Monk turned to real estate developer?

[Ensapa]

Okay, this is somewhat odd. This is the story of a Tibetan monk who initially wanted to got to the US and start a Dharma center, but ended up getting married and starting a very successful real estate business, and apparently with the blessings of his Gurus. And the reason for his success is because he applied Buddhist principles to his work. Perhaps he is sending a message to everyone that it is possible to apply Buddhist principles and be successful? Have a read and be inspired to be a successful Buddhist.

Developer with roots as Tibetan monk firmly planted in capitalism
Raised in a family of Tibetan goatherders and trained as a Buddhist monk, Bellevue developer Lobsang Dargey says his life journey is rooted in the American dream.

By Keith Ervin
Seattle Times staff reporter

Tibetan Buddhist monk Lobsang Dargey had only been in Seattle for a week when he walked through the door of a University District language school.

"He came in wearing a monk's robes. He had a check for $400 and wanted to know how much English he could buy for $400," recalled Melissa Rivkin, co-founder of the now-closed American School of English.

Fifteen years later, Dargey lives in a suburban home in Bellevue with his wife and daughter. He is a U.S. citizen and no longer a monk. As one of Everett's most influential developers, he is soliciting foreign investors and working on his first King County project.

Dargey's life journey from Buddhism to capitalism, as he puts it, is at once uniquely his own and squarely rooted in the American dream.

But his Horatio Alger story hasn't entirely taken the Buddhist out of the capitalist. He is creating "green" buildings, he's making fresh, locally grown food more accessible, and he marvels at how Americans take their affluence for granted.

Striving to not get too attached to the success or failures of his ventures, Dargey reminds himself of the "ocean of samsara," or cycle of rebirths, in which he believes we live.

"I look at it a little differently than ordinary real-estate investors will do," he says.

"If tomorrow I have no money and I have to go on the street, I have no problem. That's one of the teachings I've been taught. You can't lose those."

In a hometown without electricity, running water or modern medicine, Dargey came into the world in the traditional way: on the first floor of his home, where the goats, sheep, pigs and cows lived.

"I was born next to a pig," he says.

The family cooked on a wood fire on the first floor but otherwise lived on the second floor.

He didn't care much for herding goats because, "They would go into the mountains and not come down. The sheep will not go that high."

When he was 13, he says, his parents "saw something in me" suggesting he was destined for a life other than farming — so they sent him to a Buddhist monastery.

A year later, he became involved in his first development project, going door to door asking for donations, mostly in the form of barley, for construction of a stupa, or dome-shaped shrine.

At 18, Dargey left the monastery with several other monks on an epic 14-month journey, first to the holy city of Lhasa and then to India. The travelers walked most of the way, sleeping on the ground and begging for food.

In India while still a monk, he oversaw every aspect of construction of a boutique hotel for a Buddhist organization.

Now 38, Dargey recruits investors from China and other Asian countries. He declined to discuss details of his journeys to India — which he says was to learn more about Buddhism — and the U.S.

Relations between China and its "autonomous region" of Tibet have become severely strained as some three dozen Tibetans, mostly monks, have set fire to themselves protesting Chinese rule since early last year.

Future was once hazy

In 1997, when Dargey came to the United States on borrowed money, his vision of his future was hazy. He thought about starting "a dharma center," or Buddhist community, but decided he didn't have enough English fluency or spiritual training and knew he would have to earn a living.

"When I got off the airplane I made a commitment to myself. Within five years I wanted to have a house and I wanted to have a green card. That was my goal," he said.

With the help of his sponsor and new friends like the owners of the English-language school, he began taking odd jobs and saving toward his goals.

His first job was painting an orthodontist's office in Federal Way, even though he now admits, "Technically I didn't know how to paint." But after navigating the 2 ½-hour Metro bus ride, with transfers, he did a job good enough to get other painting and handyman gigs.

One day Dargey came to English class "wearing really nice shoes" under his monk's robe, Rivkin noticed. Then he bought a used car and after that saved enough money to buy a Green Lake house with a friend.

Dargey was still struggling with English when he applied for a sales job with Sprint. "We still laugh about the interview," said Kayla Schober, who interviewed and then supervised him. "I don't think I understood much of what he said or he understood much of what I said."

Impressed by his enthusiasm, Schober hired him: "He's gung-ho. I've never seen anybody work that hard." He donned a business suit for work, wore a monk's robe at other times.

