ROBERT CHILTON has spent most of his
adult life working with traditions of
Buddhism in the Tibetan language. In Part 1,
he shared the significance of this work in
preserving the most accurate record we
have of the Buddha’s teachings. In part 2,
he tells ELIZABETH DENLEY about the
Gompa Tibetan Monastery Services, where
technology is used for good to connect the
monasteries with followers, and create a
platform for sharing the ancient wisdom.
Q: So what is happening now with the
Tibetan monasteries? I don’t mean
politically, but is the tradition alive still?These great masters were able to come out in the early
1960s. They eventually were able to reform the monasteries
and continue their training. They were in refugee camps,
first in Indian prisons, and then they were in these camps
where they were living in tents with keep-guards to keep
the elephants from rampaging through the camps. They
went through a lot of hardships, but they were able to
keep transmitting the knowledge.The system of the monasteries is all about how to keep
the knowledge alive from one generation to the next. And
that was happening in Tibet since the time it was
transmitted from India, in places like the great monastery
in Nalanda and other great monasteries in India. They
kept it going, and up till now they’ve been able to keep
it going.A Tibetan
Journey
PART 2