| Namgyal Monastery | |
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| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Location | |
| Location | McLeod Ganj,Dharamsala,India |
| Country | India |
  Shown within India | |
| Coordinates | 32°13′57″N76°19′28″E / 32.232521°N 76.324395°E /32.232521; 76.324395 |
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Institutional roles |
History and overview |
Namgyal Monastery (Tibetan:རྣམ་རྒྱལ།,Wylie:rnam rgyal) (also often referred to as "Dalai Lama's Temple") is inMcleod Ganj,Dharamsala,India. It is the personal monastery of the14th Dalai Lama. Another name for this temple-complex isNamgyal Tantric College.
The monastery's key role is to assist with rituals involving theDalai Lama ofTibet. Its main tantric practices reportedly include those ofKalachakra,Yamantaka,Chakrasamvara,Guhyasamaja, andVajrakilaya.
Founded in either 1564 or 1565 asPhende Lekshe Ling (on the foundations of the since defunct monastery calledPhende Gon) bythe second Dalai Lam Gendun Gyatso, Namgyal Monastery was renamed in honour of the female long-life deityNamgyälma in 1571.[1]
Since the completion of construction on thePotala Palace (begun by theFifth Dalai Lama), Namgyal was traditionally housed in the red section at the top of that building inLhasa.
Following theTibetan uprising of 1959, Namgyal Monastery relocated toDharamshala, India, where it continues, active, to this day. According to Namgyal's website, Namgyal (Dharamshala) has "nearly 200" monks (up from 55 in 1959), representing all four main Tibetan monastic lineages.
In 1992, on the advice of thepresent Dalai Lama, Namgyal established an American branch inIthaca, New York, including within it theNamgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies. On 8 February 1996, the monks of Namgyal Monastery's Institute of Buddhist Studies offered their first "Blessing of Cyberspace" as part of the "Twenty-four Hours in Cyberspace" event.[2]
In 1998, Namgyal incorporated a Tibetan monastery inBodhgaya, India, calledGendhen Phelgyeling. That monastery is now known as Namgyal (Bodhgaya), and has 45 monks.
Namgyal (Dharamsala) also manages a temple inKushinagar (since 1967), and an elderly home inSimla (since 1992).
Whether thePeople's Republic of China has maintained an institution with the same name inside Tibet is unclear.[citation needed]
The name Namgyal came into use in 1571 when the king Altan Khan of Mongolia became very ill and requested that his teacher, the Third Dalai Lama, perform long-life prayers for his recovery. The Dalai Lama instructed his monks to perform the sacred long-life prayer of the goddess Namgyalma, and from that moment on, Phende Lekshe Ling was also known as Namgyal Monastery.
In the monks' view, cyberspace resembles space in general, which Tibetan Buddhists characterize more as the absence of obstructions than as a distance between two points. Also, cyberspace, like ordinary space, can be defined as something that cannot in and of itself be seen or measured, yet which can be conceptualized and used. That is, it has no inherent existence for its own part, yet it exists as a field for mental activity. Where there is an absence of obstructions, there is the potential for something to arise, the nature of which depends on the motivation of those who use it. In blessing cyberspace, the monks reasoned, they could offer prayers that the motivation of Internet users become more positive and that the benefits of using the Internet become more positive.
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