Life in Exile - a Challenge

The Gyuto Vajrayana Center was established also with the Tibetan Community in the San Francisco Bay Area in mind. Quite a number of Tibetan refugees live in the Bay Area. Life in exile is still a challenge even though the economic situation has improved quite a bit. It is not always easy to live here and maintain one's cultural and spiritual roots.

Programs for the Tibetan Community

The Gyuto Vajrayana Center addresses those issues and actively promotes programs for the Tibetan Community. The resident Gyuto Monks provide prayer services not only at Tibetan community gatherings but also at private Tibetan homes, as well as regular events for Tibetan Youth and Seniors: 

Tibetan Youth Dharma Discussion

Venerable Geshe Lobsang Chonyi, resident teacher of Gyuto Center, offers a Dharma discussion class for Tibetan youths every other Friday evening in cooperation with the Tibetan Association of Northern California (TANC). We are very grateful to TANC that they have been very supportive of this program in allowing us to use their facilities. We encourage all Tibetan youths as well as all interested community members to join the Dharma discussion and Q&A with Geshe Lobsang Chonyi.

This is part of the program that His Holiness the Dalai Lama constantly advises us to offer in an effort to be a 21st century Buddhist - knowing the Dharma well through study. Therefore, Geshe Lobsang Chonyi is offering his services by sharing his Dharma knowledge with the community. However, Geshe la wants to make sure that this class does not foster a Guru/disciple relationship, but rather it is a group of Dharma friends sharing the Dharma knowledge openly with one another.

Tibetan Seniors' Day-Long Mani Recitation

This program is dedicated to the Tibetan seniors of the San Francisco Bay Area. Once each month Gyuto monks invite the Bay Area Tibetan seniors to the Center and recite Mani in the dedication of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s long life. Gyuto monks pick up seniors from the El Cerrito Bart Station in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon at 5 PM. Gyuto monks also take the seniors on pilgrimage to local monasteries and nunneries as part of their sightseeing.