Category Archives: Buddhist Nuns Stories

A Geshema Comes to Washington

This summer Geshema Delek Wangmo, a teacher at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, was a special guest at Sravasti Abbey in Washington State for a one-month residency.

Sravasti Abbey in Washington State welcomes Geshema Delek Wangmo. Born in Tibet in 1970 to a nomadic family, Geshema Delek Wangmo was illiterate when she was ordained as a Buddhist nun at 15. She now lives and teaches at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in India. Photo courtesy of Sravasti Abbey.

Sravasti Abbey was founded in 2003 by the author, teacher, and fully ordained nun Venerable Thubten Chodron. The abbey follows Tibetan Buddhism in the tradition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It is situated on 300 acres of forest and meadows outside Newport, Washington, near the Idaho state line.

On August 11th, Sravasti Abbey held a special event with Geshema Delek Wangmo that people could attend in person or online via YouTube. You can see the talk here.

Geshema Delek Wangmo had a one-month residency at Sravasti Abbey in Washington State and gave a public talk on August 11, 2024. Photo courtesy of Sravasti Abbey.

Geshema Delek Wangmo’s story is a tale of faith, courage, resilience, purpose, and tenacity. Her public talk, in English, related to her life as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and her monastic education. She spoke about her role as a teacher of other nuns and her aspirations for Tibetan Buddhism in the future.

Geshema Delek Wangmo was one of the first Tibetan Buddhist nuns to complete the rigorous Geshema degree — equivalent to a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy — once reserved for monks only.

This was the first trip to the West by Geshema Delek Wangmo, a Buddhist scholar, practitioner, and teacher from Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in India. Photo courtesy of Sravasti Abbey.

Geshema Delek Wangmo’s time at the Abbey was intended to be a rich cultural and educational exchange. She practiced her English skills and helped some Abbey community members build their spoken Tibetan abilities. She learned about Buddhist monasticism in the West by attending sessions of the Abbey’s annual Exploring Monastic Life program.

Geshema Delek Wangmo at Sravasti Abbey photo courtesy of Sravasti Abbey 9

In Tibet, many nuns like Delek Wangmo did not have access to education. Her journey from illiteracy to a respected teacher has been one of faith, courage, and diligence. Photo August 11, 2024 courtesy of Sravasti Abbey.

She also offered a course in English on Buddhist Reasoning and Debate, the Tibetan pedagogical method for sharpening and deepening insight.

Abbess Venerable Thubten Chodron has long been a proponent of advanced education for Tibetan nuns and Sravasti Abbey is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan Nuns Project. While Abbey residents have had the honor to receive profound teachings from a great number of Tibetan lamas and geshes, it is a historically significant next step to also host a female Tibetan scholar to teach the Western sangha.

Saying goodbye. The nuns at Dolma Ling, where Geshema Delek Wangmo teaches, had summer exams so she was able to a break from teaching until August 19th. She helped to build Dolma Ling, one of the first Tibetan nunneries in India, brick by brick, over 30 years ago. Photo courtesy of Sravasti Abbey.

An Incredible Journey

Born in 1970 in Litang in the Kham region of eastern Tibet, Delek Wangmo was ordained at 15 with Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. Her village, Detsa, did not have a school and she spent most of her time tending animals with her nomadic family.

When she was 19, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche led her and other nuns on a pilgrimage from their home province to Lhasa, where the Dalai Lama’s Potala Palace and other holy sites are located. Not only was this a 950-mile trek through mountains, but the group prostrated the entire way. It took one and a half years.

Portrait of Geshema Delek Wangmo taken at Dolma Ling Nunnery in 2022 by Olivier Adam

However, when they arrived, the group was denied entry into Lhasa by the Chinese authorities. The journey was not wasted: along the way, she had begun her education and learned the Tibetan alphabet for the first time.

The large group of nuns headed south, eventually entering India and connecting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Varanasi.

Improving the Situation for Nuns

Unfortunately, there were few nunneries in India and no space for the new nuns. Soon, the Tibetan Nuns Project was formed and began the process of building two facilities, Shugsep and Dolma Ling, both near Dharamsala.

In 1994, Delek Wangmo and other nuns were able to move into Dolma Ling, which was subsequently inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2005. Not only did Dolma Ling provide much-needed housing and living facilities, but it was dedicated specifically to higher Buddhist education for nuns.

Geshema Delek Wangmo teaching TCV students about monastic debate Sept 2023

Geshema Delek Wangmo teaching Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) students about monastic debate in September 2023.

