Workshop to Monastic Institutions.

Background:

Monastic Institutions are on one hand a reflection of Tibetan Buddhism and on the other hand they play a pivotal role in keeping the practices and philosophies of Buddhism alive through their teachings and ceremonial practices. The monastic institutions have been traditionally the most important educational institution in Tibetan history which is also flourishing in exile. There are many monastic institutions in exile where monks and nuns learn Buddhism and practice traditional and cultural values.

In many of the workshops we have conducted to the settlements and institutions there have been a few participants who were monks or nuns. These participants have requested TCCR for separate workshops for them since they felt that the tools introduced in the TCCR workshops enabled them to see an easy way of putting their dharma into practice.

We also see that working for the monastic institutions would be an excellent learning opportunity whereby TCCR would gain a great amount of knowledge in Buddhist teachings in return that we could put to use towards our research project.

Aims:

To introduce the tools of non-violent conflict resolution and communication skills to the monks and nuns. To contribute towards enabling the monks and nuns to find easy methods of putting their Dharma into practice in day to day life. For TCCR to gain deeper insight into Buddhist philosophies which would contribute towards the research project.

Experiences:

TCCR has conducted one workshop to the Jampa Choeling Nunnery at Kinnaur and planning to undertake more of such workshops to the many other monastic institutions in exile.