Palm Beach Dharma Center
Welcome to our Buddhist community! Whether you're new to Buddhism or have been practicing for years, we're thrilled to have you here. Our intent is to be supportive and inclusive - creating a community where we can all learn and grow together. Read more about our history and how this remarkable sangha came to be.
Don't forget to also learn about and explore Palden Sherab Pema Ling Retreat Center, our beautiful site and temple in Jupiter Farms, Florida.
The Venerables Rinpoches - Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal and Khenchen Palden Sherab
A BRIEF HISTORY
Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche first came to South Florida in 1983, at the invitation of four Dharma students. That first teaching, given in Loxahatchee, was on Bodhichitta: The Awakened Heart. They returned several times over the next few years and an eager group of students began to gather around them. In 1990 their father, Lama Chimed, arrived from India to settle into a small house in West Palm Beach, named Mandarava House. Lama Chimed spent the last twelve years of his life in retreat at Mandarava House, profoundly affecting many people who encountered this great hidden yogi.
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In 1989, we were able to buy our current Dharma Center in Lake Worth through the generosity of the Venerable Rinpoches’ many students. Over many years, we have grown to fill this new space, with dozens of people participating in practices, discussion groups, and other activities several days each week. Mandarava House has become the primary winter residence for Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche and Lama Lorraine. Rinpoche leads an eight-day retreat every January, as well as other teachings and visits to the Center throughout the winter months.
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We have open practices each week. Our shrine room is open for meditation. Our bookstore offers a wide variety of Dharma-related books, art, jewelry and ritual items, while our reading library has several hundred Dharma books. Visitors are welcome and membership is encouraged.
Since they first came to Florida, the Khenpo Rinpoches had dreamed of a retreat center in the countryside, a tranquil place where practitioners and others interested in the Dharma could come to hear teachings or simply enjoy quiet contemplation in peaceful surroundings. In 2014 we were blessed to find the land for Palden Sherab Pema Ling Retreat Center, a ten-acre former horse farm with three barns and a house in Jupiter Farms, FL.