Amazing Himachal: Tushita Meditation Centre

Tushita is a centre for the study and practice of Buddhism from the Tibetan Mahayana tradition.
Tushita Meditation Centre is located in Dharamkot village, near Mcleodganj, Upper Dharamshala. The centre offers Introduction to Buddhism Courses and intermediate level courses for those who have already taken one of these introduction courses besides conducting Group Practice Retreats for practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.

In the Tushita Meditation Centre there are Stupa of Thubten Yeshe and Stupa of Geshe Rabten.

Lama Thubten Yeshe

Lama Thubten Yeshe

Lama Thuben Yeshe was born in Tolung, near Lhasa, Tibet, in 1935. At the age of eight, he became a monk in Sera monastery and began to study the main Buddhist philosophical texts. Fleeing the Chinese invasion in 1959, Lama Yeshe came into India and spent 7 years in the Lama Refugee Camp at Buxaduar (West Bengal, India), where he continued his studies and started to teach. Here he met his main disciple Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. They began to teach an ever increasing number of westerners and later settled at Kopan in Nepal, which became the seat of a meditation centre for westerners and also monastery for Sherpa and Tibetan monks. In 1972 Lama Yeshe bought property in Dharamkot village, Upper Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh and called it "Tushita", the Joyous Land.

Lama Thuben Yeshe with Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Thubten Yeshe passed away in Los Angeles, USA, at the age of 49. His body was cremated at Vajrapani Institute in California and his ashes were distributed among his student. A Stupa was built here at Tushita Meditation Centre to enshrined his relics. Everybody who met Lama Yeshe was touched by his great love and warmth. His life was totally dedicated to the service of others and his concern for all beings manifested in the giving of teachings, offering both spiritual and practical advice to his students and initiating many projects benefiting the wider society and all sentient being.

Stupa of Lama Yeshe

Lama Geshe Rabten
Great scholar, debater and meditation master. One of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche's main spiritual teacher. Born in Tibet, he escaped to India in 1759 spent many years in solitary retreat and later became assistant to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. On His Holiness request, he began teaching Dharma to westerners from 1974 until he passed away.

Lama Geshe Rabten

"Buddhism is neither the strange tradition of some foreign lands, nor a method for flee from one's responsibilities, nor a collection of dry words in book and libraries. Buddhism is solely to be understood as a means to overcome mental suffering and to accomplish ones own and others wellbeing" Geshe Rabten