ULAN BATOR:On a barren patch of land outside Mongolia’s capital, a former herder guards a half-finished pedestal and abandoned golden Buddha’s head—testament to the money problems keeping Buddhism from flourishing in the country.

When 68-year-old TsegmidLunduv, a longtime nomad, was hired to patrol the spot in 2013, the project seemed full of promise: a proposed sprawling complex of meditation centers and spiritual retreats, tucked into the rolling steppes outside Ulan Bator and under the spiritual guidance of the Dalai Lama.