Sponsorship
Fund
- The need for funding
- How the monks and nuns are supported
- Contribute to the Education fund
- Sponsor the living cost of a monk or nun
- Contribute to the Permanent Food Fund
- Sponsorship Form
The need for funding
Many
of the monks and nuns at Kopan Monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling
Nunnery come from very poor families of the remote areas of Nepal.
A large percentage are refugees from Tibet, having fled with nothing but the robes they are wearing. Sponsoring a monk or nun is acknowledgement of the courage that many of the young people here show, having left their families and homeland where they can neither follow their religious beliefs nor pursue their spiritual development.
Once accepted into the monastery they may not see their family or relatives again, and have no support. They cannot afford to pay a regular contribution for their food and accommodation to the Monastery. By accepting these monks and nuns into the community, we take the full responsibility for their welfare, their education and their care in sickness and old age. All facilities are offered free to the monks and nuns, to enable them to focus completely on their studies and to practice the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha.
In the past five years the number of monks at Kopan doubled due to the large influx of Tibetan refugee monks. Many of them come from the monasteries in South India, where they suffer frequently from diseases such as TB, liver problems and general debility because of the hot climate.
The number of nuns in the nunnery has increased from its original population of 40 in 1994, when they moved into the new premises, to 290 nuns, with a long waiting list - a 300 % increase in eight years. The financial burden of looking after such a large community is quite considerable. It is for this reason that we appeal to your generosity to secure more funding to enable the monastery to provide these monks and nuns with their daily necessities.
How the monks and nuns are supported
For
more than 30 years now Kopan Monastery has taken care of its ever-increasing
number of monks and nuns. In 1975 only 40 monks and nuns were
living here; now there is a population of 620 people to support,
feed, clothe, education and to care for their health. The monastery
has been able to do this due to the blessing of the Buddha, the
untiring efforts of our teachers and the generosity of benefactors
all over the world.
The financial situation has improved somehow since those early, difficult times, when there was not enough food, no transport and no health facilities. However, accommodation is still poor, sanitary facilities are still rudimentary, and there are not enough teachers to keep up with the growing number of students. Income comes from offerings for prayers and pujas done on behalf of others. Visitors attending the regular meditation courses and retreats also provide income.
However, donations from students and patrons that support the goals of the monastery have always been essential for the survival and the expansion of the monastery. We appeal to your generosity to support our efforts to provide a place of study and practice to young people of the Himalayan region and to preserve the religious and cultural heritage of Tibet.
Kopan Education fund
The
geshe-study programme was introduced at Kopan and the Nunnery
by Lama Yeshe many years ago and came to its fruition with
the first Kopan geshe receiving the Geshe Ramjam degree last year.
Maintaining this high quality level of education poses a great
challenge to the resources of the monastery.
Our priority for the next few years will be to improve the general standard of education and upgrade all levels of educational facilities. For this more qualified teachers need to be employed for the increasing number of students and the classrooms as well as the educational materials need to be modernized.
For this purpose an education fund has been established under the personal guidance of our Abbot, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lhundrup Rigsel. The main purpose of the fund is to support a greater number of qualified teachers.
You can sponsor:
- Part sponsorship of a teacher's salary at $20 a month
- Full sponsorship of a teacher's salary at $60 a month
- Sponsorship of study material (books, notebooks, pencils etc) for one student for one year - $50 per year
- Sponsors Now >>
Sponsoring the living cost of a monk or nun
The
cost for food for one person per day is now 60 cents. The cost
of medical care has increased tenfold in the past five years.
The cost of fuel and electricity has increased by 20% in the past
two years alone.
Counting everything from clothing and food to the last stick of wood, it costs about $1 a day to completely care for one monk or nun. This is less than the price of one cup of coffee, or the price of dinner once a month.
Contribute just $30 a month to completely take care of a monk's or nun's living expenses. Your contribution goes towards covering the living expenses of all monks and nuns. In this way the benefits of your generosity will continue as long as the monastery exists, and you are helping the whole community of monks and nuns.
You can sponsor
- Part sponsorship of the living cost for one monk or nun at $15 a month
- Full sponsorship of the living cost for one monk or nun at $30 a month
Personal Sponsorship of a monk or nun
If you would like to correspond personally with a monk or nun please contact our sponsor coordinator, Tenzin Choden, who will inform you of the guidelines applying to this type of sponsorship. You will receive a photograph and personal details as well as a personal letter from the monk or nun you are sponsoring. All sponsorships will be acknowledged by the monastery. You will receive a personal thank you letter from our abbot, and the regular newsletter from Kopan.
Contribute to the Permanent Food Fund
If
you would rather not take on the commitment to sponsor a monk,
but would still like to help, you can make a contribution directly
to the Special Food Funds of Kopan monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil
Ling Nunnery. These special Food Funds (perpetual investment funds),
were established by Lama Yeshe to enable the Monastery to continue
taking care of its members even though times might become more
difficult, as the political climate or financial circumstances
change.
All contributions to the food funds stay in the fund to allow the fund to accrue. The interest is used as needed to help provide food to the Monastery residents.
The funds are financially secure and are administered on a voluntary basis by professionals in this field. By contributing in this way you ensure that the monastery and nunnery will be able to look after the community, not just now, but in the future as well.
Giving to these worthy causes with a good heart and motivation will not only help the monks and nuns, but will also give you the satisfaction that you are contributing to the survival of the religious and cultural tradition of Tibet.