Category Archives: Buddhist Nunneries

Progress on our 2015 Wish List for the nuns

This spring we reached out to our supporters around the world with our Wish List of special projects that need funding in 2015.

We’ve had a wonderful response so far and we wanted to update you on our progress with the various projects and programs to help the nuns.

New Truck for Shugsep Nunnery

Thanks to Andrea in Albuquerque, Lorena in Roanoke and about 20 other donors, we have raised all the funds needed to replace the nunnery’s old pick-up truck which had broken down. It was so old that there were no longer parts readily available and the brakes did not work. Shugsep Nunnery will now have a new, 4-seat pick-up truck with plenty of space to transport groceries and vegetables from the market, as well as other heavy materials. It will also be used to take nuns to hospital in case of medical emergencies.
FULLY FUNDED!

Kitchen Extension for Dolma Ling Nunnery

Thanks to our generous supporters, especially Kent and Marsha in Charlottesville, the Saint Paul Foundation and Lisa in California, work is well underway for the new kitchen extension for Dolma Ling Nunnery. The number of nuns and staff that must be fed daily at the nunnery has more than tripled since the kitchen was first built in 1993. The extension will increase the size of the kitchen by 750 square feet and will also allow the nuns to move the solar panels and water tanks to its flat roof, thereby solving leaks and maintenance issues. We look forward to sharing more news and photos of the kitchen extension soon.
FULLY FUNDED!

Bike for India Office

This is a new item on our 2015 Wish List. Our headquarters is located at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in the foothills of the Himalayas about 10 miles on hilly roads from the main town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. It’s a challenge to get from A to B and the office is facing transportation problems. We would very much appreciate donations to help us purchase a simple, low-cost Indian-made motorcycle that would enable the Tibetan Nuns Project staff to accomplish their many official tasks.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: US $1,420

Truck for Dolma Ling

Dolma Ling Nunnery is home to over 230 nuns and the nunnery needs a small, multi-purpose pickup truck to manage their daily tasks. The nuns must travel often for supplies and hiring or renting private cars or taxis for these regular shopping errands is expensive and impractical. The nuns will use the pickup to get food and vegetables from the market, to transport supplies for their many self-sufficiency projects and for various heavy-load materials. This kind of vehicle is more useful and safer than a normal rented car. Without a proper pickup truck with ample space and weight in the back, the steep hills of the area are dangerous and difficult.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: US $10,500

Funds for Teachers’ Salaries

Each year the Tibetan Nuns Project seeks to fund 15 teachers at different nunneries. The cost of one teacher’s salary ranges from $1500 to $5000 per year, depending on the location of the nunnery in India and the skills of the teacher. Our special thanks to Janice in Menlo Park for her support of teachers’ salaries.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: US $2,844
Donate to Teachers’ Salaries Fund

Nunnery Maintenance and Renovations

Since the Tibetan Nuns Project was founded in 1987, we have established two important nunneries in India, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute and Shugsep Nunnery and Institute, both of which will have major anniversaries this year — 10 years and 5 years respectively. Maintenance and upkeep of the nunneries is critical in the demanding climate of northern India. By keeping buildings in good condition we can help avoid costly repairs in future. Our maintenance fund will help pay for things such as painting which must be done every 3 to 5 years and roof repairs.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: $10,340
Donate to the Maintenance Fund

Inter-Nunnery Debate Scholarships

This September marks the 20th anniversary of the annual inter-nunnery debate, the Jang Gonchoe. Until 1995, the Jang Gonchoe was only open to monks. Now the inter-nunnery debate provides a very important learning opportunity for the nuns and helps them to prepare for higher degrees and leadership roles.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: $14,190
Provide scholarships to the Jang Gonchoe

Jang Gonchoe Endowment

Last year we created a special endowment to support the annual inter-nunnery debate, the Jang Gonchoe, in perpetuity. We received an initial gift of $35,000 from a nun living in France. A gift to the Jang Gonchoe Endowment Fund will help to preserve the Tibetan culture and open up a centuries-old tradition to the nuns, enabling and empowering them to become great teachers in their own right. The benefit of this is inestimable and will be an enduring legacy for generations to come.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: $238,000
Donate to the Jang Gonchoe Endowment

Sponsors for Individual Nuns

Thank you to all our new and existing sponsors! Sponsorship remains the heart of our work. We still need many more sponsors. If you’re already a sponsor, perhaps you would consider increasing the amount you are giving or supporting an additional nun. If you are not yet a sponsor, would you consider becoming one today? The cost for sponsorship is US $30 a month. Another option is to gather a group of friends, family, colleagues or sangha members and sponsor a nun together. Click here for sponsorship.

Monthly Donors

It is now possible to make recurring gifts through our website using your credit card or direct debit. Even a modest gift of $5 or $10 a month would help educate, feed, clothe and provide health care for the nuns in India.
Become a regular donor

Creating Legacies

A special way that you can help generations of future nuns is by including a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project. If enough of our committed supporters are able to make these very special gifts then the nuns and nunneries will be able to thrive and grow well into the future, even in the uncertain situation of living as refugees in a foreign land. As one donor has said, “A donation to this cause benefits beyond helping just the nuns… it benefits the Tibetan culture, it benefits refugees from Tibet, it benefits education for women, it benefits the Buddhist religion and community and all of this spreads like a ripple of compassion for others beyond that community. This is not charity; it is an investment in humanity.” To learn how you can leave a legacy of compassion please email info@tnp.org or call us at 206-652-8901.

