Founded around 779 C.E., Samye was Tibet’s first Monastery. Although a few temples of worship had been built earlier in Tibet, Samye was the first fully functioning Monastery. Upon its completion, the first 7 Tibetan Buddhist monks were ordained by Śāntarakṣita (725–788), the famous abbot of the Indian monastery Vikramaśīla. Samye played a central role in Trisong Detsen’s lifelong project to make Buddhism the state