The elderly generation of Tibetans still living inside Tibet have seen a lot through the span of their lives. Many of these elderly Tibetans have little or no relatives, and many of their relatives spend the majority of their time just trying to make ends meet.

Creating a place for these elderly Tibetans to live in the last years of their lives is extremely important.

Home for the Elderly

The Joru Foundation supports a project that is currently underway to build residences for elderly people. The home is near Sengdruk Taktse School and Traling Gonpa. It can house approximately 20 elderly people. Currently, the living quarters are almost complete, and a few senior citizens have already moved in.

Teaching and Practice Temples

For many elderly Tibetans, their main goal is to live the rest of their lives doing spiritual practice. Many elderly Tibetans feel that when they reach a certain age, they have to start preparing for their next lives. Tibetan Buddhism places a strong emphasis on karma and reincarnation, and that the actions of your current life have a strong influence on where you will be born in your next life, for this reason, many elderly Tibetans want to live the remainder of their lives in a positive way.

The elderly home will also have two temples. One will be a place where Lamas will come to teach, and the teachings will be open to the general public. The other temple is simply a large prayer hall where the residences of the elderly home and the general public can spend their time making prayers, offering butter lamps, and doing other spiritual practices. The temples are currently being constructed, and should be finished in the near future.

Click here to see more photos of the Elderly Home