Foundations of Compassion

Building a Monastic Community for the Modern World

Before Giao Long Monastery & Institute opens its doors, its spirit is already alive — carried quietly in the vision, prayers, and aspirations that shaped its foundation. Every monastery begins long before a single stone is placed: it begins in the mind that chooses compassion over ambition, and in the heart that vows to benefit beings yet unseen.

In preparing Giao Long, the founders look to the timeless model of Tibetan Buddhist communities, where learning and service grow side by side. The Kangyur teaches

སྙིང་རྗེ་གཞི་ཡིན་པར་བྱས་ན། ཤེས་རབ་རང་བཞིན་དུ་སྐྱེས།

❝When compassion becomes the ground, wisdom naturally arises.❞

This principle is the root of GLM’s emerging identity.

Here, the foundations of the future campus are not concrete, but Bodhicitta — the courageous intention to learn, to awaken, and to serve. The team is designing a space where modern students can walk the same path that monks and scholars have walked for centuries: a place where academic discipline strengthens meditation, and where meditation becomes the wellspring of authentic service.

The early work is quiet but profound: shaping the ethos of mindful dialogue, studying the Vinaya to understand ethical conduct in a modern world, and outlining programs that honor both tradition and contemporary needs. In these preparatory steps, GLM echoes the Tengyur’s
reminder:
མི་ཚེས་མང་ཚོགས་ནི་གྲུབ་པ་མེད། སྙིང་བརྩེའི་མཐུན་པས་སྒྲུབ་པ་ཡིན།

And harmony is exactly what is forming — slowly, intentionally — as teachers, volunteers, and future students gather around this shared vision. Even now, before construction begins, a global sangha is taking shape.

The foundation is compassion.
The structure is wisdom.
The future is a community that learns, serves, and awakens together.

If you feel a resonance with this beginning — a sense that this path might also be yours — then you are already part of it.
Come stand with us at the foundation.
This is where our shared journey begins.