“The Khurul in Faces”

And we want to continue our new column “The Khurul in Faces.” Today we have invited as our guest a monk who has worked almost since the very first days of the opening of “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni”
Andzha Gelung (Andzha Khartskhaev).

While preparing for the interview, we noticed that there is very little information about Andzha Gelung on the Internet, and so the conversation promised to be interesting… He is originally from the village of Khomutnikovsky in the Iki-Burulsky district. He was raised in an ordinary Soviet family, but one that was nonetheless very devout. “From early childhood I knew mantras, I could do prostrations, and I was very interested in old thangkas. Our love of religion was instilled in my little sister and me by our eezha, who, despite having been exiled for many long years together with her people to cold Siberia, preserved all the religious traditions of the Kalmyks. This certainly played a role in the choice of my future path. Although at school I thought I would connect my life with mathematics,” Andzha Gelung admits.
After finishing school in 1996, the 17-year-old Andzha learned from his parents that the khurul, which was located on Lermontov Street, had announced a recruitment of novices. Accustomed since early childhood to making his own decisions, Andzha entered the “mandzhiks.” Just three months later they moved to the Arshan Khurul, which had opened at the beginning of October 1996. There were 5 boys of them at that time. Having taken vows from Geshe Dugda, they studied the Tibetan language, prayers, became acquainted with the life of the monastic Sangha, and already a year later set off to study in India, at Drepung Gomang.
“Perhaps the most difficult thing at the beginning was to immerse oneself in the language environment in order to study Logic, to which the first 4 years of instruction at the monastery are devoted. Back then we boys understood that nothing is truly impossible. Every day we worked with dictionaries, learned a great deal, tried to study the dialects. Diligence and a great desire helped us in our studies,” our guest recounts, recalling his 9-year course of study.

By the way, during his studies at Drepung Gomang, Andzha Gelung returned home for a year and worked as an assistant administrator of the Arshan Khurul. And it was then that he noticed how clearly the interest of his fellow countrymen in religion had grown, how they “had begun to awaken.” “Today these ‘steps’ have become more confident and broader. In many ways it will depend on the development of the monastic institution what ‘steps’ we take further on. But the very fact that more and more khuruls and Buddhist stupas are being built, that the younger generation observes the religious traditions of its people — this cannot but bring joy,” says Andzha Gelung.

After receiving his Buddhist education, he returns to his homeland. He was immediately appointed to the position of Abbot of the main Buddhist temple of Kalmykia. It is worth noting that Andzha Gelung was elected to this responsible position 3 times, each time working fruitfully for the benefit of the Teaching of the Buddha.

In closing the conversation, Andzha Gelung wished all our subscribers to live in peace and harmony with those around them and with themselves!