Welcome to the official site of Sera Jey Modern Education Department :
After almost 10 years of this special task program aimed for preservation & preparation of a knowledgeable human resource, in 1970 the group of 197 Sera Jey monks with 103 of Sera Mey monks was moved to a special site within the resettlement of Bylakuppe in Mysore District, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, for re-establishing the Sera Monastery, under the patronage of H.H. The Dalai Lama and the Central & State Government of India. A forestland area of 225 acres, measuring ¾ acres in ratio per monk were given to the two monasteries. For Sera Jey Monastery the share for 197 monks were given 147. ¾ acres.
The Indian Government sponsored 38 one-room tiled houses for the overall 300 monks of the two Monasteries, with 24 for Sera Jey and 14 for Sera Mey. The monks did all the construction labour. Also the surrounding area of 225 acres bulldozed were cleared by the monks of the two monasteries, and made available for cultivation. Cultivation was done on these lands during the onset of monsoon rainfall season, and there was one harvest in a year, which was then the only resource and means of survival to the entire monks. In the initial years, the monks were more or less obliged to engage for their livelihood & survival.
Each & every individual monk put up their best effort & time to create & harvest resource for the survival of the community in the initial stage, that laid the strong foundation for the development and establishment of a well organised Monastery.
The first Assembly Prayer Hall of the Monastery at Bylakuppe was built in 1976 and completed by the end of 1978. The Prayer Hall has a capacity to hold an assembly of 1500 monks, which was the total no of monks present at the Monastery then. It was inaugurated in the year 1979. Prior to this first Assembly Prayer Hall, a smaller one with asbestos sheet roofing has been built which was used until then.
Introductory History
The history of Sera Jey Monastery dates back to early 15th Century AD. Founded by Venerable Jetsun Kunkhen Lodroe Rinchen Senge, during the early History of Buddhism in Tibet and at the time of the great Lama Tsong Khapa (1357 – 1419) the founder of the Gelug Order, a highly learned & noble saint and master of the Scriptures on Buddhism with a gift of supreme power of visualization and knowledge.
Following in the footsteps of this Divine Master Lama Tsong Khapa, a devoted and noble disciple, Kunkhyen Lodroe Rinchen Senge, possessing profound knowledge, a master at the Drepung Monastery, who fatedly left to join Sera Monastery where Sera Jey Monastery was formed. History and legend has borne the records of the magnificent accounts that led to the birth of Sera Monastery and the subsequent establishment of Sera Jey Monastery. It was when Lama Tsong Khapa, the master and founder of Gelug Order, during one of his deep prayer and meditation on Manjushri (Jampel Yang) behold the vision in which he clearly saw the entire text of Prajnyapara-mitta’s 20 slokas on Shunyata spread over the sky. The unique moment spelled upon him total insight in the complete knowledge of Tsawasehrab (Fundamentals of Madhyamikka or Shunyata) Text. Simultaneously, he beheld the vision of a rain like “AA” characters descending from the sky. This was an auspicious symbol to his prophesies on the birth of a great source of learning on Buddh-ism. Which after twelve years, Jamchen Choje Shakya Yeshe acting upon the supreme wishes of his Master, began establishing the proper Seat of learning where knowledge of complete teachings and practices of Mahayana Tradition are imparted and pursued.
Nedong King Dagpa Gyaltsen gave financial support for the construction of a Monastery and laid down the foundation in the year 1419. All the subsequent development including installing sacred Images and other objects of worships were completed according to the supreme wishes of great Lama Tsongkhapa. It was soon known as ‘ the Seat of Theckchen ling (Mahayana Tradition)’. It is said that name ‘SERA’ came to be attached with this great Monastery from its location being surrounded by raspberry shrubs called ‘Sewa’ in Tibetan, that formed like a ‘ Rawa’ in Tibetan meaning ‘Fence’. In the following years very soon the fame of this great Monastery as a great seat of learning Gelug tradition spread all across Tibet and elsewhere in Buddhist influenced neighbouring countries.
Modern Education Department
The Education Department has lately been formed as a complimentary platform to the main Philosophical studies curriculum of the monastery, where general academic subjects from language, to science and humanities can be made available for studies as extracurricular program.
This concept has formerly taken shape from our earnest effort in following the noble vision of His Holiness The Dalai Lama on the importance and need for awareness and studies on general academic subjects in the monastic institutes and for developing interaction with other formal academic institutions and universities.
The introduction and study of general Science in Tibetan monastic institutes has been one of His Holiness foremost patronage. Through the education department, various academic disciplines and courses are planned for introduction as complimentary studies besides the monastery’s main academic curriculum – philosophical studies.
Since the past few years, the monastery has initiated contacts and interaction with formal academic institutions; introduced other academic disciplines. With these developments, the monastery has made major inroads in its outreach program.
Some of the highlights are:-
- A Memorandum of Understanding with Mongolian University of Science and Technology on research & exchange has been established on 2 January 2014.
- A Memorandum of Understanding with Tumkur University on Buddhist Studies established on 27 November 2012, has been a historic achievement. The Sera Jey Monastic Research Center with accreditation to Tumkur University was formerly established for research in Buddhist studies between the two institutes.
- A Memorandum of Understanding with University of Pisa, Italy, on research and exchange has been established on 24 January 2018.
- Sera Jey Science Center founded in 2013 is another major landmark in the monastery’s academic education field.
- B.A. Hons Program under the specialized program of University of Mysore, was instituted at Sera Jey in 2022.
- Language Translation Program founded in 2015, specializing in translation of English and Chinese language, is set for a majorinroads.
- IGNOU Special Study Centre was formally approved on 9 Nov. 2017 and inaugurated on 20 Dec. 2017.