THE STIMULUS TO ITS FOUNDING
The Atisha Charitable Trust (ACT) started with the initiative of the 13th Kundeling Rimpoche. He had undergone training in a traditional monastic institution in his early years. Although cherishing monastic values and the spiritual insights they offered, he nurtured reservations towards some prevalent orientations. He discovered the values learned in secular education conflicted with the trends that a sizeable number of monastics were following.
In late 1988, Kundeling Rimpoche's sole concern was to eradicate the pervasive monastic obsessions with numbers, fundraising activities, and a fixation with the dialectical curriculum of theoretical study alone. His vision was to vindicate monastic values by making them relevant to a world otherwise hostile to Monasticism.
KR occasionally attempted to bring the issues mentioned earlier to the attention of various authorities, including the spiritual Head of Tibetan Buddhism. There was, however, a reluctance to discuss these topics, deemed highly sensitive. He, hence, would set out to pioneer a transformation. This became the stimulus for the emergence of the Atisha Charitable Trust.
Promoting Spirituality, education and Philanthropy