Before the present Temple complex was built, Samye Ling centred on just one building, a former hunting lodge called Johnstone House.

When the community declined, Anandabodhi returned to Canada; he was subsequently ordained in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition and enthroned as Namgyal Rinpoche by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa.

[2] They named the new community "Samye Ling", and were shortly joined by the thangka master-artist Sherab Palden Beru and the monk Samten.

[4] In fact Bowie not only studied Buddhism at Samye Ling, he almost became a monk there: "I was a terribly earnest Buddhist at the time [...] I had stayed in their monastery and was going through all their exams, and yet I had this feeling that it wasn't right for me.

The centre includes one of the first Tibetan temples to be constructed in Western Europe,[10] a large Stupa, and accommodation for those taking a range of courses on Buddhism, meditation, spiritual development and art.

[14] A ROKPA International project based at Samye Ling to raise funds for the girls school at Kandze Monastery was successful in reaching its target of £9,449.

[12] According to the Charity Commission, the current trustees of the ROKPA Trust in 2024 (Charity number: 1059293) are: • Abbot Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche (Chair) • Tsultim Palbar Lama (appointed in 2015) • Ani Lhamo (Edith Hope) • Karma Lhamo Cosgrove • John Frederick Michael Maxwell • Elise Kristine Sylvest Jacobsen The trust is planning a further expansion of its Samye Ling temple project involving a major multimillion-pound extension which will eventually house a museum, a library, lecture theatres, offices and accommodation.

[17] Under the guidance of the Tibetan artist Sherab Palden Beru, Samye Ling has also become a centre for the creation, repair and restoration of thangkas, principally in the Karma Gadri style.

Traditional deity and monumental sculpture and the creation of prayer-wheels are also carried out at the centre under the direction of resident and visiting Tibetan experts.

[24] In 2010 Lama Yeshe Losal designed a Buddhist tartan whose colours represent the five elements in Tibetan cosmogeny: Charity Commission for England and Wales.