Tibet Foundation - Buddhism in Mongolia - Buddhist Education Projects
This aspect of the programme not only encompasses education in the conventional sense, but also the provision of books and facilities that enable the dissemination of knowledge to people in the community who do not follow formal education or who otherwise have little or no access to Buddhist educational materials. For instance, the programme has disbursed funds to support Buddhist libraries, towards providing essential Buddhist textbooks, to fund education courses and to publish educational materials aimed at the monastic community.
Broadening education for Buddhist monks at Pethub Monastery
This Monastery and its school were established in Ulaanbaatar by the late Kushok Bakula Rinpoche during his ten-year tenure as Indian Ambassador to Mongolia in the 1990s. Rinpoche played an important role in the early years of the revival, and Pethub Monastery soon became an important centre of learning for Mongolian Buddhists. Through annual grants, the programme has been supporting the education of students at the Pethub Monastic School since 1995.
The grant provided by Tibet Foundation has enabled the school to develop a curriculum that enables young monks to complete grades four to eight of secondary school education and to receive a recognised certificate of this, as they would in a lay school, while simultaneously studying Buddhism. Once they have completed their secondary education to grade eight standard, they then commence four years of dedicated Buddhist studies.
Tibet Foundation's grant also provides support for a Tibetan Geshe teacher who is responsible for improving and maintaining the standard of Buddhist studies. In 2002 Pethub, which is the only residential Monastery in Mongolia, was voted the most successful in the country.
Renovation of Buddhist Library at Zanabazar Buddhist University
One of the more substantial projects completed in 2003 was the establishment of a new library at Zanabazar Buddhist University in Gandan Monastery. The University used to have only one small room with a handful of books. They were in urgent need of a properly equipped and functioning lending library with a comprehensive collection of books on all aspects of Buddhism.
The project involved the complete renovation of new premises, the purchase of equipment and furniture from China and the training of two librarians who have learnt how to manage the new electronic cataloguing system and been taught in the preservation and conservation of texts. The library consists of a reading room, two rooms for books and an office for the three librarians. Apart from rare reference books, all the books in the new library are available for loan to some six hundred or more registered users, free of charge.
The library is open to student monks, scholars and teachers at the University, as well as outside Buddhist students and teachers. Seven hundred of the library's two and a half thousand books and manuscripts were purchased in Tibet (Kumbum and Labrang monasteries and in Xining ) during a book-buying trip funded by the Buddhism in Mongolia programme in 2002.
On a recent visit to Mongolia the BIM programme team were shown around the library and it is clear that it is a much valued facility, the desks were full of young monks with their heads bowed over their texts. But the most striking feature are the rows of empty bookshelves. Zanabazar Buddhist University is the premier centre of Buddhist learning in the country but is not even close to having the world class collection of books that it merits. Tibet Foundation is committed to helping them achieve this and has launched an appeal for supporters to contribute by buying a bookshelf.
Buddhist Education for Women
This is a breakthrough project that is giving Buddhist women following a religious life, for the first time in Mongolia, the same access to higher education as monks. In September 2002, fifteen young women from the Togs Bayasgalant Buddhist Women's Centre in Ulaanbaatar, embarked on a four-year BA course established by Zanabazar Buddhist University, based on the curriculum of the Centre for Higher Tibetan Studies at Sarnath, India.
Tibet Foundation is providing scholarships to these women as well as providing funds towards the maintenance of their Centre. In September 2003 we visited these young women and saw how they have utilised their resources to create an environment whereby they can focus on their studies. The young women display a deep commitment to their studies, and are continuing to study hard in their second year of the course, from which they will graduate in 2006.
Through raising the standard of Buddhist education amongst Mongolian women, it will allow them to play a more active and informed role in the revival and empower more women to do the same. Support for this project is derived from the Programme's commitment to assist Mongolians in all sectors of society who wish to see towards the Buddhism return to the heart of Mongolian culture.
