티베트의 세다 불교 수도원 : The Spectacular Seda Monastery

ALAN TAYLOR

High in a treeless valley in China's remote Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture lies the the largest Tibetan Buddhist school in the world. Founded in 1980, the Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute consists of a few main buildings and a tens of thousands of small dormitories built on the surrounding hillsides. At any given time, the Institute houses up to 40,000 monks and nuns who come from different schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Gelug, Sakya and Kagyu. Students usually take six years to complete the formal training. Higher levels of training can take 13 years.

• Seda Monastery, the largest Tibetan Buddhist school in the world, surrounded by monastic dormitories that house up to 40,000 monks and nuns in residence for some parts of the year, in Larung Gar, Tibet, photographed in October of 2013. 

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• Buddhist nuns and monks walk through Seda on April 4, 2013. 

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• Hundreds of small houses where monks and nuns live at Seda Monastery, on April 5, 2013. 

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• A Tibetan who has made a pilgrimage to Seda Monastery, on April 5, 2013. 

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• A view of the Buddhist institute from the east, seen in October of 2013. 

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• Pilgrims walk around the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute in Serthar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, on November 4, 2006. 

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• A nun stands near a view of the living quarters for students of the Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute in Ganzizhou, southwestern China's Sichuan province, on October 1. 2006. 

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• A night view of the monastery dormitories on October 6, 2013. 

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• Buddhist monks pass a yak in Seda Monastery on April 5, 2013. 

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• Nuns walk on a lane through monastic dormitories at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 11, 2007. 

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• An apprentice Buddhist nun leaves prayer beads as an offering in Seda Monastery on April 4, 2013. 

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• Buddhist monks walk in front of the thousands of small houses where they live at Seda Monastery on April 5, 2013. 

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• Tibetans who have made a pilgrimage to Seda Monastery, photographed on April 5, 2013. 

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• Apprentice Buddhist monks leave their shoes outside before a debating session in Seda Monastery on April 4, 2013. 

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• A nun rotates Prayer Wheels at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 11, 2007. 

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• An elderly Buddhist nun carries her dog in the Seda Monastery on April 4, 2013. 

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• An elevated view of monastic dormitories is seen at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 9, 2007. 

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• A view of the Institute and surrounding houses, facing north, in October of 2013. 

  CC BY-SA Chensiyuan / Wikimedia Commons
  
  

• Nuns clean the huge pots used to cook food at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 4, 2006. 

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• Buddhist nuns and monks walk through Seda Monastery on April 4, 2013. 

  Peter Parks / AFP / Getty Images
  
  

• Crows fly over the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 11, 2007. 

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• Monastic dormitories stand on the hillside below hundreds of prayer flags at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 4, 2006. 

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• A nun views scenery on a hill above the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 9, 2007, in the Tibetan autonomous region of China. 

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