Sera Utsé Hermitage (Se ra dbu rtse ri khrod) by José Ignacio Cabezón (January 30, 2006) Section 1 of 2 Distributed under the THDL Digital Text License.

Location and Layout

Se ra dbu rtse as seen from below. The words “se ra dbu rtse,” sometimes abbreviated se ra rtse, literally mean “Sera Peak.” The name is fitting since, of the several small hermitages (ri khrod) that are located on the mountain behind (to the north of) Se ra, this is the one that is highest on the mountain, very close to the peak. Even at a brisk pace, it is a strenuous one hour to walk up to Se ra dbu rtse from Se ra. Tradition has it that the site contained one of Tsong kha pa’s (1357-1419) meditation huts or sgrub khang, and so when Sgrub khang dge legs rgya mtsho (1641-1713) started living at this site at the end of the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, he came to be known as “the man from the sgrub khang,” or Sgrub khang pa.

The assembly hall (’du khang) at Se ra dbu rtse. The hermitage was quite large before 1959. Most of it was destroyed after 1959, and only a portion has been rebuilt. What exists today is:

1.One large building complex with two courtyards. This large complex contains: ◦A small assembly hall. Since only three monks live here, it is not in use, but it is still well maintained. The assembly hall before 1959 – which, in fact, may have been located in another building – contained a large metal statue of Vajrabhairava (Rdo rje ’jigs byed), a magnificent statue of Yamāntaka Ekavīra, statues of the Buddha and the sixteen arhats, a speaking Tārā (Sgrol ma) statue, large images of Tsong kha pa and his two disciples, and statues of the bla mas of the Drupkhang incarnation (Sgrub khang sprul sku) lineage. There were also copies of the Bka’ ’gyur and Bstan ’gyur, and a Bka’ gdams pa stūpa. But no such statues or texts exist today, and indeed it is difficult to imagine them fitting into a temple this size.[1] ◦The bla ma’s residence for the Sgrub khang bla mas consists of two rooms with a waiting room between them. ◦The meditation hut or “cave” where Sgrub khang pa meditated has been made into a chapel, and has an ante-room. ◦A small protector deity chapel. 2.A separate hut built underneath a boulder was built by the patron (sbyin bdag) who was responsible for financing the rebuilding of the hermitage. 3.A Dharma enclosure (chos rwa). 4.A dilapidated kitchen that is no longer used. 5.Various and sundry smaller buildings that today are used mostly for storage.

The entrance to Sgrub khang pa’s meditation hut.

Notes [1] Ser smad spom ra dge bshes ye shes dbang phyug, Ser smad thos bsam nor gling grwa tshang gi chos ’byung lo rgyus nor bu’i phreng ba [A History of the Sermé Tösam Norling College: A Garland of Jewels] (Bylakuppe: Sermey Printing Press, 1984), 140.