Gyuto House in Adelaide took shape in early 1996 with a mandate to imprint the exercise of kindness and compassion onto our cultural identity. It is an operation which links into the consciousness of ordinary individuals, rather than power structures. It is a simple approach which works through the presence of the monks themselves.

n a meeting that year with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, he voiced his appreciation of the concept of going out into the community to spread awareness of Tibetan culture and the practical benefits of the system of values and ethics contained within the Buddhist philosophy.

Gyuto House Australia Inc. is the first of its kind in the West - a cultural art and philosophy centre based on the ancient and enduring principles and ethics found within the Gelug-pa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and practiced by the Gyuto Monks.

From the beginning, the concept was to establish a broad-based cultural forum which, through its activities, would enable the community to explore ways of developing greater kindness, compassion and ethical behaviour.

Public programs extend to art galleries, museums, shopping centres, theatres, schools, universities and the Bush. The monks have chanted for world peace on the shores of Lake Eyre at dawn, on snow covered mountains at Falls Creek, in the Daintree rainforest, out on the Great Barrier Reef, in the desert at Maralinga; they have chanted in the Sydney Opera House and at the National Gallery of Victoria, as well as for many tiny communities such as Ceduna, South Australia, Geraldton, Western Australia; Tilba, New South Wales; and Kuranda, Far North Queensland.

[THE HISTORY ...]