Good Fortune Trust
The Good Fortune Trust is an initiative of students of Khensur Rinpoche, Geshe Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan lama who has been teaching Western students in south-east Queensland since 1990. It is supported by several hundred sponsors and benefactors around Australia and overseas. Many are Buddhists and students of Khensur Rinpoche, while others may be neither, but have sympathy for the plight of the Tibetan people and wish to help.
The Good Fortune Trust is rebuilding Khangmar monastery, a small and very poor monastery in eastern Tibet, and supporting the nuns in nearby Jhilu Ritrek nunnery. It also supports hundreds of monks studying the traditional monastic curriculum in the Sera Je monastery-in-exile in southern India.
This website has news about the different projects managed by the Trust and well as many beautiful photos taken in remote parts of Tibet. It tries to offer some insight into Tibetan Buddhism - in particular the lives of Tibetan (and Western) monks and nuns - and the vital role that comprehensive study plays in the Gelug-pa tradition.
The Good Fortune Trust is grateful for all the generous support it receives, through both occasional and ongoing donations, and the time cheerfully volunteered by the small team who manage the Trust's activities.
Stories
Our Stories are characterised by its emphasis on monasticism and scholasticism (although not at the expense of practice and retreat, as is sometimes wrongly believed).
In the great monastic universities of old Tibet, extensive programmes of study and practice were developed. The most capable monks, after several decades of concerted effort, would be awarded their geshe degree.
This tradition has been restored in the Tibetan monasteries re-established in India following the effects of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in Tibet.
From Sera, Ganden and Drepung, highly qualified teachers have travelled throughout the world to share the dharma. Thus, while lay teachers are common in other traditions, most Gelug teachers are monks.
Pictures
Treasure
Western monks and nuns who have ordained in the Tibetan tradition are still few in number. They are an object of curious attention from both Tibetans and people in their own cultures! Tibetan lamas who are willing to ordain Westerns are still quite rare.
Western monks and nuns must be able to support themselves financially. Most do not have the opportunity to live in community with other monks or nuns as monastic centres are exceedingly rare in the West. The Chenrezig Nuns’ Community in Australia is remarkable for its size and longevity: it is currently home to approximately 20 nuns.