About Us

Tushita Meditation Centre is a centre for the study and practice of Buddhism from the Tibetan Mahayana tradition. We’re located on a forested mountain slope at an altitude of 1888m (6190ft) in the Dhauladhar range, above the town of McLeod Ganj – the seat in exile of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama – in Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, the beautiful foothills of the Himalayas.

Tushita aims to provide a friendly and conducive environment for people of all nationalities and backgrounds to learn about and put into practice the teachings of the Buddha. With this in mind we organize regular introductory courses on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, as well as intermediate level courses and group retreats for experienced students. You can see more about what we offer on the menu bar above.

Tushita was established in 1972 by Lama Thubten Yeshe, a highly qualified teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Since Lama Yeshe’s passing away in 1984, his main student Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been the spiritual director of Tushita and the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition).

Our teachings, meditations and practices are based on the tradition of Lama Tsong Khapa of Tibet (the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism), as taught to us by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Tushita is a centre affiliated with the FPMT – a network of 160 meditation centres and social service projects dedicated to benefitting others in 36 countries around the world. You can see more about the FPMT’s international centres here.

For more information about the FPMT, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, please visit www.fpmt.org.

What Sangha Say About Tushita

We asked our Western Sangha about their experience at Tushita, and here are their responses…

When I was a resident teacher at Tushita it was an incredible experience. Being in India and near the Dalai Lama’s home and temple with so many Tibetan Buddhists around was inspiring and enjoyable. At Tushita itself, there is so much enthusiasm and constant engagement by students. The group retreat setting that Tushita provides is a great setting for teaching. The students have profound experiences and I got to be a part of that. Also, the staff are supportive and responsive. I was looked after so carefully and with much kindness. It was a great experience, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to grow in their teaching skills. My teacher visited Tushita and was impressed with the numbers of students who came to Tushita. He wanted me to stay there and teach as long as I could.

Venerable Tenzin Drolma
Resident Teacher Aug 2016 – Aug 2022

For more than thirty years Tushita has brought the Dharma to thousands and thousands of people from all over the world: it does an amazing job. I am so very happy to have been here the past year, being a catalyst for the heart-opening of so many seekers”.

Venerable Robina Courtin
Tushita’s Resident Teacher April 2010 – April 2011

Teaching all these years at Tushita is a unique experience, as the participants of the courses are in general much more relaxed then they are in the West. Most of them travel long term, so they have left their work, studies and private life behind, and their minds are much more spacious and receptive to absorb the teachings. It is very inspiring to see all those mainly young people that have a genuine interest in developing a good heart, and give some of their travel and leisure time to do it. The courses being ten days long also help them to get a deeper and better understanding than the usual one weekend workshop in the West. And then years later, in all four corners of the world, you meet people telling you, that you were the first person introducing them to the dharma, and that they had then continued in their home country.

Venerable Rita Riniker
who lived and taught at Tushita for 17 years – Tushita’s first honorary Resident Teacher

Teaching at Tushita is definitely one of the most rewarding experiences that I have had in my life. The very special mix of course structure, diversity of students, supportive staff and spectacular mountain setting makes for a very enriching experience for all those who come here. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend so much time here running courses and trying to help people from all around the world in whatever way possible.

Glen Svensson
Visiting Teacher

Tushita isn’t just a retreat centre. It is an amazing learning environment. Everything there is geared to learning Dharma. It is very special. Teaching at Tushita was a special experience for me. I have been teaching Dharma for about thirty years, but I haven’t had such high quality whole groups of students before. At least that was my perception. I think it is because the place itself does half the work for you, because it is so blessed and powerful. Those who make it there as students seem to be especially open and ready for the Dharma and seem to be able to understand the teachings easily and to a deep level. Maybe Tushita is the actual Tushita, at least for those who have the perception to see it that way, and this is the reason for this special set of conditions. Also I feel it progressed me as a teacher, so that now I have returned to my normal teaching situations very refreshed. Somehow I feel more confident and grounded in the Dharma that I am sharing with others. So I would say that teaching at Tushita is an excellent form of professional development for Dharma teachers.

Andy Wistreich
Visiting Teacher

We hope that Tushita will continue to provide a fertile environment for Dharma teachers to grow, and help Tushita to continue to thrive.

With Thanks

We’d like to thank the photographers who so generously donated their time and images to this website. Among many others,  they are:

Neville Delmar, Ahmed Bhagat, Uros Crnkovic, Rafael Kerekes, Ruth Post, Maya Toledano, Jillian Bole and Kiko Llopis.

May all beings see such beauty everywhere!