Mainpat, India Project

Below is the history behind the Tibetan Refugee camps along with an incredible story of the Rinpoche, whom we partner with in this project.

Also, above is a video of this same project from 2011 if you want a better look of what goes on, on site. The project has grown slightly since this video was taken.

History behind Tibetan Refugee camp:
When Tibet came under control of the Chinese after the invasion of their country, the Dalai Lama fled to India. Indian Prime Minister demonstrated support for the Tibetans by making land available for settlement. Currently, there are 37 Tibetan Refugee Settlements spread throughout India. Mainpat is known to be one of the least supported and has the lowest income of the settlements. It is the home of 2,500 refugees and spirtually lead by the Rinpoche of the camp, Tulku Tsori Rinpoche.

Story of the Rinpoche:
A young boy born in India in 1974, his parents had fled from Tibet before the Chinese invasion and were residing in the Mainpat refugee camp. When the boy was just 3 years old, he told his parents that he needed a throne because he was the reincarnation of a Tibetan holy man. The parents ignored what the young boy was saying. A few months later, the boy told his parents that they needed to prepare a special tea for the visitors that were coming take him away. The parents again, ignored what the boy was trying to tell them. Just a few hours later, Buddhist monks were at their door to get the boy and have him begin his Buddhist training because he was the reincarnation of the Yogi Tsoru Dechen Rinpoche of Charndho, Tibet. The parents finally believed eveything but were hesitant to send their son away in fear that the grandfather would not survive the child's absence. They decided not to send the child with the monks. A few years later, the boy was 8, the grandfather passed away, and the parents decided to send their son to the Namdroling Monastery in Southern India to begin his Buddhist training. A few years into the training, the young boy, now a monk, heard that his mother was terminally ill. The monk snuck away from the monastery with very little money and got on a train to go home and see his mother one last time. He ended up getting kicked off the train because he did not have enough money to go the whole way. The young boy was stranded with no money on a railway platform where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The rest of his youth and teenage years he spent as a slave, beaten, starved, and locked in the home of a very wealthy family. One day, a man came to the home in hopes to sell the family a German sheperd puppy. He saw the state that the child was in and instead of selling the puppy he decided he would trade the puppy for the boy. The boy worked for this man but was in much better hands, was paid for his work, had some education, and freedom. The young man began to find out what he had been missing out on and started to get himself into trouble. Years passed, and again, this young man found himself on a railway platform. There was a stranger next to him that he recognized as Tibetan. He soon found that he had lost his ability to communicate in his native language. The elderly man said to him: "You have lost yourself." The young man then realized he needed to return to the monastery and complete the Buddhist training, and he did. He is now known as the Venerable Tulku Tsori Rinpoche. He has established a monastery for the education of young monks and established himself as the camp's spiritual leader. He has transformed what has happened in his life to work of service for the Mainpat Tibetans.

Thank you for all of your help! It is greatly appreciated!