Statutes – Chogyal Rinpoche Association
As of December 2024

§ 1 Name and Registered Office

The association bears the name Chogyal Rinpoche Association. It shall be entered in the register of associations and shall then bear the suffix "e.V.". The registered office of the association is Berlin.

§ 2 Financial Year

The fiscal year is the calendar year.

§ 3 Purpose of the Association

The association pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Tax Code (Abgabenordnung) pursuant to § 53 AO.

The purpose of the association is to promote and nurture spiritual development in countries that were not originally Buddhist, drawing on Buddhist religion, philosophy, and culture in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism under the spiritual authority of Chogyal Rinpoche. The purpose of the association is also to promote social projects, health care, and assistance for people and animals in need, as well as environmental protection in countries with Buddhist populations, particularly Nepal.

The purposes of the statutes are realized worldwide in particular through:

  1. The establishment, promotion, and administration of premises for spiritual development, where the study and practice of spiritual development, especially Buddhism, are made possible.
  2. The organization of events, e.g., courses, lectures, trips, and exhibitions.
  3. The involvement of Buddhist teachers.
  4. The establishment and maintenance of media libraries and the preparation and publication of publications.
  5. The acquisition and preservation of art objects and the cultivation of Buddhist art forms and sciences.
  6. Supporting Buddhist educational institutions and Buddhist teachers.
  7. Supporting spiritual institutions, especially Buddhist ones, particularly in the region where Buddhism originated.
  8. Providing financial, medical, and material support to people and animals in need, e.g., disaster relief, workshops for people with disabilities, and children's homes, especially in Nepal.
  9. Working towards and fostering interreligious, intercultural, and scientific dialogue with all world religions, as well as fostering Buddhist sciences.

§ 4 Selfless Activity

The association is selflessly active; it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.

§ 5 Use of Funds

The association's funds may only be used for the purposes set out in the statutes. The association may allocate its funds – not only in part – to other tax-privileged corporations or public-law corporations for use for tax-privileged purposes. Members do not receive any payments from the association's funds. The association may use auxiliary persons within the meaning of § 57 (1) sentence 2 AO to fulfill its tasks, insofar as it does not perform the tasks itself on site.

§ 6 Prohibition of Preferential Treatment

No person may benefit from expenditures that are not related to the purpose of the corporation or from disproportionately high remuneration.

§ 7 Acquisition of Membership

  1. The association has regular members and supporting members.
    • a) Natural persons and legal entities may become full members. The prerequisite for membership is support in accordance with § 3, as well as at least two years of membership as a supporting member and nomination by the executive committee. The executive committee decides on early nomination as full members. Founding members are full members.
    • b) Supporting members of the association can be natural and legal persons under private and public law who wish to promote the objectives of the association in accordance with § 3.
  2. The application for membership must be submitted in writing.
  3. The executive committee shall decide on the application for membership.
  4. The applicant may appeal against rejection, which does not require justification, to the general meeting, which then makes the final decision.

§ 8 Termination of Membership

  1. Membership shall end upon resignation, expulsion, death, or dissolution of the legal entity.
  2. Resignation shall be effected by written declaration to a member of the Executive Board authorized to represent the association. The written declaration of resignation must be submitted to the Executive Board with one month's notice to the end of the fiscal year.
  3. Expulsion may only occur for good cause. Good cause includes, in particular, conduct that is detrimental to the association's objectives, violation of statutory obligations, or arrears in membership fees of at least one year. The board of directors shall decide on expulsion. The member may appeal against the expulsion to the general meeting, which must be submitted in writing to the board of directors within one month. The general meeting shall make the final decision within the framework of the association. The member reserves the right to have the measure reviewed by the ordinary courts. An appeal to an ordinary court shall have suspensive effect until the court decision becomes final.

§ 9 Contributions

  1. The general meeting may decide to levy an annual membership fee.
  2. The amount of the contributions and their due date shall be determined by resolution of the general meeting.

§ 10 Organs of the Association

The organs of the association are:

  • the general meeting,
  • the president,
  • the executive committee.

The general meeting may decide to establish additional bodies.

