Jhamtse Gatsal (jhaam’-tsay gah’-tsal) in Tibetan means ‘Garden of love and compassion’ – the core philosophy on which the Jhamtse Gatsal School functions. Established by Lobsang Phuntsok in 2006, Jhamtse Gatsal is a community, a school, and a home for about 120 children comprising of all age-groups, from toddlers to adolescents from the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The students admitted to the Jhamtse community have a background of adversity. In the community, these children are provided with better lives, helping them achieve their fullest potential.
Lobsang Phuntsok, who had a troubled childhood, was sent to a Buddhist monastery by his grandparents. Life at the monastery made him a better person with a wider outlook.
Although he had a difficult childhood, he did not want other children to go through the same and Jhamtse Gatsal was born.
“My grandparents sent me to the monastery because they were worried about the person I was becoming and that there would be no one to look after me after they passed away. They believed that monastic life would help me. At the monastery, I found some of the most skilled teachers to support me in my journey of shedding the baggage of my past,” says Lobsang.
After the monastic years, he was equipped with special training in teaching Buddhist Philosophy in the West. Lobsang travelled across the US and Europe teaching and giving talks on the universal principles of love and compassion. He worked with educators, doctors, and mental health professionals to incorporate the fundamental principles of compassionate thought and action into the field of education and the holistic nurturance of children.
“I see education as a space to revive our old practices of collective, multi-generational living and learning because they are essential for our well-being. Our job is not to carve our children into well-crafted, sellable commodities for current market needs but to help them find and harness their unique talents and abilities to leave their individual, indelible mark on humanity and make the world a kinder, gentler, and inclusive space for all.”
Jhamtse Gatsal is creating a comprehensive K-12 curriculum and learning ecosystem to educate the heart, mind, and body. It is an attempt to integrate Lobsang’s training in the ancient and profound wisdom of the Indian educational models with current education and technological trends to prepare the young to meet the volatile, uncertain, complicated and ambiguous demands of the 21st century.
“I envision a new generation of changemakers who don’t intend to confront a hostile and unjust world but rather entrusted with the task of building a kinder, more peaceful, and compassionate world for all,” says Lobsang Phuntsok.
Jhamtse Gatsal is creating a comprehensive K-12 curriculum and learning ecosystem to educate the heart, mind, and body
