Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center (SJBCC), located in Woodside, New York, serves as a foundational pillar for Tibetan Buddhism practices in greater New York and beyond. SJBCC provides a wide range of programs on Buddhism to the Tibetan community of New York, which is the largest Tibetan community in North America, and to the public at large. Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center is also an official United States branch of the renowned Sera Jey Monastic University in Karnataka, India. SJBCC was founded in 2009 after Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Palden, who was a former Abbot of Sera Jey Monastic University, visited New York City. Alongside some of its founding members, he suggested that the organization establish Sera Jey in the United States. SJBCC has been recognized as a 501 (C) (3) not-for-profit organization since its approval in March 2009 and has continued to foster Buddhist teachings, cultural preservation, and charitable outreach efforts.
Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center’s mission statement details many of its core tenets, including all of the following:
- “Provide and make available to the Tibetan community and the general public a wide range of programs on Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist culture, Tibetan language, and meditation instruction;
- Organize religious services, cultural performances, religious ceremonies for the Tibetan community and the general public;
- Organize public events, interfaith services, public talk, dialogue with different religious faiths, and exchange programs with educational and academic institutions in the United States and internationally;
- Engage in charitable activities in support of Sera Jey Monastic University and the Tibetan refugee community in India”(SJBCC)
SJBCC recognizes His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, as the patron spiritual head of its community and of Tibet. His Holiness The Dalai Lama is known as a renowned spiritual leader and a symbol of compassion and peace for the Tibetan Buddhist community. As the 14th Dalai Lama, he represents both a religious and political figurehead for Tibetans worldwide, emphasizing values such as nonviolence, altruism, and the importance of preserving Tibetan culture. For the Sera Jey Buddhist Cultural Center, His Holiness holds immense significance, with his teachings and spiritual guidance directly influencing the community’s practices, fostering a deeper connection to Tibetan Buddhism, and supporting the monastery’s educational and meditative goals.
Pare Rinpoche served as the Center’s residential Lama from 2012 until his retirement in 2023. The current residential Lama is Chokur Rinpoche. In addition, SJBCC also acknowledges Gaden Tri Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tenzin, Khen Rinpoche Logoan Tulku Tenzin Jampa Choesang, and Geshe Ngawang Jangchup as spiritual heads of the community. These spiritual leaders have all studied at the Sera Jey Monastic University and were formerly ordained as monks at a very young age and are considered spiritual heads not just of SJBCC but also for the greater Monastic Buddhist community.
(His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama, Pare Rinchope, Gaden Tri Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tenzin, Khen Rinpoche Logoan Tulku Tenzin Jampa Choesang, and Geshe Ngawang Jangchup, in order from left to right)
Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center is affiliated with Sera Jey Monastic University, a 600-year-old institution located in Karnataka, India. This university was originally established in 1419 in Tibet and is one of the three great Gelug monastic universities, alongside Ganden and Drepung. It was founded by Jetsun Kunkhen Lodroe Rinchen Senge, a devoted and noble disciple of Lama Tsong Khapa, founder of the Gelug Tradition. It was not until 1970 that, under the guidance of the 14th Dalai Lama, the University was re-established in India. The institution holds four main educational focuses and offers extensive curriculums rooted in Buddhist studies: Philosophy, Logic and Debate, Vinaya, and Meditation and Ritual Practice. Since its establishment, numerous Buddhist centers have been formed in association with the university. Some of these places include Sera Jey Singapore Buddhist Center, Sera Jey Taiwan Dharma Center, and Sera Jey Canada Buddhist Culture Center. These locations, including the New York center, all serve as official branches of the university and cater to its objective of sharing Buddhist teachings with the public.
Sera Jey Monastic University in Karnataka, India
SJBCC hosts many activities and events to carry out its mission of providing Buddhist teachings, prayer services, blessing services and other ritual services to the Buddhist community. This is done through numerous religious, cultural, and educational activities including:
- Saka Dawa Prayer Ceremonies
Practices are held during the Buddhist calendar month of Saka Dawa. SJBCC conducts prayer ceremonies devoted to His Holiness and draws attention from the Office of Tibet, NGO, and several hundred other devotees.
- Maha Guru-Bhumtsok Ceremony
The annual ceremony led by the Venerable Pare Rimpoche (one of the spiritual heads learned at the Sera Jey Monastic University), gathering hundreds of devotees to honor the Guru. This act further strengthens spiritual practices.