"I was very guilty. I say I was a monk but I wasn't doing any monk things. There were rules to be followed," Dargey says. After seeking counsel from his mother and his spiritual teachers in Tibet, he gave back his vows.

Life took a turn when Dargey attended a fundraiser for the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research, founded by Melissa Rivkin's father, Saul, in honor of her late mother. He met the center's director, Tami Agassi, and was smitten.

Dargey called her office, hoping to set up a date. She declined. He was persistent.

"He called me every three months," she recalled "It was a running joke in the office: 'The monk is calling you again.' I'm not a tree-hugger. I'm a girl from Vegas, so it was kind of a little out of my box."

After a year, Dargey wore Agassi down and she agreed to have lunch with him. Six months later they were engaged. If he had known at the outset she was the sister of tennis great Andre Agassi, "I probably wouldn't have asked her out" because of his misgivings about celebrity families.

The couple were married in 2004.

Ready to move on from Sprint, and failing to set the world on fire with a software company he ran on the side, Dargey told his wife his newest idea. "He said, 'I know what we're going to do. We're going to buy a building.' I said, 'We are?' "

He settled on the Everett Public Market, a 100-plus-year-old building near the downtown waterfront that been a livery stable and a Boeing B-29 subassembly plant — but whose roof was leaking and whose largest tenant, an antique mall, was doing little business.

When Dargey introduced himself to Lanie McMullin, Everett's economic-development director, she was impressed — and sure he needed her help meeting local movers and shakers.

"Before I could get to that," McMullin said, "everyone I would run into in town would say, 'Have you run into Lobsang yet?' Great Scott! I walk with Lobsang and everybody hangs out the window, saying, 'Lobsang, Lobsang!'

"Everyone recognized his potential and he had worked his way into the hearts of businessmen all up and down Colby Avenue. They were all willing to help."

While fixing the roof of the public market, Dargey retained a popular restaurant and natural food co-op. He eased out the antique mall and divided the space into modern offices, filling them with health practitioners, counselors, other tenants and his own offices.

He was on his way.

For his next project he renovated the former Federal Building, most recently Cogswell College, and leased it to Chicago Title. Then, in the middle of the recession, he developed his first new building, the six-story Potala Village Everett — named after the Potala Palace in Lhasa — with 108 apartments above first-floor retail space.

Operations cross ocean

Dargey now has permits for Pagoda Village Everett, which will cover a full block with 218 apartments, a Hampton Inn, a community kitchen and a year-round indoor farmers market that will sell produce from local farms. His first four projects are within blocks of each other. Pagoda Village is being financed primarily by well-heeled foreign nationals who, through the federal EB-5 program, can become permanent U.S. residents by investing at least $500,000 in a project that creates at least 10 jobs in a high-unemployment area such as Snohomish County.

Dargey has investment agents in China and two receptionists in his Everett office, one who speaks English, the other Mandarin.

Dargey's first King County project, Potala Village Kirkland, won't use EB-5 immigrant financing. It has drawn opposition from neighbors who say 143 apartments on 1.2 acres would be out of scale with adjacent zoning. The Planning Commission and City Council are taking a fresh look at the zoning.

Dargey scaled back his original plan but hasn't backed off from the project.

Carrying Buddhist values into his American business life is "really hard," Dargey says. "As a human being we spend a lot of time on things we don't have that we're trying to get and when we get we don't know how to appreciate. We search for more things."

He admits he's become too attached to things. At the same time, he thinks he could handle a major business reversal. "If a project goes south I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not going to jump from the roof. I tried the best that I can, so I'm not going to do it."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018696936_exmonk16m.html

[dondrup]

Due to his training as a monk, Dargey is able to put his Dharma knowledge into practice.  Not only has he managed to earn a living, he had even managed to build a successful business career in US.  Dharma has guided Dargey in his new life in US.  Though Dargey is pretty successful, Dargey was able to realise the fallacy, imperfection and dangers of samsara.   

Striving to not get too attached to the success or failures of his ventures, Dargey reminds himself of the "ocean of samsara," or cycle of rebirths, in which he believes we live.
...

Carrying Buddhist values into his American business life is "really hard," Dargey says. "As a human being we spend a lot of time on things we don't have that we're trying to get and when we get we don't know how to appreciate. We search for more things."

He admits he's become too attached to things. At the same time, he thinks he could handle a major business reversal. "If a project goes south I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not going to jump from the roof. I tried the best that I can, so I'm not going to do it."

Dargey may be living his American Dream but this dream is only illusory! 

