Ceremony hails graduation at Tibet Buddhism college

The Tibet College of Buddhism in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, held a ceremony for 207 of its graduates on Thursday.

The ceremony was attended by the college's monks and nuns, as well as officials from the regional government and the Tibet branch of the China Buddhism Association.

The graduates are monks and nuns from regional monasteries who enrolled in 2019 and 2021. They attended religious courses, including various sutra and tantra teachings, as well as more common courses such as history, politics, Mandarin and English.

Drukhang Thubten Khedrub, head of the college, gave a speech at the ceremony, saying that graduating from college does not mark the end of their studies but rather a new beginning. He expects "graduates to continue pursuing knowledge with unwavering determination, even after graduation".

"In the future, please continue to learn more things, such as Tibetan Buddhism teachings, national policies and laws, monastic management rules and methods, and other aspects of knowledge," he said.

He encouraged the graduates to apply what they have learned at the school to their lives and to play a leading role among their fellow monks and nuns after they return to their monasteries.

Ngakwang Champa, a monk graduate from the Drongthang Monastery in the region's Palbar county, said he began studying at the college in 2019. Over the past four years, he studied Buddhism, Mandarin, Tibetan and history, and took a computer class.

"I am pleased and feel honored to have chosen to study at this college over the years. I had the great opportunity to learn different things in such a good learning environment provided by the government, and I am very grateful," Ngakwang Champa said.

"I will continue to study hard after returning to my monastery, as our masters have entrusted us to do," he said, adding he wanted to sincerely thank all the faculty and his dharma mates for their support.

Founded in 2011, the Tibet College of Buddhism has grown into a high-quality comprehensive institution of Tibetan Buddhism, combining modern education with traditional Tibetan monastic teaching methods.

The college now has 906 students from 469 monasteries in the region's 74 counties and districts. It has yielded more than 1,500 graduates, including 60 Living Buddhas.

As a historic breakthrough in Tibetan Buddhism, it opened a nunnery department in 2014, providing nuns with an opportunity to receive a modern education while practicing their religious beliefs.

Contact the writers at palden_nyima@chinadaily.com.cn