Seda Wuming Buddhist Academy(Chinese name: 色达五明佛学院), one of the biggest Buddhist academy in the world, located in the 18 miles of southeast side of Seda County, Garz Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,
Sichuan Province, with an altitude around 3700 meters. Wuming Buddhist Academy belongs to Nyingma, established by Khenpo Jigme Phuntso in 1980. It grows up rapidly in several decades, and becomes the biggest Vajrauana Buddhist academy. In this spiritual practice valley, there are ten thousands of monks and jo-mos, 20 thousands of whom are permanents.
Information about Seda
Seda is situated in the plateau area of northwest in Sichuan province, the northeast of Garz Tibetan autonomous prefecture. It is a county based on grassland farming. The landform of Seda is quite complicated, and the altitude of Seda is over 4000 meters high. Therefore the climate of Seda is always winter. There are prairie, lake, river and colorful Tibetan flavor. Seda means golden fascine dam in Tibet.
History
Wuming Buddhist Academy was established for inheriting and developing Tibetan Buddhism and Traditional Buddhist culture. In 1980, Khenpo Jigme Phuntso went to desolate and inhabited Seda County in spite of his health to establish this Buddhist academy. In 1982, with support of government, Khenpo Jigme Phuntso pushes Wuming Buddhist Academy into a more completed stage and to cultivate more specialists.
Transportation to Seda County
From Garz to budhhist academy, you can charter a car with 350 yuan for a mini van. Seda County is better than Garz in infrastructure, but there is always short of water. There is a mini van you can take in Seda County which can drive you directly to Wuming Budhhist Academy for 6 yuan a person.
Accommodation in Seda County
As for accommodation, there is a guesthouse for 35 yuan a bed. Comparing to the past few years, the condition here is much better. There are several restaurants and right in the front of Main Assembly Hall is a vegetarian restaurant, and it is cheap.
Travel Guide
【Best time to go】 Seda is plateau monsoon climate; its annual average temperature is under 1
℃. May to October is the good time to travel to Seda, and it is beautiful in winter with snow. After November there is snow, but in consideration of convenience of transport, you have better not to choose this time to go because ice and snow are everywhere, it is hard to walking. Moreover it is freezing at that time.
【Tips for dressing】 The altitude is 3800 meters around, and annual average temperature is only 0
℃. During October to March, the temperature is below 10℃. It is better to wear down jacket, 2 pieces of thick sweaters, a piece of long johns, a piece of long woolen underwear, and a piece of thick pants. And it is necessary to bring scarf, gloves, and thick socks. During April to September, the climate is warmer than in winter, it is enough to wear 2 pieces of sweaters. During July, the temperature is about 10 to 20 degrees. The weather is rainy day, so you have to prepare rain-proof articles. The temperature change a lot between day and night. And there is no heating installation in the room, so you have to pay attention to keeping warm when you fall asleep because it is very troublesome to get caught in plateau.