- Hayagriva Retreat
Held at Sera Jey Monastery, this 11-day retreat included a major Hayagriva Fire Puja and Tsok Offering Ceremony, focusing on sacred practices.
- Sangchos Monlam Ceremony
The entire monk community participates in the Great Prayer Ceremony, which is a key annual event at the monastery.
- Public Talk by His Holiness The Dalai Lama
On December 6th, 2017, His Holiness The Dalai Lama delivered a speech on “Relevance of Universal Ethics for the Modern World” at Tumkur University, co-organized with Sera Jey Monastery
- Tamdin Wang by His Holiness
His Holiness granted the Tamdin Wang at Sera Jey Monastery. This sacred religious ceremony gathered around twenty thousand monks, nuns, and lay devotees.
- Images of Celebration of His Holiness 82nd Birthday
A special celebration included prayers for His Holiness and his long life, a cake-cutting ceremony, and a sangsol (purification from spiritual pollution) ceremony attended by many from the Tibetan community.
Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center also organizes workshops and conferences on Buddhism. One of the conferences sponsored by SJBCC was a two-day conference held in 2019, on Wisdom and Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism” in honor of the 600th anniversary of Je Tsongkhapa’s Nirvana. The conference participants included Pari Rinpoche and Khangser Rinpoche, as well as Professor Robert Thurman, a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University.
SJBCC is also a resource on world Buddhism events for the community in New York. The Center provides information on various Buddhist workshops and conferences that are held in the United States and globally. In its capacity as the United States branch of Sera Jey Monastic University, the Center also facilitates and promotes academic research and other educational activities sponsored by the University. In January 2013, Geshe Lobsang Ngodup, the director of Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center, led a workshop on Buddhism at the University of Wisconsin that was sponsored by Sera Jey Monastic University. The program incorporated topics of Buddhist history, the University, and the Four Noble Truths. There was also a Comparative Religion and Cultural Program at Sera Jey Monastic University that was attended by students from Long Island University. In addition, SJBCC promoted the First International Joint Conference by Sera Jey Monastic University and Tumkur University, located in Tumkur, India, which was held in March 2013. Titled “Contemporary Human Suffering/Wisdom of Buddha,” the conference was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who gave a direct address to the public.
Buddhist monks from SJBCC are also involved in cultural and religious events outside of the Center. Just last year, in July 2023, the New Museum in New York hosted an event featuring monks from Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center alongside artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen and musician An Binh Tat. This event included a one-hour puja, a worship ritual that incorporated prayers and chanting by the monks. The participation by members of SJBCC in such collaborative events draws an even wider audience to the teachings and practices of the monks and to the Center itself.
SJBCC provides free spiritual and cultural programs to the Tibetan Buddhist community and the greater public in New York. As a not-for-profit organization, SJBCC raises funds for its own programs, which include spiritual and cultural programs, as well as sponsoring charitable programs such as housing projects. SJBCC also raises funds for Sera Jey Monastic University, and donors can contribute to several different programs of the University.
Having a Buddhist community and cultural center in a bustling city like New York provides a unique space for both Buddhists and non-Buddhists to engage with Buddhist teachings amidst the fast-paced urban environment. The Center offers a spiritual refuge that contrasts with the often overwhelming distractions of city life. It also creates a space for cultural exchange, where traditional practices can thrive while adapting to modern realities, making it more accessible to diverse populations than in less metropolitan regions across the country. Although I have not personally visited the Sera Jey Buddhist Cultural Center, I have family friends who are devout Tibetan Buddhists and are active members of the community. For them, having a place like this in New York City is deeply significant. It provides a space to practice their traditions, gather with like-minded individuals, and connect with their heritage. In an urban environment, it is a sanctuary where they can maintain their cultural and spiritual practices, offering a sense of continuity and belonging in a fast-paced, often disconnected world.
Sources:
https://www.serajey.org/https://www.serajeymonastery.org/
https://www.newmuseum.org/event/blessing-ritual-and-musical-performance-with-tuan-andrew-nguyen-sera-monastery-and-binh-an-tat/
https://events.thus.org/teacher/sera-jey-buddhist-culture-center-queens-ny/ : Sera Jey Buddhist Culture Center