About
The Pureland Project’s purpose is to support and encourage sustainable living rooted in human-nature connection. We provide sustainability and wellness education and resources to Tibetan nomadic people while sharing their wisdom of sustainable practices in the United States.
The Pureland Project promotes physical and spiritual well-being through recognizing human interdependent relationship with nature. We leverage best practices to support Tibetan nomads in Tibet and spread their wisdom to the Western world. Our aspiration is to support sustainable living practices in Tibet & the Americas utilizing the ancient Buddhist principles of Pureland Meditation.
Garchen Rinpoche
Who We Are:
The seed for The Pureland Project was planted in 2005 when meg ferrigno moved to Tibet to serve Garchen Rinpoche’s school projects. In speaking with the fellow teachers and villagers they formed the ideas for the project. In 2011 The Pureland Project was granted 501c3 status and in 2012 Ahimsa House opened its doors in Philadelphia.
H.E. Garchen Rinpoche is a highly realized Tibetan Buddhist master from Nangchen, Tibet. After spending 20 in prison during the cultural revolution, he was brought to America to establish a center in Arizona. In 1998 upon his return to his homeland, Rinpoche built four schools at the request of the villagers. Rinpoche has dedicated his life for the benefit of all beings.Rinpoche encourages his students to donate to his Tibetan homeland through the pureland project.
Board of Directors:
Emily Bigelow, Secretary & Treasurer
Khenpo Samdrup, Member
Victoria Imperioli, Member
Michael Imperioli, Member
Geoff Barstow, PhD., Member
meg ferrigno, Founder
Tibetan Teachers & Staff:
The Pureland Project’s purpose is to support and encourage sustainable living rooted in human-nature connection. We provide sustainability and wellness education and resources to Tibetan nomadic people while sharing their wisdom of sustainable practices in the United States.
We believe that these village schools are the only hope for Tibetan nomadic culture to remain alive. Our students are able to study close to their families and the earth – absorbing the precious traditional knowledge while complying with governmental policy. We support our youth to become successful, creative, thriving nomads, or whatever they want to be. many of our graduates take vows upon completing school, becoming monks and nuns, others go on to become teachers and doctors.
Each school has two local cooks that make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the students and teachers. Some of the food comes from our very own greenhouses.
Projects
The Pureland Project is a grassroots development project that began in 2005 when villagers in Kham, in eastern Tibet, expressed concern regarding the sustainability of the four elementary schools founded by Garchen Rinpoche in 1998. The schools had been growing and sponsorship had dwindled. These nomadic families begged that the schools remain open so that their children can become literate and have a better chance to survive in the Chinese society which is quickly encroaching on their simple and beautiful way of life.
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Elder Support Program
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Tibetan Clinics & Schools
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Midwifery Training
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Greenhouse Building
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Well Digging
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Toilet Building
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Fence Building
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Library Building
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Nunnery Support
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School & Cafeteria building
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Clinic building
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Community center building
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Winter Language intensives
Khandro Dorje Phagmo Project
The Pureland Project is accepting donations on behalf of the Dorje Phagmo Foundation which is dedicated to preserving and disseminating the teachings of Buddha, cultivating inner peace, and promoting the welfare of all beings. Through education, meditation, and humanitarian efforts, we aim to inspire harmony, understanding, and ethical living. Donations will be used to support the nuns and monks who live with special challenges in their monastery in Bhutan. more information can be seen on their website: www.dorjephagmofoundation.org
AHIMSA House
The Ahimsa House is a safe space for people to come from all walks of life to feel held, embraced, nourished, accepted, heard, and loved. The center promotes and offers practices of peace, sustainability and healing to all people.
The space provides free gardening and food for the community. The aim of the center is to bring the practice of nonviolence into the United States.
Tours
Kham is considered the wild west of Tibet, inhabited mostly by nomads, the rugged mountains are not hospitable to any other way of life. Tours to the region are quite rare, yet as roads are built, the area is seeing rapid change. This is your chance to connect with some of the most resilient people on the earth. Trips are led by Meg Ferrigno (Pema Lhamo), student of Ayang and Garchen Rinpoche, who lived in Nangchen from 2004-2008. She has been leading trips to the area for over a decade. She leads the trips not only to share the precious wisdom of Tibet and expose people to its sacred spirit, but also to show the Tibetans how valued and respected their culture is by the outside world. Meg voluntarily leads the tours to raise funds for the Tibetan host communities. Jamyang, a Tibetan writer and musician often co-leads the trips.