In Tibet, many nuns like Delek Wangmo did not have access to education. Dolma Ling provides a 17-year curriculum, comparable to what has traditionally been available to monks. With these educational opportunities and the support of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Geshema degree was offered in 2012.

The Geshema degree is equivalent to the Geshe degree, with the “ma” indicating it is awarded to women. The Geshe degree is roughly equivalent to a PhD in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, requiring decades of study, extensive exams, and public debate sessions. The monastics who earn this degree become teachers, abbots, and other leaders within Tibetan Buddhism.

Delek Wangmo became Geshema Delek Wangmo in 2017, part of the second group of nuns to complete their exams and earn their degrees. She was then part of the first group of nuns allowed to study at Gyuto Tantric University, also a part of the traditional education for monks.

Geshema Delek Wangmo teaching at Dolma Ling 2019

Delek Wangmo earned her Geshema degree in 2017 and was hired as a teacher at Dolma Ling in 2019. She says, “Looking back to where I started and what I have achieved now is something very special in my life. I feel satisfied and relief now. When I fled from tibet I never expect such things in life that I will have
these kind of opportunity in such a good place. I would like to thanks many people who have supported me in completing my education.”

After completing her education, Geshema Delek Wangmo became a philosophy teacher at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in 2019. In 2020, she was appointed as an election commissioner by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.

Current Need! Please help us build 16 double-bed rooms at Dolma Ling for Geshemas so that, like Geshema Delek Wangmo, they can get the advanced education they need to become fully qualified teachers of their tradition. PLEASE DONATE HERE

A Geshema’s Journey: The Remarkable Story of Delek Wangmo

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Geshema Delek Wangmo’s journey to become a Geshema, a teacher, and a role model has been long and arduous. Her remarkable life story exemplifies resilience, determination, and a deep commitment to spiritual growth, inspiring others on their paths to enlightenment.

Here is her story.

Portrait of Geshema Delek Wangmo now a senior nun and teacher at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute. Photo by Olivier Adam, 2022. She did not go to school in Tibet but spent her time tending the family’s sheep, yaks, goats, and horses.

Delek Wangmo was born in 1970 into a semi-nomadic family in Detsa in Lithang province in Eastern Tibet. “My family includes my parents, one elder sister, and three younger sisters,” she said. “One of my sisters is a nun staying with me at Dolma Ling. I became a nun at the age of 15 when I received my nun’s vows from Lama Tenzin Delek of Detsa Monastery. Since our village didn’t have any schools and education opportunities I did not go to school and spent my time in Tibet tending our animals.”

A 950-Mile Pilgrimage With Prostrations

In 1989, Geshe Delek Wangmo embarked on a challenging spiritual journey with her Lama and other nuns. They made their way from Lithang to Lhasa by prostrating themselves, covering about 950 miles on a mountain road. This journey took one and a half years, reflecting her unwavering determination and dedication to her spiritual life.

Lithang nun pilgrims after escaping to India in 1990. Delek Wangmo was illiterate until she was 19. “I started my education on the pilgrimage. Along the way our Lama gave us teachings and I learned the Tibetan alphabet for the first time.”

“The pilgrimage was hard, as we had to cover the distance from Lithang to Lhasa by prostrations. We would do prostrations in the rain and our clothes got wet and dirty and we could not wash them out every day.”

“In spite of the hardship, I learned much from my time on the pilgrimage. I started my education on the pilgrimage. Along the way our Lama gave us teachings and I learned the Tibetan alphabet.”

“It was difficult because we had to study at night and often did not have enough light to study by. But once I learned the alphabet, the rest of my studying got much easier for me. I started memorizing prayers once I had learned to read.”

Portrait-of-Geshema-Delek-Wangmo-by-Olivier-Adam.

Geshema Delek Wangmo teaching at Dolma Ling in 2022. She said, “Looking back to where I started and what I have achieved now is something very special in my life. I feel satisfied and relieved now. When I fled Tibet I never expected such things in life or that I would have these kinds of opportunities in such a good place.” Photo by Olivier Adam

The pilgrimage did not turn out as planned when authorities refused the nuns permission to visit the holy city of Lhasa. “When we got near Lhasa our Rinpoche tried very hard to get passes for all of us to go into the city of Lhasa but in vain. We were told that we could not go into the city because of some big meeting there. I was very upset and angry because of all the effort our Lama had made and now it did not matter. Then we left for Shigatse, another holy city in the south, to visit Tashi Lunpo Monastery.”

