About Sherab Ling
Sherab Ling Monastery in Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh is the principal monastery and seat of Kalu Rinpoche in India — one of the most important centres of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism outside of Tibet. The monastery was originally founded in the 1970s by Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche (1905–1989), one of the most revered Kagyu masters of the 20th century, who established dharma centres across Europe, North America and Asia and introduced three-year retreat practice to Western students for the first time.
Today Sherab Ling is led by Kalu Rinpoche II (born 1990 in Sonada, West Bengal), the recognised reincarnation of the first Kalu Rinpoche. The young Rinpoche — who completed his own three-year retreat in his twenties and now travels worldwide teaching — has given Sherab Ling a distinctive contemporary energy while preserving the depth of the traditional Kagyu transmission. His teachings blend classical mahamudra and tantric instruction with a direct, modern voice that has attracted a global following.
The monastery is set in the extraordinary Bir Billing valley — a UNESCO-designated paragliding site and one of the most spiritually rich pockets of Himachal Pradesh, home to a large Tibetan settlement and numerous temples and retreat centres. The combination of alpine landscape, clean mountain air, authentic Tibetan community and living dharma practice makes Sherab Ling one of the most unique retreat destinations in India.
Kalu Rinpoche — Guiding Teacher
Born in 1990 in Sonada, West Bengal, the second Kalu Rinpoche was recognised as the reincarnation of Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche at the age of two. He received monastic training and completed the traditional three-year retreat in his early twenties. He now teaches internationally and has become one of the most prominent young Tibetan teachers of his generation, known for his candid, psychologically aware approach to dharma — including frank discussions of the challenges of monastic life and the importance of authentic inner experience. He regularly visits Sherab Ling and teaches there throughout the year. His teachings are widely available on YouTube.
The first Kalu Rinpoche was among the greatest Kagyu masters of the 20th century. He spent over 13 years in solitary retreat in the mountain caves of Tibet, mastering the complete Six Yogas of Naropa and Mahamudra. He was the first Tibetan master to establish three-year retreat centres for Western students, and spent the final decades of his life teaching in Europe, North America and Asia. His collected teachings remain some of the most authoritative explanations of the Kagyu tantric path available in translation.
Experiences at Sherab Ling
Location & Practical Information
What Visitors Say
I had watched dozens of Kalu Rinpoche's YouTube teachings before making the journey to Sherab Ling. Nothing prepared me for what it feels like to be in that monastery — the scale of the butter lamps, the sound of the pujas drifting across the valley in the evening, the monks going about their practice with complete naturalness. Rinpoche himself was in residence and gave a short teaching. I will never forget it.
Bir itself is extraordinary — the combination of the Tibetan settlement, the active dharma centres, and the paragliders launching silently above your head is surreal in the best possible way. Sherab Ling is the spiritual heart of it. The morning puja in the main temple — rows of young monks chanting in the low dawn light — is the kind of thing that stays with you for years.