Larung Gar Buddhist Academy
The purpose of Larung Gar's Academy is to provide an ecumenical training in Tibetan Buddhism and to meet the need for renewal of meditation, ethics, and scholarship all over Tibet in the wake of China's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.
Students are associated with one of the four institutions at the Academy: the Ngarig Nangten Lobling monastery, the Pema Khandro Duling Nunnery, the Lektso Charbeb Ling center, and the International Religious Committee.
Entry into the relatively small number of nunneries that exist in other areas of Tibet has been limited, but the Academy is open to virtually anyone who genuinely seeks to become a student of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok's ecumenical vision.
Yogis resided there, such as Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok's previous incarnation Terton Lerab Lingpa's student Chatrel Choying Rangdrul, and great realizations were gained in the sacred area.
After escaping the Cultural Revolution to reside in the near area with a group of loyal monks, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok officially took over the mountain hermitage in the summer of 1980 and founded Larung Gar, based on the tradition of Buddhist encampments (chos sgar).
[5] Larung Gar's Academy, also known as the Sertar Buddhist Institute, opened and operated privately and independently,[6] with a standing executive committee of seven learned khenpos, or lamas, but major decisions were confirmed and implemented only after consultation with Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok.
In 1987, the 10th Panchen Lama bestowed the name of Sertar Larung Ngarig Nangten Lobling, with the ambition to create a "spiritual oasis" and the largest center for Tibetan Buddhist studies.
[7] As Antonio Terrone writes, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok's "dedication to rigorous monastic learning, the Vinaya code of conduct, and a commitment to an ecumenical system of teaching" welcomed students "from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
"[5] The Academy has graduated more than 500 khenpos and khenmos — male and female holders of Doctoral degrees in Buddhism — and is widely renowned for the high quality of both its spiritual and secular education.
[8] As Terrone also writes, "Larung Gar is a landmark of his commitment to disseminate Buddhism in an ecumenical fashion, to strengthen monasticism and Buddhist ethics, and to heighten religious education and Tibetan traditional culture.
[9] The demolitions of monastic residences began in 2001, after pressure was applied from Sertar authorities to Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and others to denounce the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama.
The deputy police chief of Garze would be appointed as the Institute's CCP secretary and as its director, a move which would remove Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok's niece, recognized tulku Ani Mumsto from the position.