Thank you for your kindness, compassion and dedication to the nuns!

Breaking News: Third Round Geshema Exam Results Are In

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The much-anticipated Geshema Exam results have just arrived. The results have been sent to the respective nunneries and have been announced to all the nuns.

The third round of Geshema Examinations took place from May 1-12, 2015 at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod in southern India. 37 Tibetan nuns took part in this round of examinations split as: Continue reading →

Saga Dawa

Tibetan Nuns Project Wish List for 2015

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The following is our Wish List for 2015, the major projects that we’re working on to support the nuns.

A New Truck for Shugsep Nunnery

The nunnery’s old pick-up truck has broken down. It is so old that there are no longer parts readily available for it and there are major problems with the brakes.

The nuns need a new, 4-seat pick-up truck with plenty of space to transport groceries, vegetables from the market, and heavy materials. It will also be used to take nuns to hospital in case of medical emergencies.
Amount needed: US $10,700
Donate to truck fund

A Kitchen Extension for Dolma Ling

The existing kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery is no longer large enough to care for the number of nuns and staff. The number of nuns and staff to feed on a daily basis has more than tripled since the kitchen was built in 1993, when 82 nuns moved in. Now there are 240 nuns and 40 staff.

We are seeking funding to help us increase the size of the kitchen by 750 square feet. The extension (https://tnp.org/dolma-ling-kitchen-extension/) will also allow us to move the solar panels and water tanks to the flat roof of the new extension, which will help solve many problems such as leaking and maintenance.
Budget: US $27,500
Amount raised so far: US $15,000
Amount needed: US $12,500
Donate to kitchen extension fund

Funds for Teachers’ Salaries

Each year we try to fund 15 teachers at different nunneries. The cost of one teacher’s salary ranges from $1500 to $5000 per year, depending on the location of the nunnery in India and the skills of the teacher.
Amount needed: US $11,000
Amount raised so far: US$5,000
Donate to Teachers’ Salaries Fund

Support for Maintenance and Renovations

Since the Tibetan Nuns Project was founded in 1987, we have established two important nunneries in India, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute and Shugsep Nunnery and Institute, both of which need support for ongoing maintenance and renovations. While is natural to be more excited about building something new, we recognize that maintenance and upkeep is very important and that by keeping buildings in good condition we can help avoid costly repairs in future. Our maintenance fund will help pay for things such as painting of the nunneries which must be done every 3-5 years, roof repairs and so on.
Donate to the Maintenance Fund

Sponsors for Individual Nuns

We need many more sponsors. If you’re already a sponsor, would you consider increasing the amount you are giving? If you are not yet a sponsor, would you consider becoming one today? The cost for sponsorship is US $30 a month. If you can’t take on this commitment by yourself, would you be willing to gather a group of friends, family, colleagues or sangha members and sponsor a nun together? Click here for sponsorship.

Monthly Donors

Did you know that you can help the nuns year round by becoming a monthly donor at any amount you choose? Even a modest gift of $5 or $10 a month would be an enormous help and your gifts would be used for the areas of greatest need.
Become a monthly donor

Help to Create a Legacy

You can help generations of future nuns in two ways:
1. donate to our Endowment Fund
2. include a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project.

If enough of our committed supporters are able to make these very special gifts then the nuns and nunneries will be able to thrive and grow well into the future, even in the uncertain situation of living as refugees in a foreign land. To learn more please email info@tnp.org or call us at 206-652-8901.

Thank you for your kindness, compassion and dedication to the nuns!

Generous gift enables Tibetan nuns to open café

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We have good news from Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India.

Thanks to the generosity and support of donors, in particular one very special donor from Santa Monica, California, the Tibetan Nuns Project and the nunnery have been able to complete the construction and furnishing of a small café to be operated as an income-generating enterprise by the nunnery.

Inside the new nuns’ cafe at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

The nuns are delighted. This café fulfills a long-time wish of the nuns.

In April 2015 the nuns opened the new café and is fully operated by the nuns. The surrounding area will be carefully landscaped to enable people to sit out in the sunshine.

Entrance to the new cafe

Of all the various income-generating programs introduced at Dolma Ling Nunnery, the nuns most enjoy cooking and preparing food. Over many years, the nuns frequently requested help to establish a small café or restaurant. In the past, they had run a successful little restaurant out of their storeroom, but it was an inadequate space without proper hygienic facilities and was therefore not viable in the long term. That room was then turned into a thriving little shop selling goods made by the nuns and small, essential items for the nuns and people in the surrounding community.

In late 2013, the Tibetan Nuns Project put out a call for support for the café kitchen and equipment and in 2014, Julia from Santa Monica came forward and expressed her deep wish to help the nuns in this way.

