Shechen monastery
The Shechen Monastery (Tibetan: ཞེ་ཆེན་བསྟན་གཉིས་དར་རྒྱས་གླིང, Wylie: zhe chen bstan gnyis dar rgyas gling) is one of the six primary, or six "mother monasteries of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, in Tibet and Nepal.
It is located in Derge between Nangdo and Dzogchen Monastery.
It was founded in 1695 by Shechen Rabjam Tenpé Gyaltsen, though it is sometimes claimed to have been built by Gyurme Kunzang Namgyal in 1734.
It became extremely influential in the 18th and 19th centuries, with up to 160 satellite monasteries dotting the Himalayas. The monastery was completely destroyed in the Cultural Revolution, but it was rebuilt in 1985 by Dilgo Khyentse.
A new Shechen monastery has been built in Nepal.
The monastery in Nepal was founded in 1980 near the great stupa of Boudhanath, just northeast of Kathmandu, and is known as Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery. There are more than 300 monks.
"The monastery teaches music, dance, painting and Buddhist philosophy." Its elementary school provides "a modern education for children between five and fourteen years of age."
The present abbot is the seventh Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, the grandson of Dilgo Khyentse.
Prominent members of the monastery include the Yangsi (Tib.ཡང་སྲིད reincarnation) of Dilgo Khyentse, Matthieu Ricard and Changling Rinpoche.
