Byoma Kusuma Budhadharma Sangha was established by Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche (also known as Guru Ratnashri to his devoted students) with the goal of providing all aspects of the Buddha Dharma to those interested in studying and practicing.

Byoma Kusuma means sky flower in Sanskrit. Sky represents space, emptiness, and the flower represents the manifestation of emptiness. A beautiful flower is drawn in the sky and as delightfully as it appeared it disappears into emptiness. It is a moving symbol that calls to mind the insubstantiality and fleeting nature of phenomena.

In the early 1990s, when Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche was Acharya Shridhar Rana (see the section on Ratnashri), studying, practicing and teaching Buddhism, the number of his students started growing rapidly. At that time, Buddhist books written in Nepali were scarce and inadequate. In order to provide quality texts for his predominantly Nepali students, he established the Byoma Kusuma Anuvad Samiti (translation committee) that undertook the translation of several important Buddhist texts from Sanskrit and Tibetan into the Nepali language. The first such book was Atisha's Mahayana Matishodan – The Seven Point Mind Training.

From its beginnings as a translation group, Byoma Kusuma began to undertake other tasks with the aim of fulfilling the needs of students in their study and practice of the Buddha Dharma. The Sangha organizes the dissemination of the now famous Boshipushpanjalis - Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche's monthly teachings. These teachings are read and discussed monthly at Byoma Kusuma's premises in Bishalnagar, Kathmandu. They are also being published as a series. Please visit the Teachings section to learn about Bodhipushpanjalis and other teachings by Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche.

The Sangha also maintains and disseminates guidance of the uncommon meditation practice steps call "Matiparivartana Kram" (mind changing series), a unique approach taught by Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche as a preparation towards full-fledged Vajrayana practice. In addition it organizes regular activities like wangs (initiations) and pujas. A list of activities and events going on at Bishalnagar is provided in the Events section.

Several building projects are also underway as Byoma Kusuma strives to provide suitable facilities to its growing numbers of sangha members, and it also continues its translation projects and other writing and publishing activities. Please view the information provided in the Support page for information on current projects.

The number of students of Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche has grown rapidly and the Byoma Kusuma Budhadharma Sangha now includes more than 500 members. While the majority of students are of Nepali origin, the number of Western students is also increasing. Byoma Kusuma is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal, but there are active Sangha groups in Mahendranagar in Nepal, and the U.S. and the U.K. Please visit the Sangha Corner page where Sangha members have shared their various writings and creative outputs. And please contact us if you would like more information on Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche and the Byoma Kusuma Budhadharma Sangha.