Sera Mahayana Monastic University is one of the greatest seats of learning within the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, a school in which the Kadampa tradition in general and the great Nalanda tradition in particular are preserved in its entirety.Sera Mahayana Monastic University is one of the greatest seats of learning within the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, a school in which the Kadampa tradition in general and the great Nalanda tradition in particular are preserved in its entirety. Sera Mahayana Monastic University was founded by Jamchen Choeje Shakya Yeshi (1359-1435), a direct disciple of the compassionate savior Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). As the Monastery appeared to be surrounding, the term Sera- an abbreviation of the Tibetan word serwirawa meaning “the fence of serva”- gradually became to be used. Within the succession of remarkable teachers, Sera Mahayana Monastic University gradually expended in to different monasteries but of these, only Sera Mey and Jey Monastery remain today.
Sera Mey Monastery was founded by Khunkyen Jangchup Bhumpa, also known as Jangchup Oser (1377- 1443), a direct student of the great Je Tsongkhapa. It was established in the year 1421 in the Tibetan Capital Lhasa, at the base of a mountain that looked like a sleeping elephant.
Sera Mey institution values the monastery monastic textbooks written by the 22nd Gaden Tripa, the great Khendrup Tenpa Dhargye. His instructions have been preserved and treasured until now, serving as the main text for most of the Buddhist philosophical studies of our institution.
Since the Tibetan exile of 1959, under the direction and utmost care of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Sera Mey monastery has been re-established in Bylakuppe in 1969, South India and managed to restore and preserve its traditions and studies producing many scholars and abbots flourishing the Dharma in all directions.
This concludes a condensed history of Sera Mey Monastery.