commentaries on the Tonglen/Lojong practice and the seven points of Mind Training by Osho, Trungpa, Pema Chodron, Jamgon Kongtrul, and Alan Wallace. It also incudes an on-line bookstore of books and tapes on the Mind training practice.
The Turtle Hill Sangha is a community of Nyingma householders near Summertown, Tennessee, and operates under the guidance of the Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and the Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, Rinpoche. Affiliated with the Padmasambhava Buddhist Centers, the Turtle Hill Sangha offers a bookstore and facilities for individual retreats. The Turtle Hill website is a respository for several hundred pages of teachings and Vajrayana philosophy and folklore.
Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in India is the seat of His Holiness the Panchen Lama. Tashi Lhunpo was founded by His Holiness the 1st Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup, in 1447. It is one of the four great monasteries of Central Tibet which was supervised and looked after by the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas and has the glory of producing thousands of renowned scholars in the field of Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy.
A concise explanation of the spiritual aspects of Tibetan Buddhism including Tantra and Dzogchen. Also a consideration of its relation with other branches of Buddhism such as Zen and Vipassana. Links available to a synthesis of the world’s spiritual traditions in light of modern psychology and science.
Established by Venerable Segyu Choepel Rinpoche, the Healing Buddha Foundation promotes the practice of Tibetan Buddhism (Gelugpa) and represents the Sed-Gyued Datsang Tantric Colleges of India, Nepal and Tibet. We serve local communities in North and South America with teachings, retreats, and workshops on Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Medicine and Psycho-Spiritual Healing. Our Psycho-Spiritual Healing Clinics employ techniques based on Buddhist psychology and Tibetan Tantric Medicine to address Westerners’ needs for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
The New Kadampa Tradition was founded by Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. He has written over 15 books on Buddhism from the basic introductory to the most profound Tantric practices. He has also founded over 300 buddhist centres throughout the world.
This centre is the largest agglomeration of retreat centres and monastic hermitages in Europe. It belongs to the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and is placed under the spiritual direction of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Thaye Dorje and Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche. The centre consists of two sites – Le Bost and Laussedat which jointly include: two large monastic hermitages for the lamas, monks and nuns; eight 3-year and two long duration retreat centres for the transmission and intensive practice of Vajrayana meditation; the ‘Karmapa’s Temple’ and a lay persons hermitage for short retreats.
Songs of the Shaktis of the Dhyani Buddhas & Bodhisattvas
This site focuses on the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Pantheon. Each of the beings named here represents a unique spiritual personality or essence. The principal beings are the five Dhyani Buddhas – the esoteric meditation Buddhas of the five colors found in The Tibetan Book of the Dead and other sources. The contemplative poetry presented in the website evokes the thoughts and images of these beings using the metaphor of music. Each poem can be looked at as a meditative exercise or visualization designed to tune the reader to the state of mind or spiritual environment of the being that is speaking.
Snow Lion Publications is the “premier English-language publisher of scholarly and trade books about Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.”– Richard Hughes Seager, “Buddhism in America” (Columbia University Press, 1999).
His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche is a high incarnate Lama of the 600-year-old Gaden Shartse Monastery, a Tibetan monastic university which is now in South India. He continues the work of his previous incarnation as the 72nd abbot of this illustrious university with his devotion to the authentic lineage of the Gelugpa tradition. Beloved for his unconventional, contemporary approach, Rinpoche brings Buddhist teachings to the modern spiritual seeker by connecting ancient worlds with current cultures and ways of living. Rinpoche has always worked with a deeply compassionate heart to bring happiness and relief to people everywhere.
Kechara Media and Publications
Kechara Media and Publications is the young but growing publishing arm of the Kechara organisation and focuses especially on the publication and dissemination of H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s teachings. Newsletters, books, DVDs, CDs and websites produced by KMP strive to make Dharma as accessible and approachable as possible for anyone interested in finding their own spiritual path.
Kechara.com is a not-for-profit online store that provides easy access to Buddhist images which are iconographically correct and of the best value for the spiritual seeker. From silver statues to traditional thangkas to painted tsa tsas to exquisite jewellery, a wide variety of Buddhas from the Tibetan pantheon are available. Popular items include chakras for protection and wealth vases, which are handmade with special ingredients and consecrated by monks at the monastery.
This site is dedicated to the teachings of Choegyal Namkhai Norbhu Rinpoche, a teacher in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhist meditation. It list the monthly practice calendar, retreat information, information about our worldwide organization, and a short explanation of Dzogchen.
The Dzogchen Community of Namgyalgar Asia Pacific
The Dzogchen Community of Namgyalgar Asia Pacific’s retreat centre is near Tilba on the coast of New South Wales, Australia and is associated with Dzogchen Communities around the world founded by Choegyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. Please visit our bookshop for titles on the Dzogchen tradition.
