Category Archives: Buddhist Nuns Life

Nuns at annual Jang Gonchoe debate session give presentation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama

On October 31 nuns from seven nunneries who were taking part in the annual inter-nunnery debate, the Jang Gonchoe, gathered at the main temple in Dharamsala and gave a special debate presentation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the nuns’ Jang Gonchoe debate session. Prior to 1995 the Jang Gonchoe was open only to monks, but now Tibetan Buddhist nuns are building their own strong tradition of debate.

According to a report on the event on the Dalai Lama’s website, His Holiness addressed the nuns and congratulated them twice, noting that there are nuns who have almost completed their study of Buddhist philosophy and who will take their final exams to qualify as Geshemas next year. The Geshema degree is the equivalent to a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhist studies.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama addressing nuns gathered for the annual debate session. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke at some length about the importance of reason and understanding in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He told the nuns, “This is the 21st century and we need to understand the Buddha’s teachings in the light of reason. When we teach, we need to do so on the basis of reason. I’ve met followers of the Pali tradition, monks from Thailand who are scrupulous in their observance of Vinaya [the monastic rules for monks and nuns]. I asked them whether they explain the Four Noble Truths according to reason or citing scriptural authority. They answered that they rely on the authority of scripture.” Continue reading →

Tibetan Buddhist nuns go shopping with the new truck (with video)

Leave a reply

This summer the nuns at Dolma Ling requested help to purchase a new truck that would allow them to manage their many transportation tasks.

Thanks to a special anonymous donor and to Alicia, Margaret, Karen, Swetlana, and Robert, we were able to purchase the small, multi-purpose truck. This blog post shows the nuns, through video and photos taken by the nuns themselves, on some of their many recent expeditions.

Buddhist nuns, Dolma Ling Nunnery, Tibetan nuns, shopping, Dolma Ling truck, Tibetan Nuns Project

The nuns leave for shopping

With 240 nuns at the nunnery, the nuns must travel often to buy vegetables and other food, as well as supplies for the their small shop, the nunnery’s tailoring section, for the tofu-making facility, and for the paper-recycling section. Continue reading →

Our visit to Dorjee Zong Nunnery by Rinchen Khando Choegyal

1 Reply

This is a special report from Rinchen Khando Choegyal, Founder and Director of the Tibetan Nuns Project and Tsering Diki, Project Co-Ordinator. The beautiful photos are all by media nun, Delek Yangdron, who accompanied us on the trip.

Dorjee Zong Nunnery low res In August 2015, we travelled for three days over rough, bumpy roads from Leh in Ladakh to Zanskar, a remote area in northern India. Located in this majestic, arid landscape is Dorjee Zong Nunnery, home to 19 nuns.

It was good to see the nuns and the nunnery once again. Since 2010 the Tibetan Nuns Project has been helping this small nunnery with sponsorship and a teacher’s salary, and it was wonderful to see the assistance we have been providing used to the fullest extent. The nuns are very happy to be receiving support and care from us and their sponsors.

During our short visit, the Director gave a warm and personal talk to all of the nuns and we could see how inspired they were and how cared for they felt. This was encouraging and inspiring for those of us who are trying to work for them. nuns, Buddhist nuns, Dorje Zong Nunnery, Tibetan Nuns Project, sponsor a nun
There are 12 young nuns and 7 elder nuns. The younger nuns looked very bright and happy to be where they are, and we felt energized to help them even more. Our focus will be mainly on education, health care, and overall development, including setting up infrastructure for an education system and facilitating a good educational programme. Continue reading →

Tibetan nuns celebrate His Holiness’s 80th birthday

3 Replies

His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday on July 6th was celebrated by Tibetans all over the world with great excitement and prayers for his good health and long life.

Nuns offering prayer scarves to portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

At Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to over 230 nuns, the day started at 6 am with everyone — the nuns, teachers and all the staff — seated in the prayer hall at 6 for tsok and offerings of khataks (prayer scarves) to His Holiness.

At 7 am they had sangsol (incense offering) after which breakfast was served in the nuns’ dining hall.

After this everyone enjoyed the morning playing outdoor games such as a relay race, a tug-of-war between different groups of nuns, staff, and teachers, a game musical chairs, a sack race and other competitions and games such as the bursting of a balloon tied on another person’s ankle.

