DMC Crowdfund

Katsel Monastery Mural Renovation in Tibet

A campaign by DMC Boston

In 2013, the ancient Tibetan Katsel monastery, in continuous use dating back from the seventh century, was demolished. Centuries of deterioration, along with nearby dynamite blast mining for commercial construction, created a widening crack that finally compromised the foundation. The building was leveled, and now the structure has been rebuilt.

Lama Konchok Sonam, who resides in Arlington, Mass., in the United States, has been overseeing the monastery's rebirth from afar, and is now determined to restore the sacred murals on the four walls which once surrounded practitioners and guided them on their path toward enlightenment.

Your donation will fund the restoration painting of the first of four murals, the “Buddha Amitabha Pure Land” mural. This mural will feature the Buddha Amitabha 'of boundless light' surrounded by buddhas and bodhisattvas, song birds, wind and waterfalls.

These are no ordinary birds, wind and water, according to Lama Sonam. Everything in the Pure Land is just that – pure; meaning free of the defilements and afflictions in one’s mind that give rise to suffering.

The murals are filled with images rich in symbolism showing the teachings of the Buddha, pointing out the way to transform our minds from confusion and unsatisfactoriness to the enlightened mind which displays itself in the world as wisdom and compassion.

Based on descriptions of a mind where there is no suffering, from those who have realized it, artists created the imagery for the four Pure Land murals, according to Lama Sonam. Proceeds from your donation will fund the restoration of the first of the four traditional murals for the new Katsel monastery in Tibet. 

Katsel's monks will pray for the deceased family members of everyone who helps with the project, said Lama Sonam, who has a blank book ready for these names to be sent to the monks in Tibet.