Mikhail Sannikov, a soldier turned Buddhist monk, founded the monastery in 1995. The 55-year-old abbot saw heavy action as a commander in the Soviet Army during the 1979-89 occupation of Afghanistan. Sannikov, who now goes by the title Lama Dokshit, says he left the army in 1987 a damaged man after being wounded in separate encounters by "two bullets, a knife, and a piece of shrapnel." The fighting haunted him for years afterward. "Sometimes it would come up during the ordinary things in life -- I'd be watching an action movie and start counting how many bullets [the character] has left. It was hard to sleep at night."

Sannikov (center) during a meditation session in the early days of the Shad Tchup Ling Monastery. Archive of Mikhail Sannikov