Samyé
Constructed around 775 and inaugurated in 779 under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen, Samyé is the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet and where the country's first seven monks were ordained by Shantarakshita of Zahor to establish the monastic community. The monastery's construction was repeatedly hindered by opposing local spirits until Guru Rinpoche performed the Vajrakilaya dance to subdue them. Samyé was the foundational site where Tibetan Buddhism took root and where the crucial debate determined that the Indian rather than Chinese approach to Buddhism would prevail in Tibet. In 1907, en route to Golok from Central Tibet, Drimé Özer revealed termas in Samyé and all the members of the encampment, Déwé Dorjé included, were awed by this amazing spectacle.
Since the early 8th century, Tibetans and Himalayan people have treasured "Namtars" as written or spoken narratives that demonstrate the realization of the Buddhist path by exceptional practitioners. These namtars, or spiritual biographies, serve as inspirational guides on the path to enlightenment.
Today, Namtars Foundation aims to record, preserve, and freely offer the world a written and electronic treasury of the oral wisdom of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism.