Delek Wangmo earned her Geshema degree in 2017 and was hired as a teacher at Dolma Ling in 2019. She says, “I would like to thank the many people who have supported me in completing my education.”

“Very soon after that the Rinpoche said that we would be going to India and that it would probably be possible to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama. That made me happy again and excited. My spirits lifted and I was ready to do whatever was necessary. The journey to Nepal and eventually to India took us about a month.”

Escape to India

In the end, in 1990 she and a large group of other nuns escaped from Tibet via Nepal. In Varanasi, she saw His Holiness the Dalai Lama and realized a dream by receiving teachings and an audience.

At the time there was a large number of nuns coming from Tibet and the few existing Tibetan Buddhist nunneries in exile were overcrowded and unable to accept many new nuns. The Tibetan Nuns Project, under the direction of Rinchen Khandro Choegyal, rented houses for the nuns to stay in and began the long process of building two new nunneries, Dolma Ling and Shugsep.

For about three years, Geshe Delek Wangmo and other nuns lived in a rental house, studying in the early morning and late evening while actively participating in the construction of their new nunnery, Dolma Ling.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns studying outdoors no classrooms

This photo from our archives shows the early days before the nuns had classrooms. They studied in the open air or tents and helped with the construction of Dolma Ling Nunnery.

“The living conditions were not so good in the beginning. We lived in overcrowded rooms and the study program wasn’t so well organized because, during that time, the number of new nuns coming from Tibet increased every month. Slowly things improved. The construction of the present Dolma Ling Nunnery began in 1993 and we moved into our new housing block in October 1994.”

Life and Accomplishments at Dolma Ling

At last, thanks to the generosity of Tibetan Nuns Project donors and the hard work of the nuns themselves, the nuns had proper housing, a kitchen, and a prayer hall. With the establishment of the new facility, they could follow a structured education curriculum, leading to higher degrees.

In 2012, the Geshema degree was only formally opened to women. Comparable to a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, it is the highest level of training in the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Geshema degree is the same as the Geshe degree for monks. The ending “ma” marks it as referring to a woman. Delek Wangmo earned her Geshema degree in 2017.

Geshema Delek Wangmo teaching Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) students about monastic debate in September 2023. She is a role model for other nuns and the Tibetan community.

Geshema Delek Wangmo’s educational journey in India has spanned 23 years including 18 years of dedicated study and four years of rigorous examinations to attain the prestigious Geshema degree and an additional one-year Tantric studies program at Gyuto Tantric University.

Geshema Delek Wangmo and Geshema Tenzin Kunsel teaching Gurukul program June 2023

In June 2023, Geshema Delek Wangmo and Geshema Tenzin Kunsel spoke to Indian students during the 27th annual Gurukul program which seeks to revive the centuries-old relationship of exchange of ideas between Indians and Tibetans.

Since 2019, Geshe Delek Wangmo has been sharing her profound wisdom and teachings at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute. Her life story exemplifies resilience, determination, and a deep commitment to spiritual growth, inspiring others on their paths to enlightenment.

Geshema Delek Wangmo sworn in as election commissioner copy

Geshema Delek Wangmo made history in 2020 when she was appointed as an election commissioner by the members of the Standing Committee of the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile to ensure free and fair elections. Photo by Tenzin Phende/CTA

Reflections on the Geshema Path

The main reason Geshe Delek Wangmo escaped from Tibet was the inability to receive a proper spiritual education. Her commitment has never wavered. Having the opportunity to receive an education and become a Geshema is a dream come true for her and her sister nuns.

“Getting this degree after years of intense study of philosophical texts has given the nuns new energy to study even harder, as well as encouraged us to uphold the academic values His Holiness the Dalai Lama always emphasizes. It is the path that will lead us to work independently and become recognized as philosophy teachers within as well as outside the community.”

Geshema Delek Wangmo teaching on the Four Noble Truths in May 2023.

“When I told my parents that I completed the study they were very happy and cried. They wanted me to come to meet them,” she said. “I applied for a visa but I didn’t get one. I wish to go back to Tibet and meet my parents before they pass away.”

Geshema Delek Wangmo’s list of accomplishments keeps growing. During COVID, she gave online teachings in Tibetan on keeping a peaceful mind as part of a series of talks organized by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration.

On behalf of all the nuns, thank you for educating and empowering these brave and dedicated women like Geshema Delek Wangmo.

As one of the first Buddhist women wrote over 2,000 years ago:
A real hero
walks the Path
to its end.
Then shows others the way.

