At the request of His Holiness the 33rd Abbot of Menri, and in service of Mustang Bon Foundation’s mission to revitalize the Bon teachings and practices of the Mustang Valley, the Foundation is spearheading an initiative to build a monastery and spiritual center near Jomsom, Nepal. This monastery will serve as the civic center for the local villages and provide vital spiritual and practical resources for the community.

In 2020, MBF provided funds to MCEC to purchase a tract of land in Pangling, six miles from Jomsom. In December 2021, the master plan for the Shenten Thagye Ling Monastery and Spiritual Centre in Pangling was finalized and approved. The monastery was named by His Holiness the 33rd Abbot of Menri and is translated as the center on the edge of the frontier of Tibet from which the teachings of the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab will spread and expand.

Mustang Bon Foundation hired international architecture firm MAP Design to oversee the project, along with local Nepalese project management and site engineering. MAP Design worked with Geshe Sonam and the MCEC to create a plan for the monastery campus which will center around a Gompa capable of seating 100 practitioners. The campus will also provide classrooms and housing for 100 students and 100 monks, a community center, a health clinic, and limited guest accommodations. The design is inspired by the symbolic Endless Knot, and will provide protection from severe Himalayan winds while still allowing for outdoor courtyards for both exercise and gathering.

The project will be completed in phases, and the total cost of the Monastery is projected to come in just under eight million dollars. Phase 1 of the project, the construction of the Gompa temple block, has been fully funded through the Foundation and MCEC and is scheduled to break ground in April 2022.

Work has already been done to prepare the site for construction, including the necessary work to provide running water and a water cistern to the site. Due to the remote location and impassable road conditions during parts of the year, building materials will be delivered and staged in a fenced-in portion of the site in preparation for building to commence in the spring.