For lunch a beautiful vegetarian meal was served. This was then followed by a open quiz competition in philosophy, general knowledge, English and Tibetan. The person with the correct answer was given a surprise gift.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns playing musical chairs as part of the day of celebration for His Holiness’s birthday.

All around the courtyard area we could see nuns and staff enjoying games such as badminton, cricket, and football.

Judging the annual flower competition on July 2nd, Universal Prayer Day

Dinner which was served at 7pm and the winner of the annual flower competition, held on July 2nd, was called and given her prize. On July 2nd, Universal Prayer Day, the old debate courtyard at the nunnery was filled with beautiful potted flowers placed in-front of portraits of His Holiness. Scoring for the competition was done by the teachers.

After dinner everyone gathered together and the nuns showcased little dramas that they had prepared for the occasion and then the floor was open to anyone to show their talent.

flower competition by Buddhist nuns

New tofu machine up and running at Dolma Ling Nunnery

Leave a reply

We are delighted to report that the new tofu-making machine is now in use at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India, home to almost 250 nuns.

Thanks to some very special donors, in particular Norman Steinberg and another private donor from Canada, this spring the nuns were able to fulfill their long-term dream of purchasing a new tofu machine and establishing it in a purpose-built facility. In April we shared a blog post with a video made in 2012 by the nuns of the old tofu-making process at the nunnery.

The nuns at Dolma Ling make tofu every Saturday. The new tofu machine allows the nuns to produce more tofu more efficiently. It takes the nuns much less time to make tofu for the nunnery and for other customers.

The nuns at Dolma Ling follow a vegetarian diet so tofu is an important source of nourishment and protein for them. The tofu is supplied regularly each week to the nunnery kitchen for consumption by the nuns and 2kg is bought every week by the nunnery café.

At the moment the nunnery is also getting regular orders for tofu from Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala and sometimes from a few local Tibetan restaurants in the nearby refugee settlement of McLeod Ganj, located above Dharamsala. Both the monastery and the restaurants order as per their needs.

There are six nuns at Dolma Ling who know how to make tofu. Each Saturday a team of three of those nuns makes the tofu, with the nuns taking turns to do the work. They start working at 6am and finish normally by 2pm. However, on occasions when they have large orders, their work ends at 10pm.

The market value for tofu is 150 Indian rupees per kg (about US$2.36) while the nuns sell it for Rs.130 per kg or approximately US$2.05.

The Tibetan Nuns Project is extremely grateful to Norman Steinberg and the other donors from around the world who made the new tofu-making facility possible.

If you would like to learn more about how the nuns are moving towards greater self-sufficiency, or to help fund these efforts, please contact us at info@tnp.org or donate at https://tnp.org/youcanhelp/donate/.

All photos are courtesy of Venerable Delek Yangdron.

Nuns making Tibetan momos with video

Leave a reply

If you ask someone to name their favorite Tibetan food there’s a good chance they’ll say Tibetan momos. Momos are steamed savoury dumplings that are much loved by Tibetans around the world and that are often made on traditional holidays.

Photo of vegetarian Tibetan momos and chili sauce courtesy of YoWangdu Tibetan Culture.

Momos are a bit of a delicacy because of the work involved in making them. They can be stuffed with a variety of fillings such as beef, yak meat, cheese, potatoes or vegetables.

The nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala in northern India (one of the seven nunneries in India supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project) follow a vegetarian diet and make momos on special occasions such as Tibetan New Year and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday.

Here’s a lovely video that the nuns made in 2012 ago showing them preparing momos to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6th. As you will see from the video, it’s no small task to make enough momos to serve over 230 nuns!

If you’d like to make momos at home, here a recipe for vegetarian momos and one for meat momos, both kindly shared by YoWangdu Tibetan Culture.

The joys of sponsorship

Leave a reply

Sponsorship is the heart of our programs at the Tibetan Nuns Project. Our supporters around the world help over 800 Tibetan Buddhist nuns at seven nunneries in northern India. The relationship between a sponsor and nun goes far beyond giving and receiving but can be deeply meaningful on both sides.