The nuns want to have a little café for many reasons. One of them is that local children and visitors were buying packaged chips and other snacks from the nuns’ shop. These snacks were not good for their health or for the environment because the packaging created a great deal of non-biodegradable waste. The nuns were keen to greatly reduce the use of packaged snacks and to replace them with wholesome food cooked with care by the nuns themselves.

Being able to serve fresh, nutritious food and avoid packaging and garbage was an important wish of the nuns.

Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute is a non-sectarian Tibetan Buddhist nunnery that was inaugurated in 2005 and is now home to over 230 nuns. The nunnery has various income-generating projects, such as the new café, the annual Tibetan Nuns Project calendar, the making and sale of tofu, and the sale of products made by the nuns through both their own little shop and the Tibetan Nuns Project online store.

Customers dining at the new cafe run by the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery.

Third Round of Geshema Examinations

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The third round of Geshema Examinations is taking place from May 1-12 2015 at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod in southern India.

This year there are 38 Tibetan nuns taking part in this round of examinations and they are split as:

11 in the first year,
6 nuns in the second year of examinations,
and 21 in the third year.

One of the 38 Tibetan nuns taking the Geshema Examinations

The Geshema examination process is a rigorous one that takes four years in total, with one round per year each May. The fourth round of examinations will be held in 2016 at Geden Choeling Nunnery in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, northern India. Continue reading →

From the Nunnery Kitchens: Tibetan Nuns Making Tofu

Buddhist Prayers

Shugsep Jetsun, the Story of a Tibetan Yogini

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The great female master Shugsep Jetsun Rinpoche (1852–1953) was revered as one of the last century’s best known woman teachers. She was the Abbess of Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet and passed away in 1953 at the age of 101. Tibetan yogini Shugsep Jetsun

Jetsun means “reverend” or “venerable”. She was also known as Lochen Chönyi Sangmo, as Ani Lochen (Ani means “nun”), and as Jetsun Rigdzin Chönyi Sangmo. Many consider her one of the most influential women in Tibetan spiritual history.

This great yogini was a recognized incarnation of Machig Labdrön, a renowned Tibetan Tantric yogini born in 1055. She was also an exemplary practitioner of Chöd, also known as “The Beggars Offering” or “Cutting Through the Ego.”

Many extraordinary stories are told of her remarkable abilities, such as the time on retreat when she left her body and “died” for a period of three weeks and visited the Copper Coloured Mountain Paradise of Guru Padmasambhava.

The late Tibetan scholar, Lobsang Lhalungpa, visited Shugsep Jetsun in the early 1940s at Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet and he wrote of her great spiritual beauty, even into old age. He said, “During my first two-week visit, I met with Jetsun Lochen for several hours a day, sometimes in the company of her main disciples. She was an extraordinary woman, small in stature, with a serene face radiating compassion and sensitivity. Only her white hair betrayed her age… In her presence we felt an awesome power that permeated our whole stream of being… Her teachings and blessings have given me inner strength and inspiration ever since. To me she was the personification of the great woman teachers of Tibet.” Continue reading →

Tibetan New Year Cookies or Khapse

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A special part of any Tibetan New Year or Losar celebration is the eating of khapse, deep fried Tibetan cookies. This blog post will give you a glimpse of Dolma Ling Nunnery in India and the some of the preparations by the nuns for Losar. In the days leading up to Losar, the Tibetan nuns, like Tibetan lay people all over the world, will be working hard to prepare large batches of these crispy cookies.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery in northern India making khapse for Tibetan New Year. Photo from the Tibetan Nuns Project 2014.

Khapse (or khapsay) means literally “mouth-eat” and they are a staple of Tibetan New Year’s celebrations everywhere. While these biscuits are made for other celebrations as well, such as weddings and religious events such as the enthronement of a lama, it’s at Tibetan New Year that they are ubiquitous.

Nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery making khapse for Tibetan New Year 2014

The dough for the khapse is usually made with flour, eggs, butter and sugar. It is then rolled out and made into different shapes and sizes. The most common shape is the small twisted rectangular pieces which are served to guests.

Tibetan khapse ready for frying. This shape is made by cutting the dough into a narrow rectangle and then making a slit in the middle. Then one side of the khapse is pulled through.

Larger and more elaborate shapes are made as well, including the so-called Donkey Ears or bhungue amcho (also known as khugo). These are large elongated hollow tubes of crispy pastry that are stacked up on the Losar altar as both a food offering and as a decoration. Strings of dried Tibetan cheese are draped over the top.

Stacks of a special type of khapse made by the nuns decorate the Losar altar at Dolma Ling Nunnery in northern India. Photo from the Tibetan Nuns Project 2014.

Traditionally, khapse would be deep fried in butter or mustard oil, but in exile the nuns use corn oil. The deep frying give the cookies their distinctive light brown or yellow color.

Inside the nunnery kitchen at Dolma Ling, the nuns fry large batches of khapse in big vats of hot oil.

You can make khapse at home. For a recipe for Tibetan khapse, visit our friends at YoWangdu Tibetan Culture. Happy Losar!