§ 11 General Meeting

  1. An ordinary general meeting shall be held annually.
  2. An extraordinary general meeting must be convened if this is in the interests of the association, at the request of the president, if a member of the executive committee has resigned prematurely, or if one-tenth of the members have requested the executive committee in writing to convene an extraordinary general meeting, stating the purpose and reason for doing so.
  3. The board is responsible for setting the provisional agenda and convening the general meeting.
  4. Invitations to the regular general meeting must be sent with two weeks' notice, and invitations to an extraordinary general meeting must be sent with two weeks' notice, stating the agenda; invitations may be sent by fax; unsigned emails are permissible.
  5. The general meeting is responsible for all tasks that are not the responsibility of the executive committee or other organs of the association. In particular, the general meeting is responsible for:
    • Receiving the annual report of the executive committee
    • Approving the budget prepared by the executive committee for the next financial year
    • Amending the statutes
    • Electing the executive committee and approving its actions
    • Setting membership fees
    • Dissolving the association
    • Appointing honorary members
  6. Each full member has one vote. Members who are not of legal age vote through their legal representative. The granting of a proxy vote is not permitted.
  7. Decisions are made by a majority of valid votes cast. Abstentions and invalid votes are not counted.
  8. A two-thirds majority is required to pass resolutions on amendments to the Articles of Association, and a three-quarters majority is required to pass resolutions on changes to the purpose of the Association and on its dissolution.
  9. Minutes of the resolutions of the general meeting shall be taken, stating the place, time, and voting results, and shall be signed by the secretary. If the secretary is not present, the general meeting shall appoint a minute-taker.
  10. The general meeting may be held using electronic forms of communication.

§ 12 President

  1. The president is the spiritual leader of the association and determines the guidelines for the association's work. The president has direct authority over the executive committee in all spiritual matters of the association and, in particular, authority with regard to projects promoted and supported by the association. The executive committee reports regularly to the president on the activities of the association. The executive committee is accountable to the president and must provide him with information.
  2. The election of the Executive Board by the General Meeting requires the approval of the President to be valid. The President may dismiss individual members of the Executive Board or the entire Executive Board. In this case, the President shall provisionally assume the duties of the Executive Board and immediately convene an extraordinary General Meeting at which a new Executive Board shall be appointed.
  3. The written approval of the president is required for an amendment to the Articles of Association to be valid.
  4. The written consent of the president is required for a resolution to dissolve the association to be effective. Liquidation is the responsibility of the first and second chairpersons.
  5. Chogyal Rinpoche is the president of the association for life.
  6. After the resignation of the president, the executive committee shall decide on the dissolution of the association.
  7. In the event of the president's death, it is his declared will that the board continue to run the association in accordance with the founder's intentions. The successor to the office of president shall be appointed by the previous president during his lifetime or in his will. Otherwise, the board shall convene a general meeting within six months at the latest; the meeting shall be convened by registered letter with four weeks' notice. The general meeting shall take the place of the president and shall decide at its first meeting on the future constitution and the necessary amendments to the statutes.

§ 13 Executive Board

  1. The Executive Board consists of two chairpersons. The members of the Executive Board must be members of the association.
  2. The Executive Board manages the association's affairs. The association is represented in and out of court by two chairpersons acting jointly.
  3. The Executive Board manages the association's business on a voluntary basis. Expenses and costs are reimbursed. The payment of a lump-sum expense allowance and lump-sum reimbursement of expenses is permissible; this is decided by the Executive Board.
  4. The term of office of the Executive Board is two years; re-election is permitted.
  5. The Executive Board meets regularly, at least once a year. Invitations to Executive Board meetings must be sent in writing by one of the chairpersons with 14 days' notice; invitations by fax or email are permissible. § 28 (1) in conjunction with § 32 BGB applies to the passing of resolutions, with the proviso that in the event of a tie, a motion is deemed rejected. The Executive Board shall constitute a quorum if one of the chairpersons and at least one other member of the Executive Board are present. The resolutions shall be recorded in minutes and signed by the secretary and one other member of the Executive Board.
  6. The Executive Board may adopt rules of procedure.

§ 14 Cash Audit

The general meeting elects a cash auditor for a term of one year. This person may not be a member of the executive committee. Re-election is permitted.

§ 15 Dissolution of the Association

In the event of dissolution of the association or discontinuation of tax-privileged purposes, the association's assets shall fall to a tax-privileged corporation that pursues the purpose of promoting Tibetan Buddhist religion, culture, and/or philosophy.

We hereby vouch for the accuracy and completeness of this document.