Kagyu Samye Ling is a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery and Centre for World Peace and Health. The Centre is an international centre of Buddhist training, known for the authenticity of its teachings and tradition. It offers instruction in Buddhist philosophy and meditation within the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and serves as a centre for the preservation of Tibetan religion, culture, medicine, art, architecture and handicrafts. The temple was built entirely by members of the Samye Ling community under the active leadership of Akong Tulku Rinpoche, its interior exquisitely finished by a team of fine artists, sculptors, woodcarvers and other craftspeople.
Samye Ling’s activity extends around the world through an international network of Dharma centres and is currently under the guidance of Abbot Choje Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche and under the spiritual direction of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa and Vajradhara Chamgon Khentin Tai Situpa. Samye Ling is part of Rokpa Trust. The Trust is a registered charity which has three main areas of activity: spiritual, humanitarian aid, and Tibetan medicine and therapy.
Founded in 1967 by two spiritual masters, Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Samye Ling was the first Tibetan Buddhist centre to be established in the West, named after Samye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet.
Many of the greatest living scholars and meditation masters have visited Samye Ling. The Supreme Head of the Kagyu Lineage, HH 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, visited Kagyu Samye Ling in 1975 and 1977, when he appointed Akong Tulku Rinpoche as his representative in Europe and made him Abbot of Karma Drubgyu Darje Ling, the monastery aspect of Kagyu Samye Ling. In that same year, HH 16th Gyalwa Karmapa indicated the site on which the temple was to be built, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche later broke the ground for its foundations. In 1984, HH 14th Dalai Lama consecrated the future temple site. In 1993, he returned to inaugurate the site for the college. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Vajradhara Chamgon Tai Situpa was also extraordinarily kind and generous in visiting Samye Ling.
Samye Ling is home to a residential community of around 40 people, made up of both monastic and lay volunteers. It is not a requirement to be a Buddhist to reside there, but residents are expected to live according to the Five Golden Rules.
For more information about the the history and activities of Kagyu Samye Ling including living and working at Samye Ling as a volunteer, Please visit the following site: Kagyu Samye Ling