Menri Monastery
– The Mother Monastery Of Bon Tradition
The first great revealer of treasure texts (Ter-Ton) in the Bon (Bon) tradition was Shenchen Luga ((996-1035). He entrusted to his disciple, Druchen Namka Yungdrung, to establish a debating practice to study the Bon texts. In 1072, Druchen’s close relative, Druje Yungdrung Lama, established Yeru Ensaka Monastery in the Central Tibetan district of Tsang for this purpose.
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The History Of Menri Monastery
Tashi Menri Monastery, located at Tobgyal village in Tsang area Shigatse, was built to replace Ensaka. It was established in 1405 by Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen (1356-1416) and became the mother, Bon monastery of Tibet. Unfortunately, a flood destroyed the monastery in 1386.
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The site of Menri is very extraordinary. When Bon, Tonpa Shenrab, travelled to Kongpo – present Nyingchi County, he stopped at Tobgyel. Then, with his miraculous powers, he left his footprint on a rock, saying, “Little boy, in the future, your monastery will be here.”
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The mountain behind Menri is like a drawn curtain of white silk. In the middle of it, there is an expansive flat rock slab with the naturally formed figures of 1000 Buddhas, 80 Vidyadharas (Rig-Zin, holders of pure awareness), and 1000 darkness.
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The mountains in front of the monastery have many naturally formed great shapes. The surrounding mountains are covered with hundreds of medicinal plants and medicinal springs, from which the name Menri derives, which means “Medicine Mountain.
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“When Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen first stayed at Menri, he asked his disciple, Rinchen Gyaltsen, to fill his monk’s shawl with white pebbles, close his eyes, and walk, dropping a stone every nine paces.
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Rinchen Gyaltsen did this, but a loud noise caused him to open his eyes after a short while. Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen told him that there would be 12 divisions of the monastery and 60 monk’s quarters where the pebbles had been dropped. He explained that had Rinchen Gyaltsen finished dropping all the stones with his eyes had never opened.
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Everything that remained from the previous Ensaka Monastery would have been re-established. But now that the replanting had not been carried out correctly. However, the continuity from the former monastery would be maintained for a long time, and everything would not be fully accomplished.
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Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen and Rinchen Gyaltsen wrote many texts and tried to establish a debating college at Menri. Until the Bon debate monastery Yungdrungling in 1836, the Menri monks studied sutras through the debate technique at the nearby Sakya monastery of Druyul Kyetsal and could receive the Sakya Geshe degree. They would study Bon tantra and Dzogchen – great completeness teachings at Menri.
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In 1947, Menri itself established a debating college. Although Ensaka had the debate tradition study of the sutra, tantra, and Dzogchen, Menri could only institute it for sutra. The monastery carried out a full calendar of tantric rituals and practices.
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The monks here in Menri monastery study sutra and tantra and Dzogchen through the medium of debate. They study the traditional fields of knowledge of medicine, astrology, art, poetry, and grammar.