Sakya nun holding card from her sponsor 2015

The joys of sponsorship. A nun at Sakya College for Nuns holding a card from her sponsor

We recently received a batch of photos from Sakya College for Nuns near Dehradun in the foothills of the Himalayas where over 50 nuns live and study. One of the nuns there, Venerable Kunga had received a gift of sleeping bags from her sponsor, Sister Paula, a Catholic nun in the US. Venerable Kunga distributed the sleeping bags among her classmates, teachers and two nun friends studying in the same institute.

A generous sponsor in the USA, Sister Paula, sent sleeping bags for the nuns at Sakya College for Nuns in India.

The way the sponsorship system works is as follows: once you sign up to be a sponsor, you will be connected with an individual nun. You will receive her photograph and her story or biography and she will write to you at least two times a year. You have the opportunity, if you wish, to write to her.

We have maintained our annual sponsorship cost at $360 a year since 1998, however some sponsors choose to give more knowing that there has been considerable inflation in India over the past 15 years. One hundred percent of sponsorship money goes directly to India.

Sakya nuns with gifts from sponsors

The distribution system is equitable so that there is not a disparity between nuns who have sponsors and nuns who do not yet have sponsors. We do this by giving the money to the nunneries of sponsored nuns, rather than individuals themselves, and within each nunnery the funds are used collectively to cover the basic expenses of food, housing, clothing, medical care and education.

Returning the love. Venerable Kunga holds a special note for her sponsor, Sister Paula, a Catholic nun in the US.

Each nun receives 200 rupees per month for incidental expenses. In the case of nuns who do not reside in a nunnery (nuns in retreat), funds are issued to them on a monthly basis to cover food, rent and incidentals. When these nuns have additional needs, such as medical care or clothing, they may apply to the Project for assistance.

Sakya nun with a gift from her sponsor

Many sponsors also choose to send small gifts or pocket money to their nuns as direct donations. Contact us for details on how to do this. The Tibetan Nuns Project has also set up a “Wish List” through Amazon of items that are useful to the nuns such as clothing, shoes, socks and so on.

There is joy in both giving and receiving. Many of our sponsors have told us how much they love being a sponsor and how meaningful the relationship is to them.

Bonnie said, “When I saw the ad in Tricycle for sponsoring a Buddhist nun, I knew this could be one way to give back something for all that I was given to be born and raised in the US. A most powerful reward is to get a hand-written letter from one of ‘my’ nuns, which always move me to tears.”

Jan wrote, “I can make an important change in the life of a particular woman on the other side of the world whom I don’t really know and will not likely meet by helping her live as a nun. This makes all of sentient life more real to me, and every month when I write a sponsorship check, I have a moment of freedom from my own self-preoccupation and a moment of deep gladness that I can be of use to someone else.”

Here’s a note from Felicia: “I started years ago with one nun (same age as my son) and have stayed with her the entire time in terms of being a sponsor (co-sponsor now I think). I really like that I can support a project like this and also know there is a real person there who writes and I write to. She has been a blessing in my life, to say the least, which was a side benefit to being a sponsor in the first place.”

Sakya nuns with gifts of sleeping bags thanks to Sister Paula

Saga Dawa

Leave a reply

Saga Dawa is a very important month in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar. This year, Saga Dawa, the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, started on May 19th 2015 and will run until June 16th. The 15th day of the lunar month, the full moon day, is called Saga Dawa Düchen and this year it falls on June 2nd. Düchen means “great occasion” and this day is the single most holy day of Tibetan Buddhism.

Like the Theravadin observance of Vesak, Saga Dawa Düchen commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death parinirvana of Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddhist communities all over the world consider this a very sacred time of the year. People make extra efforts to practice more generosity, virtue, compassion, better temperament and conduct, in order to accumulate greater merit.

Saga Dawa is known as the month of merits. Tibetan Buddhists believe that during this month, the merits of ones actions are multiplied, and that on the 15th day of the month the merits of ones actions are hugely increased.

The nuns at the seven nunneries supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project all mark Saga Dawa in special ways and we will be sharing photos and news of the 2015 celebrations via this blog and our Facebook page as soon as possible after June 2nd.

A nun at Dolma Ling Nunnery reads part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon during Saga Dawa in 2013.

