A group of nine Tibetan lamas from Lubum Khangsten have arrived in Essex on a World Peace Tour, spreading a message of peace and compassion. Spreading a message of peace and compassion, they aim to raise awareness of Buddhists in exile and much needed funds for the monastery.

Lubum Khangsten

Before 1959 Lubum Khangsten was one of the main Khangstens of Drepung, but the Cultural Revolution destroyed much of Drepung and 40 of the Lubum monks followed the Dalai Lama into exile. Ten years later 20 monks re-established Lubum Khangsten in the tropical forest of Mundgod, the Tibetan Refugee settlement in south India donated by the Indian Government.

Numbers have increased steadily since the early 1980s when monks as young as 14 years old started to escape from Tibet. Today, over 200 monks study at Lubum Khangsten and most come from the Tsonon area of Eastern Tibet. No monk who wishes to study the great Texts is turned away, and very few come with any resources of their own. Study is intense for six days a week, 47 weeks of the year.

We caught up with the monks in Mersea Island, ahead of a traditional Puja ceremony at The Colchester Buddhist Centre (Puja is the buddhist way of connecting with the Divine).

They told us that they hope to 'share spiritual tradition and the Buddhist way of life,' and that lots of people have been very interested in what they have to say. 'We're based in Glastonbury and we've been to Lincoln, London, Mansfield, Doncaster and Manchester. We're in the UK until February and are waiting to see if our visas come through for the US. England's beautiful, very clean compared to India and we've met lots of very kind, very nice people.'