Remembering Venerable Thupten Lobsang

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Venerable Thubten Lobsang, a senior nun at Geden Choeling Nunnery, has died at the age of 105.

Geden Choeling Nunnery was founded in December 1973 and is is one of the oldest nunneries in exile Tibetan community. It is in Mcleod Ganj, Upper Dharamsala and from its earliest days absorbed a steady stream of nuns escaping from Tibet.

The nunnery, which pre-dates the Tibetan Nuns Project by about 15 years, was started by several nuns who fled the Nechung Ri Nunnery in Tibet after it was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

Venerable Thubten Lobsang senior nun at Geden Choeling Nunnery in 2013

Venerable Thubten Lobsang passed away peacefully on February 23rd, 2023 at the age of 105. Here she is in 2013 photographed at Geden Choeling Nunnery by Brian Harris

With no nunnery in existence these women worked with Tibetan children until a number of refugee nuns gathered together with the purpose of building a nunnery. As there were nuns from different nunneries in Tibet, they decided to call the new nunnery “Geden Choeling” which means “Home of the virtuous ones who devote their lives to the Buddha Dharma”.

The nuns based themselves initially in rented accommodation in Rashtra-Bawan. Later, eight wooden rooms and a small congregation hall were constructed for around 50 nuns. The construction work at Geden Choeling was undertaken by the nuns themselves carrying the stones, soil, and other building materials on their backs.

Borrowing pots and pans and 600 rupees from a monk, they were able to rent an old house in the forest above McLeod Ganj and performed the opening ceremony in December of 1973. From such humble beginnings, these determined women raised and borrowed enough money to begin to build housing and a temple. At the very beginning they built with their own hands. Today the nunnery is home to about 200 nuns.

About Venerable Thupten Lobsang

Geden Choeling was founded by a group of nuns in 1973 who came from Tibet. Venerable Thupten Lobsang (also known as Thupten Tsomo) was one of those nuns while the others have passed away. They were all very well loved and cared for by the younger nuns.

Venerable Thubten Lobsang was born in 1918 in Nyemo Ta, Tibet and escaped to India after the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Here is her story.

I was born in Nyemo Ta to a landlord family, named Gyora Chang, and had three brothers and two sisters. One brother was older than me. None of them became monks or nuns and none of them went to school in Tibet.

As a child I worked in the fields and spun wool. When I was 21 years old, my uncle attempted to arrange a marriage for me. He was in the military and had found an officer’s son as my groom. But I heard about it and didn’t want him, so I ran away to a place called Metrogongar.

Geden Choeling Nunnery, Tibetan Buddhist nunnery, Venerable Thupten Lobsang

Photo from around 1985 of the senior nuns at Geden Choeling Nunnery. Venerable Thubten Lobsang is on the right next to Rinchen Khando Choegyal, founder of the Tibetan Nuns Project. Taken from Meridian Trust documentary “Two Tibetan Buddhist Nunneries”.

I met a man named Wangda and married him for love. At first, my parents didn’t know what l had done. They looked for me everywhere to bring me back and get me married to the officer’s son. They went as far as Kalimpong, India. I was staying with some relatives and they scolded me about all the problems I was causing my family. But since the man I had chosen for myself was also from a noble family, my relatives told me it was OK and that they would talk to my parents for me. After this my parents accepted my husband and even gave me my share of the inheritance.

Senior Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Geden Choeling Nunnery Oct 2019

Celebrating the senior nuns at Geden Choeling Nunnery in October 2019. Thubten Lobsang (second person from the right) became a nun at age 48..

When I was 25 years old, I gave birth to twin boys but they both died. Then the Chinese came. My husband went with the resistance movement, Chushi Gangdruk and I was left alone. One day, a man came and gave me a message from my husband. He said, “Do whatever you want or need to do. I will fight until my live is sacrificed.” I tried to find information about him but couldn’t hear anything definite although I did hear he was in pnson.

I was very unhappy then. I thought it might be better to go to India because I heard that many lamas and other people had been put in prison. My family and I thought that all of their things and their land would would be taken by the Chinese soon. I went to a lama and had a divination done, asking if it would be good for me to go. He told me not to think about my possessions, but only about my mind. He told me it would be very successful if I went to India. I gave all of my things to my friends and family. I also went to a female oracle, Upchee Lhamo, who said I should go. The oracle gave me blessed barley seeds to wear in an amulet around my neck and to scatter wherever I went.

