One More Monastery

We stopped off at a monastery on our way back to Ulaanbaatar from the preserve. I never caught the name of it, so I can’t tell you, but of the three we visited, this was my favorite. And not just because it was so pretty inside.

This monastery had a much more open attitude toward things like photography, the lifestyles of the monks, and friendliness to foreigners. They made us feel welcome.

This particular group only been around since 1990 (Which to my dd might have been the beginning of time but for me was only a blink ago) Their first temple oppened in 1992, and they changed theri name and started receiving locals in 1996. Their current building didn’t go up until 2011. That’s recent to me, but they counted themselves as one of the oldest in Mongolia.

That actually says more about how Buddhism fared under Russian rule than about this particular monastery. Because really, they have a right to claim their longevity. Very few on the monasteries in Mongolia are any older than that.

The head monk has spent time in Tibet and India, and is eager to bring people back with him to share their ways of worship. They took us into the office of the head monk and talked to us about what they do.

A typical day begins with an early arrival at the monastery. Many of the monks live with families in town. There is a hired staff that does cleaning, cooking, and care for the grounds. They typically begin chanting at 9 am and continue until 5 pm. Everyone studies on their own.

Being part of the Yellow Head sect, they focus on education. They teach Buddhism to kids in the community, offer English classes, and classes in Mongolian music. They have charitable out reach to the community, mostly in the form of helping kids from poor families go to school. They have dormitories for some of the monks, and will let people stay if they are there to study.

I saw potential in the place, so ended up setting part of the Mongolia book there.