Lama Tsong Khapa is the founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.  He was born in 1357 in the Tsong Kha region of Amdo in Tibet. 

Lama Tsong Khapa is revered as one of the most significant Tibetan Buddhist teachers, appearing at a time when people did not understand how analytical study and yogic practice were to be united. He taught the correct way to practice both and is an example of how learning and meditative application are to be used as a unified path to achieve enlightenment. 

Our statue of Lama Tsong Khapa is with fifteen-foot in height the largest one here at Tushita. It was housed in the old meditation hall, having to stick his head through the low ceiling! However, with the building of the new meditation hall, we will have a new more suitable home for him soon! 

Maitreya

Eight Medicine Buddha Statues

Thanks to her tireless work, Thubten Detong from Taiwan’s Jinsiu Farlin Centre has practically guaranteed her rebirth as a beautiful golden Buddha in her next life. The reason? She spent her days applying gold leaf to the eight life-size Medicine Buddha statues housed in Tushita’s main meditation hall, and she applied gold-leaf to several hundred tsa tsas of Vajrasattva. A dedicated student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for more than a decade, Detong leaves a trail of gold wherever she goes – she spent several months at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s California residence doing gold-leaf there, too.

This work was completed in the late nineties.  Detong made some comments about the work at this time: “It’s difficult doing gold-leaf work in this weather [in Dharamsala],” Detong said. “Because it’s so damp over the winter, the glue doesn’t dry properly, and then the gold dries at different rates on the faces.

When you apply gold leaf, you can’t do part of the face, then another part; you have to do the entire face at once. If you do it in sections, then you can see the marks, which isn’t so nice! The California environment was perfect for this kind of work, so it’s been harder here. I like this work to be as perfect as possible,” she continued.

A living room in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house at Tushita acted as her workshop, and a small stove helped warm the studio so the gold leaf could dry faster. “I thought I should stop and come back later, when the weather is better, but I try my best now, and I plan to finish by the end of March,” she said.

Despite what Detong thinks might be missed attempts at perfection, everyone else is delighted with her work, which will be appreciated for years to come. Since Tushita holds monthly Medicine Buddha pujas, Detong’s careful attention to detail makes the Medicine Buddhas statues’ presence that much more powerful.

Geshe Wongdu's stupa is built on the cremation site of a great meditator that lived in the mountains around Tushita Meditation Centre. 

Geshe-la was a serious practitioner who did practices such as not eating for months on end. 

Geshe Wongdu was a close friend of Lama Yeshe and one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's gurus. The stupa was built the same time as Lama Yeshe's Stupa.

When Lama Yeshe died, Geshe Wongdu said "Lama Yeshe was my friend, he goes, so I go". He died in meditative posture - his body staying upright for three days. 

When his body was carried to the cremation site, the pall bearers report that it smelt sweet, like candy.  After cremation, pure white ash remained of the body. These relics are in the stupa.