Prayer Books

Following a long period of decline, the Bodong tradition was almost totally destroyed by the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the Cultural Revolution. Even after the Porong community had managed to construct a small monastery in Kathmandu with few monks in the 1980s, there were still no formal collective prayers taking place.

After the crucial meeting of 1992, the community began to make a concerted effort to find the appropriate prayers from wherever possible. Scriptures were collected together from private homes in exile and from Tibet. It was also possible to invite monks from Tibet who could share their knowledge of the prayers and torma making related to the tradition.

After some time, Pelmo Choeding monastery had built up a collection of nearly sixty scriptures. Its monks are now performing authentic rites and rituals (sadhanas) in the monastery and private homes of the community. Some of the scriptures are rare and extremely precious, even though in very poor condition. Due to spelling mistakes, incorrect sequencing and damage caused by dust and smoke over many years, the Research and Publication Centre is working very hard to organize and correct the texts for publication. There are about thirty different prayer scriptures already printed for use in Bodong monasteries in Nepal and Tibet.