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