Unless we realize the true nature of samsara and want to liberate ourselves from it, we will continue to experience sufferings. 

[Tammy]

Putting aside the monk giving back his vows and left monkshood, I am not surprise of his success! The Buddha's teachings is extremely practical, this is because his teachings is meant to be put into practice and be part of our daily lives. Hence, if we truly and sincerely practise what we were taught as. true Buddhst, success comes as no surprise. As we practise he virtues of honesty and compassion, we build credibility and trust from our business partners and customers, once trust is established, more will come with business by words of mouths.

I rejoice for this successful businessman.

[lotus1]

Buddhism is not just to be goody and be a kind person. Even if we are not enlightened or be a monk / nun, if we put the principle of Buddhism in our life and practice it, we will become successful in whichever area that we are in. Mr Dargey has shown us another great living example.
 
Anyway, I am not sure what is the real reason for Mr Dargey to give back his vows. Is he still attached to the worldly gain or he has other reasons behind. For a monk who giving back his vows for bringing Buddhism to more people, I came across Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was actually the eleventh in the line of Trungpa tülkus, has brought Buddhism to the West by renounce his vows, eloped with a sixteen year-old aristocrat, using very un-contemporary methods to teach Buddhism and Dharma to the West. The Shambhala practice and organization founded by him is still benefiting many people and brings a lot of people into Buddhism.  You may refer to this for trailer :

Crazy Wisdom: The Life & Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche -Trailer -Shambhala

[yontenjamyang]

Ensapa, Thanks for this post.

I see this from 2 differing perspectives. One from the point of view of a monk giving up his vows and the other from the perspective of lay practitioner who works in samsara.

First of all, we need to realise that this IS samsara. Why do I emphasize this? Because no matter what, we are always tempted by our ignorance and attachment which can be very very deceptive.  From the perspective of a monk who gave up his vows, albeit with the permission of his Gurus, we cannot judge his motivation because we do not know. What we can see is the results of his actions. If giving up his vows, getting married, have children and be successful in his business brings benefits to the local community and the world at large, then his action is correct. Otherwise, he just became more attached to samsara. Unless of course, his is a buddha (sometimes manifesting as a mahasiddha, sometimes as "ordinary" being) and we have yet to see the results of his actions.

The second perspective is from the lay practitioner working in samsara. How do we apply buddhist principals? As buddhist, one can technically be one only if one has taken the refuge vows, then it is mandatory to uphold these vows in our everyday life. These vows include 10 non-virtues that we should not be committing, ie killing, lying, harsh words and holding wrong view etc. Also we should practice the 8 verses of mind transformation, guru devotion, without the 8 worldly concerns and the 6 paramitas of generosity, ethics (similar to refuge vows), patience, effort, concentration and wisdom, while practicing compassion all the time. It is by practicing all these practices and transforming ourselves, thus encapsulating all these practices in us that we will be successful in both our worldly and spiritual practice. Then we will truly be a shining example for all to follow.

[pgdharma]

Lobsang Dargey may have given up his vows and left the monkhood, but he has not forgotten the Buddha’s teachings instead he applied the principles into his lives. He worked really hard and never gave up, he practiced compassion and integrity and now everyone recognized his potential and trusted him.  He is truly one of the examples that we should follow, by putting Buddha’s principle into our lives we can be successful in whatever we wish to do.

[kris]

Buddhism has many philosophy and practices which will guide us to a better person, such as patience, integrity, honest, etc. When we apply them on our spiritual practice, we will gain attainments and have eternal happiness. If these practices are so good, why can't these practices, when applied to normal secular work, bring benefits? It will only make sense to me that, such practices will bring benefit whether it is secular or spiritual.

I like the story of Crazy Wisdom, because it is so controversial yet bring so much benefits to many sentient beings.

I have heard many cases where High Lamas, for a certain period of time (for example 1, 2, 5 or 10 years), they take on the lay clothes while still holding their vows and their Guru approve it, so I think it is quite "common"...

[so_003]

This is a very good story. It shows that the principles of Buddhism can be applied any where... not necessarily only in the temple. Some people can be in a practice for many years but transformation is very least. Some in a short period they overflown and become a successful dharma teacher/monk.

This story also share that in the other hand the monk also share his goals which is also a sort of attachment. Can we say he is wrong to choose, to give back his monk vows. No, certainly not. Because of his relation with his guru he was blessed and guided. The result is that he had turn out to help many others and also apply Buddhist principals that people can follow easily.

