Since its founding in 2000 by Venerable Thupten Donyo, the Gyuto Vajrayana Center has provided the teachings of the Buddha as practiced within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition at their beautiful Center and monastery located in San Jose, California.

To preserve the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Center invites highly qualified scholars and teachers from the Gyuto Tantric Monastery in India to give teachings and public talks on a broad range of Buddhist topics including the Sutras and Tantras. The original Gyuto Monastery was founded in 1474 in Tibet and the Gyuto Vajrayana Center in San Jose follows in this authentic lineage.

In addition to teachings, the Center organizes initiations, empowerments, prayer ceremonies, funeral services, house blessings and purifications not only for the Tibetan Buddhist community in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area but for all Buddhist groups and the local community in general. It also hosts cultural activities for students of Bay Area schools and universities, Boy Scout troops and many other local groups.

The Center is actively engaged with the local exiled Tibetan community, with project ranging from teaching Dharma to the Tibetan children to providing a meeting place for the elderly. Gyuto monks also support the Himalayan Tibetan Children's education through Gyuto Charity Project. Watch video part 1 and part 2.

The goal of the Gyuto Vajrayana Center is to provide spiritual and cultural to the Sillicon Valley and Bay Area communities as well as a being a Learning Center that brings together all denominations, Buddhist or otherwise, as well as academics, scientists and medical professionals to discuss ways in which they can work together beneficially.

One Day Tara Practice

Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012 at 10 am - 5 pm.

Gyuto Vajrayana Center will be holding a one day Tara Practice. The purpose of this practice is the attainment of supreme Enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings.

There are no prerequisites for this practice but registration is required. Please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   to register. Everyone is invited to join the practice. We request a $30 donation per person, and lunch will be provided.

Tara, the Liberator Mother, is the embodiment of the enlightened wisdom and compassion in feminine form, and one of the most important deities in the Tantric Buddhist tradition. Like a mother caring for her only child, Tara nurtures all living beings with her unconditional love and compassion. In her white form, Tara embodies enlightenment energy directed at healing, peace, prosperity, long life, and good fortune.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama 

The Center had the great honor of hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in San Francisco in April 2007 and San Jose in October 2010. We look forward to hosting him again soon. Click below to watch the video recording of His Holiness' teaching on the Eight Verses for Training the Mind: 

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For photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in San Francisco in 2007. Click here. 

For phographs of His Holiness in San Jose in 2010, click below:

Main Event Photos, Interfaith Gathering
Sponsor Luncheon, Tibetan audience

Also at the 2010 event was an Interfaith Gathering attended by over 500 participants to hear a panel discussion on His Holiness' recently published book on the value of Interfaith, 'Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World's Religions Can Come Together'.

More information about His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Click on image to enlarge

As a result of the successful outreach efforts of the Gyuto monks over the last 10 years, the Gyuto Center has outgrown its current location and it has become more and more challenging to accommodate the growing number of students and interested members of the community. There is a great need to provide additional space for visiting teachers and monks, retreat facilities, Tibetan cultural events, students housing, dinning facilities and parking areas. The monks hope to build a Gyuto Monastery as a Learning Center in the Bay Area that will not only provide a location for their current spiritual and cultural activities but also become a sustainable foundation for the future.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given his full support to this project as it realizes his personal vision of creating Learning Centers that besides bringing the Tibetan community together can be of great benefit to the local community and provide a place where different traditions and groups can discuss their beliefs and ideas in peace and harmony. The Gyuto monks need your support to help build this Monastery and Learning Center in the Bay Area.

His Holiness express support for this project please watch video:

To see an artist's model 3D animation of the Monastery.

Website Section about the Monastery Project. 

(The Stages of Path to Enlightenment)

Venerable Geshe Lobsang Chonyi, resident teacher of the Gyuto Vajrayana Center, teaches the Lamrim Teaching (The Stages of Path to Enlightenment) every Sunday night, from 7 pm to 9 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend the classes as all Gyuto teachings are free, but we would like to request that all members and friends kindly join our membership program to support the Center and its monastery project. Those of you who wish to listen the teachings online you can listen from via USTREAM 

Please check our program calendars before visiting the Center for teachings or pujas.

Lamrim Teaching Introduction