De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre and De Tong Ling Stupa
Enlightenment Stupa, De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre, Kangaroo Island. (Image: De-Tong Ling Buddhist Retreat Centre)
De-Tong Ling1 rests in1300 acres of bushland on Kangaroo Island. De-Tong Ling means Place of Bliss and Emptiness in Tibetan and was named in 1988 by the Founder, Lama Zopa Rinpoche.2 The land was offered by his students and was officially opened in 1994, after purification and blessing by Khensur Kangurwa Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche3 (1925-2014). Venerable Thubten Gyatso (b. 1943), an Australian monk, explains that retreat becomes a training ground where the mind can learn peace, compassion and resilience to live better in the world.
By: Sue Smith, Sioh Yang Tan
References:
1 “Home,” De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre. accessed July 3, 2026, https://detongling.org/; De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre, “De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre – General Info,” posted May 30, 2025, YouTube, 1:18, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0ePoqLW8TQ.
2 “The Official Homepage for Lama Zopa Rinpoche,” FPMT, accessed June 20, 2026, https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/.
3 “Khensur Kangurwa Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche,” Mandala, July 1997, https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/older/mandala-issues-for-1997/july/khensur-kangurwa-lobsang-thubten/.