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sMenri Monastery
sMenri Monastery is the main monastery of the Bön religion. It is dedicated to the preservation of the Bön religion and to the religious training and practice of a new generation of students who will be responsible for keeping the indiginous Tibetan spiritual and cultural traditions alive. This work is more important than ever as the native culture is more important than ever as the native culture is being lost in the Tibetan homeland. His Holiness the 34rd sMenri Trizin, Trizin Dawa Dhargye Rinpoche is the supreme head of sMenri Monastery and the world-wide Bön community.
Nyammed Sherab Gyaltsen founded the original sMenri Monastery in the Tsang province of Tibet in 1405. The name “sMenri” means “Medicine Mountain”.
During the Chinese invasion in 1959, the orginal sMenri Monastery was destroyed. Many monks During the Chinese invasion in 1959, the orginal sMenri Monastery was destroyed. Many monks from sMenri Monastery and lay people from the nearby areas fled to India. Through the efforts of His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, they managed to purchase land in 1967 in Himachal Pradesh, northern India, where the village of Dolanji is now located. His Holiness, Lungtok Tenpei Nyima Rinpoche, the late 33rd sMenri Trizin established the new sMenri Monastery in 1967, and the adjacent village of Dolanji.
Today, sMenri Monastery houses approximately 300 monks and novices. It includes the a temple, dormitory areas, kitchen, librar dormitory areas, kitchen, library, and medical collage Sori Bum Zhi, and research center for scholars.
The newest sMenri Trizin, Geshe Dawa Dhargye Rinpoche, was born in November 29th, 1972 in Amdo, Tibet. At 17, he became a monk Gamal Monastery in Amdo. When he was 22 years old, he met the 33rd Menri Trizin Rinpoche and received the Monk’s rules of Drangsong, from his Holiness and received a name of Dawa Darge Holiness and received a name of Dawa Darge Wangpo. At 24, he received Geshe degree from Gamal Monastery. The next year, he arrived in India, at the sMenri Monastery and joined the Bon Dialectic school in Dholanji, where he received a Geshe degree in 2012. On January 1, 2018, he was chosen to be the 34th sMenri Trizin of the sMenri Monastery.
