About Us

"All the people who are living and working here have brought about the near completion of new building. This big new building, the whole building, is in a very good state; and we have a lot of rooms in the new building. What we should do from here onwards is protect and keep a vision for the future: to change this whole place into a very large university-style monastery where many people will come to live and study."

Geshe Jamphal (Abbot)

Nalanda Monastery is a unique centre for Western monks in the Tibetan Gelug tradition. It offers an ideal environment to live and combine practice and study in an appropriate lifestyle. Currently, around 22 monks and a number of lay men form the core of the community.

Nalanda is located close to Lavaur, about 40 km from Toulouse in the Tarn district of Southwest France (see map). Located on the river Agout and with its own gardens, the monastery is surrounded by farmer’s fields, and so enjoys a peaceful and quiet environment. Nearby is our sister centre Institut Vajra Yogini.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual director of Nalanda and together with his teacher, Lama Yeshe, he founded Nalanda in 1981 as the first Western monastery of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Geshe Lobsang Jamphal is the current Abbot.

Additionally, we are extremely fortunate to welcome other distinguished teachers and High Lama’s throughout the year. Ven. Tendar, our director, coordinates the day-to-day running of the monastery, whilst other senior monks take roles such as Study Program Coordinator and Building Manager.

Traditionally, it has been difficult for monastics to live in their vows whilst remaining in society, and this perhaps even more so in the West. Therefore our aim is that Nalanda can offer a protective and conducive environment for monks to train in philosophy, monastic discipline and retreats.

We also hope to respond to the increasing requests for qualified teachers around the world. This community supports monks in trying to make their lives more meaningful, thus fulfilling the wishes of our great teachers. We are not trying to reproduce a Tibetan monastery in the West, but rather to create a monastic community in the Gelug-pa tradition which is adapted to westerner’s needs.

Primarily, Nalanda aims to be a home for monks to train in philosophy, monastic discipline and retreats. Alongside the monks, lay men can also stay at Nalanda whilst women have the opportunity to stay in the local area.

Nalanda extends a warm welcome to all visitors. Visitors are especially welcome every Sunday afternoon between 2 PM and 6 PM, or by appointment outside these times.

"Nalanda is well kept and in a good state. It’s good that you maintain this building and that the new building will be ready in a while, and I hope that then the number of monks will increase. As Lama Yeshe wished that the number of monks would be 50 at minimum, that would be very good. That is my sincere innermost wish. Like the historic Nalanda, at that time very big in India, I hope that in future there will be 10,000 monks here. It’s clear that great places go down and end up in ruins, and that some small places will grow. So we shouldn’t fix on the idea how it is now, but look to the future."

 Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Jampa Gyatso (previous Abbot)