Triten Norbutse Monastery

Triten Norbutse Monastery lies on a hill facing towards Swayambhunath stupa established by H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namadak Rinpoche in 1987 located in Raniban of Kathmandu valley. The main motive behind the establishment of this monastery is to provide a full education and practice program in the Bon tradition to the younger generation of Bonpo living in areas of the Himalayan borderlands including Dolpa and Mustang, as well as to Tibetan refugees. Although there are other Bonpo monasteries in Dolpa, Manang and other different districts of Nepal, they are unable to provide the opportunity to complete full Bonpo study program leading to Geshe degree beside this monastery. The monastery is considered as one of the important heritage sites of Bon religion and serves as a center for the social and religious life of the Bonpo communities.

The main education program conducted in Triten Norbutse is an academic study leading to the Geshe degree, which is considered as the highest degree in Bon religion. It provides an extensive study of the Bon religious tradition which includes Bon philosophy of Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen pertaining to its major canonical texts. In addition, it also provides enough study of Tibetan sciences and Sanskrit grammar with various aspects of religion. The monks (students) are encouraged to deepen their knowledge through regular lively debate which usually comes in practice in this monastery. However, the main reason behind the establishment of this monastery is to preserve the Bonpo culture and religion outside Tibet, to provide a full education and practice program for the Bonpos and finally to serve as a center for the social and religious life of the Bonpo communities.

Moreover, the meditation training program is carried out here in this Triten Norbutse Monastery which is considered as a system of meditation on the nature of mind. This program helps in transmitting the entire teachings on the four major Bon Dzogchen texts enabling the students to acquire a deep understanding and experience of meditation.