A,Monastic,Academy,on,the,Prairie:on the contrary

　　The Takdrak Monastery is located in the northeast of Ruoergai County, Aba Prefecture of Sichuan Province. It is a Gelugpa Monastery on the Ruoergai Prairie in Northwest Sichuan. After more than 300 years of history, it was proposed to establish by the first living Buddha of Takdrak in the 2nd year of the Emperor Kangxi (A.D.1663). Through the management and development of seven generations of living Buddha, the ancient building, together with the cultural relics it contained, has been well preserved. There are two living Buddha and over 100 practicing Buddhist monks including the Takdrak living Buddha, Karam Thokpodan Lhaxi Shegyatso, the president of the Buddhist Association in Aba Prefecture and the vice president to the Political Consultative Conference in Ruoergai County.
　　
　　
　　The entrance of the Takdrak Academy.
　　
　　Tibetan students reading in the Takdrak Academy.
　　 Developing from Nothing
　　Supported by local Buddhist circles, the Takdrak Academy is a traditional three-storey building in Tibetan style, completed and opened to the public on J uly 2nd, 2006. As the first modern library in the history of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, it covers an area of 3,571 square meters and includes a reading room, academic hall, library, museum and a master shrine. Regarded as a pioneering monastery, this establishment abruptly ended the period in which China had no modern academy amongst established Tibetan Buddhism monasteries.
　　On the first floor there is a library, a reading room, and an academic hall. In the library more than a hundred thousand Tibetan and Chinese books, ancient Buddhist records and documents are stored. These Tibetan books consist of those written or printed in Tibetan language on religion, medicine, phonetics, technique and craft, astronomy, math, calendars, biography, totally over ten thousand volumes. The Chinese books include those written or printed in Chinese about the Chinese or foreign literature, history, philosophy, art, photography, science, technology, tourism, customs, travelogues, academic texts and religion. The total of books includes more than ten thousand volumes. The most valuable are ancient Buddhist records and books, such as the Tibetan and Sanskrit gold manuscripts of the Bhadrakapa Sutra, the Vimoksa Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the Eight Thousand Prajnaparamita Sutra, silver manuscript of the full set of 16 letters of the Prajnaparamita Sutra , the Eight Thousand Prajnaparamita Chant, the White Sea Snail J uice manuscript of the Maha Prajnaparamita Sutra in 12 letters, the Padmasambawa Sutra, the Auspiciousness Sutra and other sutras totaling about ten letters, and the shell powder manuscript of Mani Teachings of the Deceased. The Chinese manuscript has an antique thread binding the Buddhist book to The Tibetan Digest. The reading room can hold nearly a hundred people reading quietly. The academy’s hall is equipped with modern teaching aids such as computers and projectors for scholars and experts to launch academic discussion and research.
　　On the second fl oor is the exhibition hall which mainly contains displays of religious and cultural relics such as gold and bronze statues of Buddhas, carved wooden Buddha, Bodhisattva figures, Tsatsa, frescoes, Thangka, talisman, and various musical instruments, handicrafts, domestic utensils, and so on. All the exhibits are the products of intense and delicate restoration work by Tibetan people. Though numerous historical vicissitudes may have befallen them, they have been carefully preserved - even in this unusually rough environment, and have been successfully passed down to us today. From their special fi gures, hues and textures, we can gain an insight into a remote and rich history while discovering the underlying beauty of humanity.
　　The third f loor contains the master shrine. More than a hundred eminent monks who are worshiped there have contributed to the spread of Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism. The main statue in the room is the socalled the 2nd Buddha, Master Tsongkhapa (creator of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism) and his disciples, Gyaltsab J e and Khedrup J e. Maitreya Bodhisattva and Attisha are on the right. The Manjushri Bodhisattva is enshrined on the left. All the Buddha statues contain valuable blessed talismans, brought from different areas of Tibetan and associated with supremely powerful blessings. From these lively and dignified figures, we can see how the Tibetan Buddhist system has come into being and become established. We also see how great, moral, capable and knowledgeable the masters have become in action and spirit.
　　The Takdrak library collects many kinds of Tibetan and Chinese books on dozens of categories such as history, astronomy, philosophy, law, medicine and sciences. All books have been indexed and catalogued. The museum has a collection of hundreds of precious cultural relics including religious and folk objects, important documentary literature and ancient fossils. The academy is not only a rare museum of relics, but also an Amdo Tibetan folk exhibition center. The items in it express the essence of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the developing history of Tibetan Amdo culture in Ruoergai.
