ABOUT

Mission

Sharminub Knowledge Rising is a humanitarian association that contributes to the improvement of living conditions for children and young adults in Kathmandu, Nepal and Kalimpong, India. Our aid supports the education, food, lodging, and clothes as well as the general living conditions of the students. Knowledge Rising aims to offer aid while always maintaining respect for the diverse identities and philosophical, religious, and political convictions of the different geographical locations in which we act.

Current Activity

Knowledge Rising currently supports over a hundred young monks carrying out elementary and post-secondary studies at Sharminub Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. With the help of our donors, we have provided basic necessities such as beds, desks, clothes, shoes, and toothbrushes, as well as the creation of a vegetable garden to feed the students. The funds provided by the association also help pay for everyday meals, food, and water supply. Please check out our 2020 ANNUAL REPORT for the most recent updates from Sharminub.

Background

The 14th Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche Mipham Chokyi Lodro conceived of and founded Sharminub Monastery to offer high quality education to monks in the Karma Kagyu tradition. He named the monastery “Sharminub,” which means, “to rise but not to set.” The association Sharminub Knowledge Rising, takes its name from this place and from Shamar Rinpoche’s vision.

Shamarpa’s wish for monks to be able to study at Sharminub is now reaching maturity. In April 2016, Khenpo Gyaltsen Zangpo, the director of Diwakar Buddhist Academy (DBA) in Kalimpong, India moved to Sharminub with ten monks who have received their diplomas following ten years of higher Buddhist philosophy studies at DBA. Under Khenpo Gyaltsen Zangpo’s direction, these monks will continue their studies and continue on to become teachers in the lineage’s centers around the world.

Roughly 105 new young monks, from six to fifteen years old and from all over Nepal, recently joined the group. Many of them lost their parents in the catastrophic 2015 earthquake. Khenpo Gyaltsen Zangpo and the ten older monks will supervise their studies, while also ensuring that they are fed and that their daily needs are met. The recently-arrived youths will remain at Sharminub for some time, and later some will transfer to Takdah Diwakar School in Kalimpong, India. The others will remain at Sharminub so that the group will be evenly split between the two sites.

Knowledge Rising came to be in 2016 in response to the urgent need for daily support for these many young monks. Through the support of our many donors, the association is able to provide for the daily needs of Sharminub’s young monks and contribute to steadily improving their living conditions and educational resources.

The association continues to grow and aims to expand its activities to support other young people and institutions.

Knowledge Rising works with the guidance of Lama Jigme Rinpoche and the blessing of HH Trinlay Thaye Dorje, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa.