About Sera Jey Monastery – 600 Years of Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom
Wisdom Carried Across Centuries
The Sera Jey lineage reaches back to 1419, when the great monastery was founded in Tibet. When Tibetan monastics fled their homeland in 1959, they carried almost nothing, except an unbroken tradition of Buddhist philosophy and compassion. In 1970 the monastery was re-established in exile in Bylakuppe, southern India.
Today it is one of the world's foremost centers of Tibetan Buddhist study, home to over 4,500 monks and students from Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, and across Asia.
Four Pillars, One Vision
Medical Healthcare
Founded in 1989 with a seed gift from H.H. the Dalai Lama, providing free Tibetan, allopathic, and dental care to all 4,500 monks, and affordable care to the community.
Monastic Education
A 20-year curriculum of philosophy, logic, ethics, and meditation through daily debate and examination, culminating in the Geshe degree, equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy.
Secondary School
A complete education for hundreds of young novices and lay students, many orphans or from poor families for whom this education is a lifeline.
Sacred Library
Thousands of Tibetan texts carried out of Tibet at great personal risk, many existing nowhere else, kept digitized, restored, and accessible to scholars worldwide.
An Unbroken Thread
1419
Sera Monastery is founded in Tibet; Sera Jey emerges as one of its great colleges of Buddhist philosophy.
1959
Following the Tibetan exodus, monastics flee into exile, carrying their lineage and sacred texts with them.
1970
Sera Jey is re-established in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India, where the tradition takes root and grows once more.
1989
Sera Jhe Medical Healthcare is founded with a seed gift from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Today
Over 4,500 monks and students study, heal, and serve, supported by friends of the monastery worldwide.