The Bodhicharya non-profit educational and cultural association, founded by revered master of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, has announced the opening by Bodhicharya UK of its first Dharma center in the English borough of Medway, in Kent.
“In May 2024, during Ringu Tulku Rinpoche’s visit to Bodhicharya Kent in Rochester, it was announced that the charity had been working with Medway Council to open a Bodhicharya UK Buddhist Community Center there, to help further the charity’s objectives and provide a home for Buddhists within the multi-faith Medway towns,” Bodhicharya said in an announcement shared with BDG. “We are happy to announce that process is now complete as the lease agreement with Medway Council was signed on 13 January 2025, and so Bodhicharya UK’s first Dharma center is now a reality!”
Bodhicharya UK was founded as a registered charity in 2021, inspired by the Buddhist teachings and guided by the charity’s patron, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche. Bodhicharya UK’s objectives, informed by Bodhicharya’s principles of healing, helping, and harmony, are to “advance the understanding and practice of the Buddhist faith and philosophy.” (Bodhicharya)
The organization “provides meetings, teachings, courses, and retreats (healing), encouraging and participating in intercultural, interfaith and interdisciplinary dialogues (harmony), promoting and supporting well-being in body, mind and spirit (healing) and supporting the relief of those in need (helping).” (Bodhicharya)
In a message to acknowledge the landmark development, the chairperson of Bodhicharya UK, Cesare Saguato, has been studying and practicing Buddhism since 2007, stated:
I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to all Bodhicharya UK Team members, old and new, for your service to Bodhicharya UK and the Buddha Dharma this year. Through the guidance and inspiration of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the Lineage Masters, our teachers, especially Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, and our own practice and skilful actions, we have cultivated the ground to such a point that we have now planted the seed for the very first Bodhicharya UK Dharma Centre to grow. Such a thing, like everything, does not just pop up randomly, but is the result of innumerable causes and conditions – the karma of beings, and in this case very positive ones! This endeavour in and of itself IS DHARMA PRACTICE, and provides us all with the opportunity to practice the Six Paramitas of generosity, ethical conduct, patience, joyful diligence, meditative concentration and wisdom, so it is good for us and is good for others. I very much look forward to watering this seed together with you all, watching it grow organically and to see the fruits it bears, filled with the sweet juice of Bodhichitta, the union of Compassion and Wisdom. (Bodhicharya)
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is a master of the Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism. Born in 1952 in the traditional region of Kham in eastern Tibet, Rinpoche was recognized by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa as the incarnation of a tulku of Ringu Monastery. Over the course of his formal education, he studied with some of the most revered and distinguished masters of the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions, among them: Thrangu Rinpoche; Dodrupchen Rinpoche; Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; and the Gyalwang Karmapa.
In 1997, he founded the international Dharma organization Bodhicharya to preserve, transcribe, translate, and transmit the Buddhist teachings, and to promote intercultural dialogues as well as educational and social projects.
Rinpoche is the author of a number of books in Tibetan and European languages, including: Path to Buddhahood: Teachings on Gampopa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation (Shambhala Publications, 2003); The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great (Shambhala Publications, 2006); and Daring Steps Towards Fearlessness: The Three Vehicles of Buddhism (Snow Lion Publications, 2005).
The highest kind of person, not only wishes to escape from their own samsaric cycle of problems and confusion but also wants to help all other beings to escape as well. Their intentions, their objectives, are so huge and limitless that they are called the great beings. Gampopa urges us to try to be this last kind. We should not merely enjoy the present comforts of the world. We should not aim merely to pull ourselves out of samsara, but we should also try to bring all other living beings to complete freedom from suffering. — Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
See more
Bodhicharya
Bodhicharya UK to open their first Dharma Centre (Bodhicharya)
Related news reports from BDG
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche Gives Inaugural Teaching at the First Purpose-built Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Ireland
Online Dharma: Tergar Meditation Community Announces Online Teaching with Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
Revered Senior Lama Ato Rinpoche Has Died in England, Aged 91
New Year Long-Life Prayers for the Dalai Lama Held in Bodh Gaya
Dalai Lama Expresses Determination to Live 110 Years During Long-life Ceremony in Dharamsala
