Tibetan Buddhist organizations around the world

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Buddhist monasticism is an important part of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, all the major and minor schools maintain large monastic institutions based on the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya (monastic rule) and many religious leaders come from the monastic community.

That being said, there are also many religious leaders or teachers (called Lamas and Gurus) which are not celibate monastics.

This list contains some of the most well known Tibetan Buddhist organizations around the world.

Tibetan Nuns Project

The Tibetan Nuns Project is a non-profit organisation founded in 1987 dedicated to educating and supporting female Buddhist monastics in India from all Tibetan Buddhist lineages. It supports nuns interested in study and higher ordination. The mission of the Tibetan Nuns Project is to educate and empower nuns of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as teachers and leaders; and to establish, strengthen, and support educational institutions to preserve the Tibetan religion and culture. The organisation supports seven nunneries and over 700 nuns in India.

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass over 160 Dharma centers, projects, and services in 37 countries. Since the death of Lama Yeshe in 1984, the FPMT’s spiritual director has been Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Nalandabodhi

Nalandabodhi is a Buddhist organization founded in the United States by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1997 and named after the historic Nalanda university of India. Today, there are also Nalandabodhi centers and study groups in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and throughout Europe and Asia. “Nalanda” translates literally as “the place that confers the lotus ,” and Bodhi translates as “enlightenment.” The stated goals of Nalandabodhi are to provide a curriculum of study for students of the Dharma, publish commentaries by contemporary teachers, translate and publish historical teachings, and support the communication between western and international Buddhist practitioners. In 1998, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche’s teacher Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche was named Spiritual Director of Nalandabodhi and has worked closely with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in developing the Nalandabodhi Path of Study and Path of Meditation courses.

Maitripa College

Maitripa College, founded in 2005 as Maitripa Institute, is a Tibetan Buddhist college located in Portland, Oregon. It is an affiliated member of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of Gelugpa dharma centers.

Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies

Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies incorporates two institutions: (1) the North American Seat of Namgyal Monastery; and (2) a Tibetan Buddhist theological seminary affiliated with it. The two institutions share a dharma center in Ithaca, New York. The Dalai Lama is their patron, highest authority, and consultant.

Temple of One Thousand Buddhas

The Temple of One Thousand Buddhas is a Tibetan Buddhist temple in the commune of La Boulaye, located in the French region of Burgundy. The temple, founded in 1987, follows the Karma Kagyu tradition. It lies in the middle of Dashang Kagyu Ling, a Buddhist retreat center established by the Tibetan lama, Kalu Rinpoche in 1974.

Diamond Way Buddhism

Diamond Way Buddhism is a lay organization within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The first Diamond Way Buddhist centre was founded in 1972 by Hannah and Ole Nydahl. It is led by Ole Nydahl under the spiritual guidance of Trinley Thaye Dorje, one of two claimants to the title of the 17th Karmapa. There are approximately 650 Diamond Way Buddhist centres worldwide.

Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace

Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace (མདོ་སྔགས་ཀུན་ཕན་གླིང་།) (DNKL) is a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center located in Redding, Connecticut. It offers classes and meditation retreats in the Gelug spiritual tradition of the 14th Dalai Lama under the guidance of Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa.

Indiana Buddhist Center

Established in early 2003, the Indiana Buddhist Center (IBC) serves the public by providing accurate information on the religion and philosophy of Buddhism in the lineage of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. It is a federally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit Buddhist institute located in central Indiana that facilitates meeting places for meditation, prayer, retreats, and religious services for Budd hists and those interested in Buddhist Dharma. It provides a center for spiritual services that are Buddhist in nature. The IBC serves as a place of common meditation and gathering for Indiana Buddhists and those sympathetic to the Dharma. The center engages in events that further the understanding of Buddhist philosophy in the form of regular teachings and special events. Most activities are held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The center is located on two and a half acres of a beautiful park-like property. IBC offers instruction on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Geshe Lharampa Jinpa Sonam is the resident Spiritual Director and Tenzin Namgyal serves as resident translator.

Vajradhara-Ling

Vajradhara-Ling is a center affiliated to the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism located in France in Normandy near the city of Lisieux.

Kagyu-Dzong

The Kagyu-Dzong center is a Buddhist center in Paris, affiliated to the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. This center is linked to the 17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje.

The Tibet Center

The Tibet Center, also known as Kunkhyab Thardo Ling, in New York City, is a center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, a dharma center. The Tibet Center was founded by Venerable Khyongla Rato Rinpoche in 1975, and is currently directed by Khen Rinpoche, Nicholas Vreeland, who is the abbot of Rato Dratsang. The primary teachers at The Tibet Center are Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, Geshe Nicholas Vreeland, and Anthony Spina.

Western Shugden Society

The Western Shugden Society was a western campaigning group that advocates Dorje Shugden.

Tibet Center Institute

Tibet Center Institute – International Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies was founded by the 14th Dalai Lama, Lama Geshe Tenzin Dhargye and the Tibet Office Geneva with the support of the Carinthian state government and is located in Knappenberg in the region of Hüttenberg, Carinthia, Austria. The institute provides an authentic and secular education program on Tibet’s authentic knowledge and culture on an academic level which makes it unique in Europe.

Arya Maitreya Mandala

Arya Maitreya Mandala is a tantric and Buddhist order founded 1933 by Lama Anagarika Govinda.

Rigpa (organization)

Rigpa is the name of an international Buddhist organization founded by Sogyal Rinpoche in 1979. It has centers and groups in 41 countries around the world. Following allegations of sexual and physical abuse in a letter by former students in 2017, Rigpa commissioned an independent investigation which found those claims to be largely substantiated, along with evidence of a cover-up. According to its website, Rigpa seeks to make the teachings of Buddha available to benefit as many people as possible, and to offer those following the Buddhist teachings a complete path of study and practice, along with the environment they need to explore the teachings to their fullest.

Nītārtha Institute

Nītārtha Institute is a school of advanced Buddhist studies for Western students designed based upon the traditional Tibetan monastic university curriculum. Its teachers include the published translator Karl Brunnholzl, as well as the head of Nalandabodhi, The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling

The Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling is a Buddhist organization, which main office is registered to the Office for religious communities of the Government of Slovenia. Buddhist Congregation Dharmaling is also signatory of an agreement with the State of Slovenia, and is as such the 6th religious community to have signed such agreement in Slovenia.

Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre

Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre is a Tibetan Buddhist complex associated with the Karma Kagyu school located at Eskdalemuir, near Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Kagyu Samye Dzong London

Kagyu Samye Dzong London Tibetan Buddhist Centre for World Peace and Health is the London branch of Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland. Kagyu Samye Dzong London is under the direct guidance of Chöje Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Venerable Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, the co-founder and Abbot of Samye Ling respectively.

Chokgyur Lingpa Foundation

The Chokgyur Lingpa Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization associated with a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, near Boudhanath, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal. Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, along his son, Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche, serve as Spiritual Heads and Directors of the Chokgyur Lingpa Foundation. Their family contains many of the most popular modern Tibetan lamas, including Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and Mingyur Rinpoche.

Yongey Foundation

Tergar Meditation Community is a Buddhist meditation community led by Tibetan meditation master and best-selling author Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.