ABSTRACT
The name of Odiyan is derived from the region in India that was the home of the founder of Tibet's first Buddhist monastery. Odiyan was founded by Tarthang Tulku, a refugee Tibetan lama of the Nyingma sect, the most ancient of the Tibetan Buddhist sects. But much more is at stake here than merely preserving the scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism, important though that may be. Odiyan is far from being the only Tibetan Buddhist monastery to be found outside the Himalayan world. The original settlers of Tibet were loosely tied together along tribal lines and that pretty much remained the bond that defined them as a people. The form of Vajrayana Buddhism that developed in Tibet is to be found in other Himalayan countries as well, such as Bhutan and Nepal. Tibetan Buddhism might just as well be referred to as Himalayan Buddhism.