Practices undertaken during this month include:

praying and reciting of mantras
lighting of butter lamps
making pilgrimages to holy places
refraining from eating meat
saving animals from slaughter and releasing them
making prostrations and circumambulations
giving money to beggars

It is considered a time of the year when our one positive act of kindness is multiplied a million times over to accumulate good merit.

In the meantime, here’s a description of some of the usual practices by Tibetan Buddhist in general and by the nuns in particular. For instance, every year, during the month of Saga Dawa, over a period of several days, the 240 nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute read the entire Tibetan Buddhist canon or Kangyur, the 108 volumes of the spoken words of the Buddha. Because this month includes some of the holiest days in the Buddhist calendar, the nuns believe they can accumulate more merit by doing such practices at this time. Butter lamps will also be lit during the full moon and everyone will try to practice positive deeds during the full month.

Nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery reading the words of the Buddha to celebrate Saga Dawa in 2013.

On this day many individuals from the monastic and lay communities also take Thikchen Tsochung. His Holiness at the main temple gives the vow if he is in town during the year or it is given by a Khenpo or Geshe. The vows are to follow the eight Mahayana precepts for 24 hours. Individuals taking this vow take just one meal that day mainly lunch that has to be taken before noon and once one has stopped the meal it is considered finished. One can drink water or light drinks but not whole milk, thick juice with pulp etc.

Reading the entire Tibetan Buddhist canon takes several days. This photo was taken on the second morning of the Saga Dawa readings in 2013 and shows the sacred texts carefully wrapped and stacked.

In Dolma Ling nunnery many nuns eat only twice a day during this month. Nuns refrain from eating any solid food after finishing their lunch. They can drink water and are served light tea (with little milk) at 6 p.m.

At Tilokpur Nunnery, the nuns participate in a number of pujas such as the Nyugney puja, Vajra puja, Avalokiteshvara mantra, Guru Rinpoche puja, Green Tara puja, Phakmo Dakini puja. The nuns also do prostrations and offer thousands of butter lamps during the month. The other nunneries like Geden Choling also do the Nyugney puja (fasting).

Buddhist Prayers

Leave a reply

When tragedy, illness or other great suffering strikes it’s hard to know what to do to alleviate it. Acts of kindness will always help.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery saying prayers. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

In September 2014, 298 people were killed when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

We’re sure that Tibetan Nuns Project supporters around the world shared that collective grief during the tragedy and when other catastrophes have hit.

But what can one do to help make the situation better?

A Tibetan Nuns Project donor and sponsor named Heather was struggling with her lack of ability to do anything meaningful to help the hundreds of grieving relatives after flight MH17 was shot down. Continue reading →

Tibetan Losar Prayers and Ceremonies in Dharamsala

1 Reply

This is a guest post about Tibetan Losar celebrations at two Buddhist nunneries in India by Dominique Butet and with photos by Olivier Adam.

Last month, on 19 February 2015, my partner Olivier Adam and I participated in the ceremonies for Tibetan New Year or Losar at Geden Choeling Nunnery in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala in northern India.

In the very early morning, at 3:30 a.m., the 135 nuns of the nunnery were already sitting in the temple, beginning their Losar puja or prayers with great dedication.

We shared cups of traditional Tibetan salty butter tea with the nuns. Then two nuns brought the offering of tsampa (roasted barley flour) around to everyone so that we could celebrate the start of the new year by throwing tsampa into the air and wishing everyone “Losar Tashi Delek” (Happy New Year) with pure, joyful smiles.

Two nuns carry a chamar bo, an open, decorated box with one half filled with chamar, made of roasted barley flour or tsampa and the other half filled with roasted barley. People are invited to take a pinch of the chemar then offer a blessing with three waves of the hand in the air, then taking a nibble. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.

Inside the temple, the sound of the prayers grew to fill the entire space and the nuns’ voices were accompanied by bells and Tibetan hand drums (damaru). We were each served sweet rice with dry fruits, followed by a delicious tsampa soup served with all sorts of nuts and dates. Just as sweet tea was brought to the temple, we were also each given the authentic khapse, the deep-fried pastries served at Losar. They come in all sizes, but the ones we were given looked like two big open ears! (You can learn more about khapse by reading this Tibetan Nuns Project blog about these New Year’s cookies.) Continue reading →