MONKS
FOOD FOUNDATION PROJECT.
Monks undergo many hours of studies and good health is a
must for study. All the food for the monks in the monastery is supplied from
college communal kitchen. A breakfast, a slab of bread and a sugarless tea.
Lunch consists of vegetable and bread, sometimes rice and dinner of rice or
Tibetan noodles soup (Thukpa). The
goal of Drepung Gomang Food Foundation is to ensure the proper nourishment of
the monks at Drepung Gomang Monastery. Presently there 2000 monks living at the
monastery. Each year approximately 150 new monks from Tibet, Mongolia, Tibetan
Mongolia, Russia, Nepal and Himalayan region of India such as Ladakh, Arunachal
Pradesh and also from Tibetan settlement in India join here to pursue
traditional monastic studies.
Since monastery is dedicated to the survival and
continuance of the teachings of Buddha, no person is refused entrance into the
monastery. However, many of these monks have no financial resource to support
themselves. As a result, Gomang is faced with the ever-increasing problem of
providing enough food for the monastery to ensure that everyone living there
remains healthy.
The Food Foundation plans to guarantee that the monastery
will have enough money in reserve so that even in times of financial drought or
crisis, there will always be food available. The plan is to raise enough money
so that the food allowance will be paid by the interest generated by money
deposited in the Food Foundation. This ensures that no matter what economic
situation arises, there will always be supply of food for the monks.
Monthly community kitchen expenses is approximately Rs.6 lakh to Rs.8 lakh. (Rs.6,00,000 to 8,00,000)