[bambi]

Incredible! A monk who gave up his vows and did something else. I believe that Lobsang Dargey did it for other reasons. He introduced and built environmentally friendly places for many people. Although he returned his vows, he still practice and mindful of it. And of all people, he is married to a celebrity's sister? Hhmmm..  His business is blooming and growing.

It might seem a stretch but Lobsang Dargey says his training as a Tibetan monk has helped him be a better real estate developer.

Look at his website http://www.dargeyenterprises.com/index.html


Tami Agassi




Lobsang Dargey

[Galen]

Another great story! Lobsang made it in America through this hard work and perseverance. Of course with his experience as a Buddhist monk, he was able to apply the philosophies and teachings in his work ethics and the way he relates with people.

Him giving up his monk vows was not a matter of convenience but there is a purpose behind it. He has gotten the permission from his guru to do so. There is a goal of buying his house and getting his green card. After that, there is even a bigger goal! To help others in getting US permanent residency and contributing to the society he is in. He is a fine example for Tibetans to follow.

[Positive Change]

Incredible! A monk who gave up his vows and did something else. I believe that Lobsang Dargey did it for other reasons. He introduced and built environmentally friendly places for many people. Although he returned his vows, he still practice and mindful of it. And of all people, he is married to a celebrity's sister? Hhmmm..  His business is blooming and growing.

It might seem a stretch but Lobsang Dargey says his training as a Tibetan monk has helped him be a better real estate developer.

Look at his website http://www.dargeyenterprises.com/index.html

Yes this is most interesting... He did "return his vows" with the blessings of his Guru. What that means to me is that his Guru supports him 100%, meaning what Lobsang Dargey is doing will benefit others. No Guru will let their students sink further into samsara. If they did, they would break their own vows. Hence, I strongly believe, Lobsang Dargey has a larger picture to paint as a "layperson".

After all, he is very successful, seems to be in the right circles, having married tennis icon, Andre Agassi's sister, Tami... who happens to also be a cancer survivor (she was former Executive Director for the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research, till she got married and even had a child)

From Robes to Riches:

It might seem a stretch but Lobsang Dargey says his training as a Tibetan monk has helped him be a better real estate developer.

Dargey, who owns Everett-based Dargey Enterprises, grew up in Tibet herding the family’s sheep and goats.

“We were a very poor family. All our water, we had to carry from the stream. We had to cut wood, like the Amish do,” Dargey said.

His parents sent Dargey to a monastery when he was 13. During his teens, Dargey was involved in designing and constructing temples and stupas, which are Buddhist shrines, sparking his interest in real estate development.

Dargey came to the United States in 1997 through a Seattle sponsor, Janis Wignall, who gave him a place to live while he worked to establish himself in his new country.

Dargey spoke no English but set himself a goal: Within five years, he wanted to have a green card and own his own home.

By his second week in Seattle, Dargey was learning how to get around town on the city’s buses and had enrolled in the American School of English in the city’s University District to learn English.

“If you think everything negative it can be really hard. I keep positive,” Dargey said. “I was thinking what happens if I learn English, if I could communicate better.

“If I would think about not having any money, I would be really scared,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s just healthier.”

Dargey got his first job through a cousin of American School owners David and Melissa Rivkin, who hired him to do some painting. It took him three hours and four different bus transfers to get to the job site in Federal Way, but the job gave him a skill he could market.

Puget Sound Business Journal by Jeanne Lang Jones, Staff Writer




A taste of Home?

Bellevue resident Lobsang Dargey has Kirkland in a near frenzy.

Dargey, 37, wants to build a place called Potala Village, a four-story project with 143 units and 316 underground parking stalls, along the Kirkland waterfront at 10th Avenue South and Lake Street South.

City files are filled with letters and emails protesting the project. It’s criticized as too big, too dense, not fitting the neighborhood, and likely to cause traffic problems.

Just another developer focused only on himself? It hardly seems so.

It’s almost impossible to overstate how unusual Dargey’s life has been.

He’s from Tibet. He studied to be a monk. He didn’t come to the United States until 1997. He didn’t speak English.

By 2004, he was married. His wife, Tami, is the sister of Andre Agassi, the famous tennis player. His wife is a cancer survivor. They live modestly, in a 1954 rambler on Northeast 28th Place off Bellevue Way. He works modestly, in an office above a food co-op in downtown Everett. where Dargey wants to build. It’s now mostly a dirt lot. The Kirkland Kiwanis used to sell Christmas trees there.

