A Brief History of Harwa Ringpoche
Harwa Ringpoche is head of Gomang monastery in Amdo Nagwa. He is one of the greatest Buddhist masters living in the world today. He was recognized as the fourth reincarnation of Harwa Rinpoche when he was three years old. He moved to Gomang monastery to study Buddhism when he was four years old. In 1958, when he was nine years old, the monks were expelled from the monastery. He moved back with his family in Gomang Thawa village near the Monastery. In 1960, he studied Chinese at Gomang elementary school. From 1964 he worked on the farm and when he was eighteen he was sent to the mountains as a shepherd. He spent twelve years on the mountains with the sheep.
From 1976 to 1979, in his free time he studied from private teachers such as the late scholar Ven. Merge Samten Ringpoche. Since the 1980s, he began to actively rebuild the monastery, preserve cultural values and set up social activities.
In 1987, Ringpoche studied at the Beijing Buddhist Institution under the direction of the 10th Panchen Lama, and graduated in 1988. After his graduation, His Holiness the Panchen Rinpoche appointed him as the chief of the Buddhist Research Department at the Institute in Beijing.
In 1990, he took the final examination on the five major subjects of Buddhism: Prajinaparamita, Madhyamika, Vinaya, Abhisamyalamkara, and Pramanas at Gomang Monastery. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Gomang monasterys abbot. In 1995 he established a relief foundation to provide free food and medical services to the needy in Ngawa and Golong areas. In this period, he has also visited hundreds of monasteries and communities across the country. He has made a tremendous contribution, financially, spirituality, and in terms of social welfare to the monastic universities, social communities and public schools.
From 1991 to 1997, Harwa Rinpoche undertook the rebuilding of Gomang monastery's Great Hall, Tantric Hall and Maha Bodhi Stupa. In 2002, Rinpoche adopted the fasting tradition in the holy month. In 2003 Rinpoche opened the Gomang monastic University and Library. In 2004 and 2005 Ringpoche visited and made significant financial donations to over 100 monasteries in Utsang, Kham and Amdo. In 2006, Rinpoche rebuilt the Hayagriva Temple at Labrang monastery and the Thamchen Temple at Gomang monastery.
Rinpoche has tirelessly worked to make Gomang Monastery successful in terms of spiritual development. The preservation of Tibetan culture in the area is directly related to his hard work. Ringpoche also visited many important sites of Buddhism in the country and has built temples, monuments and stupas, and published thousands of religious texts. His main desire and wishes are for the pure Buddha Dharma to flourish again around the world for the benefit of all sentient beings and world peace.
