Five Monks, China
Lisa Kristine

Founded in 1416 and once the largest monastery in the world, Drepung housed over 10,000 monks. The main assembly hall, or Tsogchen, where this image was made, is riveting with 108 pillars supporting the atmospheric enormity of the sacred hall; it is magnificently lit by filtered sunshine and pungent yak butter lamps.  Scholastic monks gather in huge mass for recitations; chanting of the Holy Scriptures fill the Tsogchen with a hauntingly rich and resonant texture of belief and commitment.

Meeting a person whose religious purpose is to bring betterment to all sentient beings, who does not only have the intellectual capacity of Buddhism, but is a living embodiment, is an extraordinary experience.