Jampa Ling Northern Ireland was established in 1993 by Venerable Panchen Ötrul Rinpoche, a senior and respected Tibetan Buddhist scholar, to promote and facilitate the practice of Tibetan Buddhism according to the Gelugpa School.  Ven. Rinpoche first came to the West at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to engage in dialogue with Christian monks. The Tibetan words ‘Jampa’ and ‘Ling’ together mean ‘Place of Loving-Kindness’.

We are greatly indebted to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for coming to Northern Ireland in October 2000, November 2005, April 2013, and September 2017, as a guest of the Children in Crossfire. During one of his visits, when addressing an audience in Derry, the Noble Peace Laureate said, “Our goal should be a century of peace, a century of dialogue based on a sense of oneness of seven billion human beings.”.

The promotion of interfaith dialogue has always been core to the actives of Jampa Ling Northern Ireland. We are represented on the Executive Committee of Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum. This organisation facilitates dialogue and understanding among different religious traditions and is the only fully operational multi-faith association that functions across Northern Ireland. Ven. Rinpoche is also the Buddhist President of the Dublin Inter Religious Council, chaired by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

We are committed to providing relief to Tibetans (in Tibet and in exile) and Mongolians, who are suffering from the effects of poverty, sickness or violence. We fundraise on an ongoing basis for designated projects, including the sponsorship of individuals in need, the provision of hot meals for street children, the provision of medical supplies, delivery of clean water, and skills training projects to promote self-sufficiency.