Under the advice of their spiritual master, His Very Venerable The Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, a group of Buddhists got together to form a Vajrayana centre in Petaling Jaya. That was more than twenty years ago. The group was confronted with some difficulties initially. Despite all the obstacles, they went ahead and succeeded in registering the Thrangu Dharma Society Petaling Jaya on 17th February 1989.
The Society was registered to encourage learning, researching and practising of Buddhism, to foster friendship among members, and to render charitable and welfare services to communities irrespective of religion and creed. The day-to-day affairs of the Society were to be managed by a Committee comprised of office bearers elected by members biennially.
At the Inaugural General Meeting, David Tong was unanimously elected the Founding President. The hard work of David and his committee members resulted in a rapid growth of membership. Soon, the Society had to move to a larger premise to accommodate the increasing numbers of active practitioners who gathered regularly for Pujas and other group practices.
Thrangu Rinpoche visited the centre annually and he still does. Other spiritual masters who had visited and taught at the Society included H. E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, H. E. Gyaltsap Rinpoche, His Venerable Tenga Rinpoche, His Venerable Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Ven. Traleg
Rinpoche, Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, Bagyod Rinpoche, Tulku Damchoe Rinpoche and many other high Lamas.
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| The Very Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche with center resident monk the Venerable Lama Lodro Taye (Tashi) |
Seeing the needs for proper guidance in Vajrayana practices, the Committee requested Thrangu Rinpoche to send a qualified Lama to the Society. This Lama would be given the responsibility to teach and guide members who wanted to follow the Vajrayana path. Lama Tashi (known to all members and friends here as Lama Lodro) was sent over in 1989. His presence has greatly enhanced the image of the Society.
For the first five years, the Society operated in rented premises. As the Society became more and more active, the Committee began to look into the possibility of the Society acquiring its own premises. With the support of its members and well-wishers, the Committee decided to raise funds for the purchase of a building. In 1993, a Grand Medicine Buddha Puja was organized and held at Wisma Buddhist Kuala Lumpur. Thrangu Rinpoche conducted the Puja with the assistance of more than ten of Rinpoche’s Lamas. The Puja was a great success and sufficient funds were raised to enable the Society to take over ownership of the building it now occupies at Section 12, Petaling Jaya.
Two more big Pujas were held to raise money for the purpose of renovating and upgrading the facilities in the premises. They were the Mani Rilbu Puja in 1994 and the Magnificent Amitabha Buddha Puja in 1996. Another fund-raising activity, known as The Image of Devotion held in 1995, succeeded in raising enough funds for the construction of a new shrine in the main hall of the Society premises. Other major pujas conducted by Thrangu Rinpoche were The White Jambhala, Tsitigarbha, Thousand Arms Thousand Eyes Chenrezig, Thousand Buddhas and Guan Gong.
The building of the Society, commonly referred to as Thrangu Centre, is a comfortable place for religious ceremonies, discourses, and group practices. Improvement is still required and it will be done one at a time whenever funds permit.
The Society is an active Dharma centre. Members of the Society are confident that with the blessing of His Holiness The Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa and The Very Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche as well as the guidance of Venerable Lama Lodro, the Society will be able to reach greater heights in its Dharma work in this part of the world.
