Generosity and Service

By contributing your time and skills, you can participate directly in Palpung Thubten Chöling Monastery’s service to the Buddhist community and the general public. Many routine jobs, both large and small, are necessary to the successful functioning of the monastery.

At PTC, our day starts at 6am with morning prayers in the main shrine room, while the shrine master and assistant light the candles and fill the offering bowls with golden saffron water. After breakfast, the workday begins. Nuns, monks, lay residents and volunteers share a wide variety of tasks. Some activities-such as washing and preparing butter lamps, daily filling and emptying of the saffron water offering bowls, cleaning the shrine room, translating texts and oral teachings-clearly accumulate merit for the participants and sustain the Dharma.

Other tasks, seemingly mundane, equally support Dharma activity and accrue merit by ensuring that basic functions at the monastery run smoothly. Meal preparation, house cleaning and laundry must be attended to daily. Office work – answering inquiries, accounting, computer work, and promoting the schedule of events – requires continuous attention. Periodically, new library books need cataloging and audio and bookshop inventories need updating. Grounds and equipment need maintenance and shopping and errands must be done. Seasonal tasks include gardening, landscaping, raking leaves and snow removal, whereas special projects may call for skill in sewing, carpentry, construction or painting.

If you would like to spend a few hours, or a day, or a weekend assisting the monastery staff with any of these essential tasks, please fill out the form or email us. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated and will enable our staff to devote more time to providing programs, classes and religious services.