Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center is led by its founder Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Tsetan, a highly esteemed monk and leader in the Gelugpa tradition.
Tashi Gatsel Ling has a strong connection to Gelugpa lineage while promoting the Rime (Ree-may) Non-Sectarian Buddhist tradition as encouraged by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. Buddhist teachings are offered only by qualified teachers. Please see our teacher page for a list of teachers who have taught at TGL.
Guiding Principles
● Observe, honor, and study the precepts, principles, scriptures
● Uphold and promote the Five Main Commitments of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama: 1. Oneness of Humanity 2. Interfaith Harmony 3. Environmental Stewardship 4. Preservation of the Nalanda Philosophical School of Buddhism based on reasoning and critical thinking 5. Preserve and value the precious Tibetan Buddhist culture
● Create Dharma activities reflecting acceptance and welcoming all who are curious about and can benefit from teachings of the Buddha
● Establish an environmentally green, dedicated housing and hub for qualified female ordained practitioners to live and carry out educational and spiritual activities to promotes awareness of Buddhism and inner peace
● Sponsor and host recognized teachers and guest lecturers for Buddhist teachings and retreats, with special emphasis placed upon intercultural exchange through targeted support of female Tibetan Buddhist monastics
● Utilize the Center’s Board for transparent decision-making, communications
● Uphold and maintain flourishing harmonious Dharma activities to enhance the public good in Maine and beyond through genuine expression of the ethics and values of living Buddha Dharma, embodying peace and interpersonal harmony
● Keep the vision and long-term goals of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama and Khen Rinpoche central to the Center’s activities, bringing Dharma to the West as an expression of ethics that benefits all- promoting kindness and compassion, transparency, non-sectarianism
Oath Against Harm In The Practice Of The Dharma
*From The Alliance For Buddhist Ethics
- In the practice of the Dharma, we hold the student-teacher relationship to be a sacred connection that prioritizes the spiritual development, maturation, and well-being of the student.
- Similarly, we hold that Dharma organizations exist to provide safe environments that allow those who practice the Dharma to thrive in supportive communities, founded on aspirations of good-will for all, and supported by a strong ethical foundation of non-harming.
- We acknowledge that any behavior which would be categorized as abusive—whether emotionally, physically, financially, psychologically, or sexually—or which is exploitative, coercive, or an abuse of power, or which attempts to cover-up such behavior, is harmful and unnecessary in the practice of the Dharma. It is unacceptable in all circumstances.
- We are aware that harm has been caused by failures to meet these standards in the past, and we declare our commitment to maintaining them for the well-being and benefit of all. May this commitment help the Dharma to flourish, both now and in the future, and may it help to alleviate suffering and create a more compassionate world.
Background
Mid 1990s: We began in a small artist studio in Freeport, Maine when a monk in his mid-forties gen la Lobsang Tsetan was visiting the state and learning English. He had a strong wish to learn the language in order to transmit authentic Buddhist Dharma in the West. Twice each year he visited our state and gave teachings a month or two, often twice a week with weekend intensives held at Portland Yoga Studio, with room for larger audiences.
2000-2003: Almost no one who initially attended his teachings was following Buddhism. People came for a variety of reasons: curiosity, seeking peace, stress reduction, healing, or were just gravitating toward his open-hearted warm smile.
2004-2012: As interest in the Dharma grew, so did his audience. Many Mainers decided to become practicing Buddhists by taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Having completed his Gehse degree, we called him Geshe la, and shortly thereafer he was appointed the head abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in exile in South India. A head about is called a Khenpo, so now he began Khen Rinpoche. “Rinpoche” is a special title bestowed on very realized practitioners and was given to him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Khen Rinpoche continued to attract large audiences and devoted students, so a larger space was organized. In 2009, Tashi Gatsel Ling moved from Freeport to 429 Elmwood Rd. in Pownal. We met there for three years, before relocating to a more handicapped accessible center off of Route 1 in Freeport from 2012-2014. After two years, Tashi Gatsel Ling volunteer organizers relocated the shrine room, cost-free, to Gray, where we met from 2014-2020, when we had to close our physical location, due to COVID.
2020-2024: We are currently meeting on-line primarily when our teachers are available, autumn, winter and spring. We take a summer pause from the end of June until mid-September. Our Spiritual Coordinator is also very involved in providing Dharma talks and meditation activities in Maine and beyond.
Autumn 2024: Tashi Gatsel Ling was awarded a sizable grant to host visiting Tibetan Buddhist scholar~monastics and we are planning for three teachers to visit this fall for a month of dynamic Dharma touring in Maine, Massachusetts, Colorado and beyond.
Khensur Rinpoche is now in his 80s and is still the Spiritual Director of Tashi Gatsel Ling, guiding us through Zoom talks and keeping up to date with the center’s mission and activities. We are forever grateful for his kindness and cannot ever begin to repay our debt of gratitude, except to practice in the most sincere and dedicate way we currently are able.
His longtime disciples accepted the responsibility to continue to support his and Tashi Gatsel Ling’s legacy in Maine by maintaining an active, thriving Buddhist Dharma community in Gray. In August 2019 TGL obtained its 501 (c) (3) status; this was the first step in our bigger plans to establish a permanent site for a new, Eco-Dharma Center. May 2024: We are happy to say with joyful perseverance this project is now well underway!