In April/June 1997 Dharma students from some fifteen different countries of the world gathered together in Australia, at Vajradhara Gonpa in the exotically beautiful rain-forests of northern New South Wales, to receive from His Holiness the extensive body of Buddhist teaching, preserved and transmitted down the centuries, known as "Lam Dre" (The Path including its Fruit).
During the course of this inspiring and auspicious occasion, in which the timeless words of Dharma and the age-old chanting of the liturgy mingled with the laughing of the kookaburra, and in which the hues of the Sangha's robes contrasted with the colourful flit of parrots through the trees, many followers of the Sakya tradition came to be more aware of each others' circumstances; and to form friendships and links across the boundaries of countries and continents.
Out of this experience arose the idea that in this age of instant computer-aided communication, there would no longer be any need for followers of His Holiness and students of the Sakya tradition world-wide to pursue their Buddhist practice in total isolation from each other. A proposal was made to His Holiness for the forming of an electronic network through the medium of the "world-wide-web" whereby contact could be preserved between them. This project received his approval and blessings, and the creation of the present web site some eighteen months ago through a server in the United Kingdom was a first attempt to bring it about, albeit at a considerable distance from His Holiness's centre of activities.
The project has meanwhile progressed to a point where it has now been possible to develop and publish an improved and much more comprehensive web site "Sakya World" directly from the seat of His Holiness at Rajpur, India. This has obvious advantages in regard to ease and directness of communication.
Nonetheless the author of this present prototype web site has been requested to keep it available alongside its successor "Sakya World", and so will be ready to include on it any suitable material which Sakyapa viewers might wish to contribute from time to time. However it should not be seen as a substitute or alternative to "Sakya World", which is of more central importance.