TAP

Mission Statement

For over fifty years, the Tibetan Aid Project (TAP) has dedicated its efforts to restoring and preserving Tibet's cultural and spiritual heritage. Working with an all-volunteer staff, the Project has served as a bridge between donors in the West and the Tibetan people.

Description

Tibetan Aid Project is a part of the Nyingma Mandala, a Buddhist community based in the U.S. and rooted in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. We fund the production, shipment and free distribution of sacred texts, art and prayer wheels to monasteries and individuals in the Himalayan region. We also sponsor ceremonies, retreats for healing professionals, and provide financial support for monastic centers, lamas, monks, nuns and lay people. We strive to promote awareness of these significant teachings through our work-study program providing participants the opportunity to share their skills, while also gaining an understanding of work as meditative practice. This allows us to learn through direct experience, developing a heart connection that permeates throughout all experience,

Tibetan Lama Tarthang Tulku founded the community in 1969 in Berkeley, California and continues to lead it today. Since the beginning, the Nyingma community has engaged in many projects to preserve Tibetan culture and share the Buddhist teachings. Our community refers to these projects collectively as a mandala of organizations because each one embodies a specific quality that supports, balances, and enhances the others, as well as the community as a whole. The Nyingma Association of Mandala Organizations (NAMO) is comprised of the following Berkeley-based organizations: Nyingma Institute, Mangalam Center, Dharma College, Tibetan Aid Project, Guna Foundation. NAMO also includes other centers located in rural Sonoma County and worldwide.