Refuge Ceremony

Taking refuge is the first step on the Buddhist path to enlightenment. Refuge is a formal ceremony during which a person formally becomes a Buddhist. For more information or to sign-up, please call 206-789-2573 or e-mail monastery@sakya.org.

His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, Head Lama of Sakya Monastery, was born in Tibet in 1929. He continues the great Sakya lineage which began with Khon Konchok Gyalpo (1034—1102). He received teachings of the unbroken Khon lineage, the Sakya Vajrakilaya, the Hevajra and the complete Lamdre Tsogshe, from his father, H.H. Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchul, the last Sakya throne holder in Tibet. He also studied with many other great Buddhist teachers, including Dzongsar Khyentse Jamyang Chökyi Lodrö and Dingo Khyentse Robsal Dawa.

In 1960, H.H. J.D. Sakya was invited to work on a University of WA research project on Tibetan civilization which was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. At the request of students, he co-founded with H.E. Dezhung Rinpoche the Sakya Tegchen Choling, a center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. In 1984, the center became the Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.