How You Can Help
Thöpaga Foundation, a new Sangha established in Kitchener Ontario, Canada was created under the guidance of His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche. Its president and founder is venerable Lama Karma Phuntsok who represents the Karma Kagyu Palpung Monastery. The Thöpaga Foundation, whose focus is the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism and culture, opened the Palpung Yeshe Chökhor Dharma Centre. Future plans include the building of a Retreat Centre and the development of a Buddhist Centre that will offer a place for teachings, study and practice.
Donations made to us are income tax deductible and are directed to
- programs and operating expenses of the PYC dharma centre
- operation and expansion of our resource library
- enhancing our building fund for the construction or purchase of facilities for a Buddhist retreat centre and a residence for Lama Phuntsok
- supporting the Tibetan refugee community
Donations to date have helped accomplish many beneficial things such as:
- purchasing thangkhas, texts and shrine room necessities for the PYC dharma centre
- creation and steady growth of our building fund
- hosting teachings and retreats with visiting teachers such as Mingyur Rinpoche
- holding Tibetan cultural events such as dinner nights, performances of traditional Tibetan folk music and dance, and sacred chant concerts
- providing funds for a young monk to have needed surgery
- supporting the Sherab Ling Monastic community and library
- supporting senior citizens and children in the Tibetan refugee community
* As a non-profit registered Canadian charity, we rely totally upon donations, and so all contributions are tax deductible. To make a donation or to find out more about our programs please contact us at office@thopaga.org
The plight of the Tibetan refugee community
* In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet to escape the political, religious and economic oppression imposed by the Chinese government. In every year since, thousands of Tibetans have also left their homeland in the face of execution, torture and lengthy prison terms. Their journey into exile is an arduous one, taking more than four weeks to cross the Himalayan mountain range under harsh climatic conditions. Taking with them only the clothes on their back and often traveling at night to escape border guards, some are never the less caught and returned to Tibet, while others succumb to the cold, hunger and frostbite. Those fortunate enough to succeed will arrive in Nepal or India relying entirely on the goodwill of the established Tibetan communities in exile. Within each of these communities exists a Tibetan Buddhist monastery around which the centre of their lives will revolve. Thöpaga Foundation has established a tradition of helping these refugees by donating money to the Sherab Ling Monastery in Himachal Pradesh in India. The monastery provides food, housing, education and health care to over 1,000 monks and nuns, some of whom have come from other monasteries seeking to advance their education and spiritual training, some of whom are children entrusted to the monastery by their parents, and others who are orphaned refugees. Under the guidance of the 12th Tai Situpa, the Sherab Ling monastery is renowned for cultivating an environment of peace and happiness and is widely recognized for it's educational and spiritual training program. By making a tax-deductible donation, you are helping to preserve this treasured, yet threatened culture.