Dargey says the uproar of citizens’ complaints aren’t true.

“We’re building it within code. We’re not asking for a variance,” he said.

The property has been for sale for years, he adds, and many other developers tried to buy it, but none were successful.

Dargey says that the building will be the first on the Eastside to be built to full environmental standards known as LEED, including being completely nonsmoking, and won’t be targeted at low-income occupants, with rents starting at $1,500 a month.

In fact, Dargey says, a Potala Village already exists in Everett, and others are under development in such locations as West Seattle. All of them are named after Potala Palace, the traditional Tibetan home of the Dalai Lama, and symbolizing peace and harmony, Dargey said.

That’s not to say that Dargey operates entirely on a philosophy of altruism, and real-estate offering statements for Potala Village in Kirkland suggest returns of as much as 10 percent.

“Of course,” says Dargey, explaining that he expects to make a profit. “I have investors all over the world.”

However, he added, he now is anticipating the Kirkland project will be financed without investors, at a cost of about $32 million, through straightforward bank loans.

How has Dargey been able to undertake, and complete, such projects as Potala Village in Everett or Kirkland, given that countless other developers have crashed in the economic downturn that began in 2008?

Dargey says that’s because of the values he’s adopted in his life, which include disdaining many of the trappings of wealth, such as big houses and fancy cars.

“We live in one of the best places on earth,” he says of the United States. “We have no appreciation of what we have. Before I think of myself, I think of others first. Why do we need five or six cars to live? We don’t need 6,000 square feet for one person. I do this work because of what I like. I’m not interested in making huge money, I just want people employed.”

As for the objections to the proposal, Dargey says the real concerns are based on fear.

“They don’t like change,” he said. “It’s not just me. Every Eastside developer has been trying to get that property for years now.”

Dargey says he’s planning for a construction start next summer.

- Bellevue Reporter Contributor

[Rihanna]

Afew things that came to my mind while reading this is:

1. Dargey had his Guru's blessings, no wonder he is successful in his endeavours.

2. He is perhaps a Dorje Shugden practitioner to be able to work closely with the Chinese. Perhaps even a sponsor under cover for Dorje Shugden's work!

3. Patience and perseverance (two of the six paramitas) are prominent in him.

4. "If tomorrow I have no money and I have to go on the street, I have no problem. That's one of the teachings I've been taught. You can't lose those." This is very Buddhist; to be unattached to status and wealth. To 'enjoy' it when you have, and not suffer when you don't.

He could have turned a loser when he returned his monk vows but he turned out otherwise. I wish Lobsang Dargey well!

[Aurore]

Lobsang lives to show to others that you can have families, wealth, fame, cars and not get attached to it. On the other hand, he lived s simple life. This example he set is dharma in his own way which others can comprehend and follow. As he said, being a monk in America, he may not be able to benefit much as he is lacking the right amount of skills to teach. However, as a developer, he can benefit more and that itself is a lesson to me.

Utilising the strengths and skills in different unmonkly ways was what he did to benefit others by providing people with job to survive. He has also planted seeds in people's minds with the word Potala.

Some of us cannot live an ordain life but that shouldn't stop us from utilising what we can do within our means and skills to benefit others.

It wasn't stated whether Lobsang actually sponsors and donates to charity and the monasteries, however, I will not be surprise if he did.

[buddhalovely]

Simply in short:
Tibetan Buddhist monk Lobsang Dargey had only been in Seattle for a week when he walked through the door of a University District language school.

"He came in wearing a monk's robes. He had a check for $400 and wanted to know how much English he could buy for $400," recalled Melissa Rivkin, co-founder of the now-closed American School of English.

Fifteen years later, Dargey lives in a suburban home in Bellevue with his wife and daughter. He is a U.S. citizen and no longer a monk. As one of Everett's most influential developers, he is soliciting foreign investors and working on his first King County project. Dargey's life journey from Buddhism to capitalism, as he puts it, is at once uniquely his own and squarely rooted in the American dream.

[diamond girl]

If he was a true Buddhist, he would NOT return his monk vows. I do not think that vows taken by Sangha are like buying shirts from JC Penny which you can return if it does not suit you.

Personally, it saddens me when monks return their vows. To me it shows degeneration. Plus, I also do not "buy into" this buddhism is business success, not when previously the success man was a monk. what is the message here? Monks cannot be successful? 

Was the motivation clear when he lest fro the US? This makes me question...