　　
　　 Forward with the Pulse of the Times
　　To meet the spiritual and cultural needs of monks, nuns and disciples, the abbot of the Takdrak Monastery, the living Buddha of Takdrak Karam Thokpodan Lhaxi Shegyatso, gradually got to know that as a family member of the general Chinese nationality, the Tibetans must have developed an open attitude towards this fast moving world after his years’ experience of teaching and spreading Buddhism. He sought to learn and understand the best of the cultures of other nationalities - while inheriting Tibetan’s own so that Tibetan culture can be developed and become more prosperous. Therefore, from 2001, the living Buddha (with a sincere love for his motherland and his beliefs) began to travel and visit important colleges from all over the country, trying to learn and borrow strong points from other institutions until fi nally succeeding in designing and projecting the characteristic Tibetan Takdrak Academy with Kelzang Gyumey Tenpai Gyaltsen - another respected living Buddha in the Takdrak Monastery.
　　Banners reading “Seek Knowledge to Enlighten Oneself, Open Your Mind to Enrich Your Talents”were hung on the front gate, beside the name plaque of Takdrak Academy (which was personally inscribed by Ren J iyu, a deceased famous scholar and the former curator of China National Library). The large characters state the reason why the academy was built.
　　Aga, a herdsman, often comes to the academy. He lives on the Doima Prairie of Ruoergai, 30 kilometers away from the county. Every once in a while, he will come and look up materials he needs in the library to solve the problems he has encountered in his daily work with his herd. On the vast Ruoergai Prairie, people can see not merely the first arc of the Yellow River, but also the many pairs of Tibetan eyes hungering for learning and knowledge.
　　In Takdrak museum, every cultural relic seems to tell a unique history of this old race. There are nearly a hundred Thangkas of the Ming and Qing Dynasty stored in the museum. Looking at a piece that is a little worn and stained, Gawa Gyatso, Vice President of Taktra Academy, told an old story about the long friendship between Tibetan and Han Chinese. Presented as a gift to the living Buddha of Takdrak by the Tenth Panchen Lama, the Thangka is a silk portrait of the Ninth Panchen Lama. It is said that the Thangka has witnessed a touching story that Tibetans and the Han people once united to help each other. It was created in Du J insheng Silk Mill in Zhejiang Province in the twenties of last century. Du J insheng was known as a patriotic businessman by the end of Qing Dynasty and at the beginning of the Republic of China. Facing the decline of China after the Qing Dynasty, Du J insheng pledged that he would work hard to run the factory well, develop the national industry, further to making the country rich and strong. To support the patriotic acts of domestic businessmen, the Ninth Panchen Lama placed an order of thousands of Thangkas and brought them back to Tibet. To show gratitude for the support and encouragement of the Ninth Panchen Lama, Du J insheng wove the Thangka with the lively picture of the Ninth Panchen Lama on it in his silk mill.
　　The Takdrak Academy follows the concept of blending Tibetan and Han, relating both ancient and modern, integrating the Chinese and overseas elements. Since it was completed and opened to the public, monks in the monastery received a baptism of modern thought and civilization, not only with the capability to improve Tibetan and Chinese knowledge and the analysis of current political affairs, but also with the strength to inherit and carry on traditional Tibetan Buddhism. They are eager to publish their papers, poems, essays and news in newspapers or magazines. Quite a few works have been acknowledged by authorized organizations at the level of prefecture and province.
　　The Takdrak Academy has paved a perfect and harmonious road to Bodhi for monks to practice Buddhism, chant sutra, follow precepts, obey laws, and love the country and religion. Saving and leading all beings to eternal happiness is the highest aim of Mahayana Buddhism based upon the same right understanding of the essence by which monks regard the construction of the academy as a good means by which to follow Buddhist tenets. Of course, in the meanwhile, they work hard and make progress in Buddhism. They intend to transfer the basic doctrine of Tibetan Buddhism “To Make the Land Pure and Solemn, and Bring Happiness to All Beings” to the actual practice of loving the country and religion, to be united and to make progress… and to serve and benefi t society. With an open heart and deep insight, they involve themselves with the world, they are sensitive to the pulse of times, and they persist on improving comprehensive quality, all these efforts intend to better answer the spiritual requests of disciples, help promote the harmony of body, speech, mind, discipline, opinion, welfare, and peace between nationalities, religions and society. The Takdrak Academy interprets the profound culture of Chinese Buddhism to the world and plays an important role in leading society, instructing monks and disciples and facilitating development. Additionally, it meets the cultural and spiritual needs of monks and disciples in various ways.