Before I decided to leave things were very bad. Many lamas were caught by the Chinese. Getting a visa was very difficult, however there was a Nepalese man in Lhasa, the representative of the Nepal embassy. I had travelled twice to Mt. Kailash with him and his wife. He arranged for me to get a Sherpa visa. He was a noble-minded man and helped many people.

Nuns practicing monastic debate at Geden Choeling Nunnery in May 2022. Pho

Nuns practicing monastic debate at Geden Choeling Nunnery in May 2022. The nunnery founded in 1973 and whose name means “Home of the virtuous ones who devote their lives to the Buddha Dharma” is now home to about 200 nuns. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam

Greater difficulties arose because one needed to get both a Nepalese and a Tibetan stamp for the visa. This, along with getting a bus ticket, took two and a half years. I got a bit anxious again and went up to the hill of Chokpori, where the hospital was, to light incense. But the Chinese had set a trap there. Under the burning box they had put some kind of wires that told them if something was being done there. Three men came and pulled me down the hill, shoving bayonets into my back. (My back is still painful to this day.) Then I thought it would be better to die. My brother had been put in prison and my father had been beaten to death. I felt totally alone and thought constantly of my relatives, worrying and feeling sick.

I stayed for a while in a rented house in Lhasa. The owner was very helpful and I got a bit better. She advised me to sell my jewelry and get out of Tibet using that money. I did this and my Sherpa friend finally got me the tickets.

I came through Kalimpong where I met Lama Gonesey. He took me to Varanasi but I couldn’t stay there long because it was so hot. So with his help I went to another place called Sukay, up in the hills. Then I went to Varanasi again and then to Dharamsala. In Dharamsala, I gave birth to a son who became a monk in Namgyal Monastery. I went to do road work, earning half a rupee per day. I did this work for many years.

Tibetan refugee road workers in the 1960s.

Before she became a nun, Thubten Lobsang was a road worker for many years. It’s estimated that 20,000 Tibetans refugees worked in these road construction sites in the 1960s. They broke stones by hand and it was an extremely hard life. Photo from the Tibet Museum exhibition “Journey in Exile- 1960s”

I became a nun when I was 48 years old, the year before the unlucky year for women (age 49). I had been very sick and went to Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen in Kinnaur to ask for his prayers. Without doing a divination he told me that if l become a nun it would save my life. I asked him how I could do this since I had no resources to support myself and no education. I felt I knew nothing about the Dharma. He said, “Being wealthy does not bring you enlightenment, the same is true of education. The most important thing is to help other people and to never cause harm. If you become a nun and do these things it will remove all your obstacles.”

I took vows and ritually offered my hair to Ling Rinpoche and went to live at Geden Choeling Nunnery. I did a lot of nunnery work until I was 62 years old and then I was allowed to retire from kitchen duty and so on. Then I spent my days completing the practices for the vows and initiations I have taken. I completed the preliminary practices and I recite the refuge mantra each morning and then the 36 names of the Buddha. Then I do prostrations and mandala offerings, as well as a recitation of the Yamantaka text (5 pages) and others. I visualize Tsongkhapa and Tara and then recites more mantras and mani. It takes a long time.
[Story told in July 1993. Interview done by JoAnn Vrilakis, Yankyi Tsering translating.]

Venerable Thubten Lobsang could manage by herself until she was 71. After that she couldn’t attend any of the nunnery activities as she could not walk because of severe leg problems. From that point on, two younger nuns took turns to care for her including changing her clothes and bedding, massaging her with herbal oil and cream, and changing her body position frequently to avoid getting bed sores.

Venerable Thubten Lobsang holding mala by Brian Harris 2013

Venerable Thubten Lobsang holding saying mantras with her mala in 2013. Photo by Brian Harris

During the COVID lockdown (2020-22) she started losing her memory and couldn’t eat solid food and fruits. Finally, she passed away peacefully on February 23rd, 2023, the second day of Losar or Tibetan New Year. She lived to a grand age of 105 years. She was much loved and cared by all the nuns who treated her like a mother.

We pray for her peaceful soul!

Five More Illustrated Stories by the Nuns

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In January, we shared four stories by Tibetan Buddhist nuns created as part of an English assignment. The stories got a wonderful response, so here are five more for you!

Pat said, “Oh, I loved reading those handwritten and illustrated stories! I hope to see more in future blogs.” Suzanne wrote, “I love reading these stories! The words are wise and the illustrations are beautiful.”

Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute is dedicated to higher Buddhist education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns from all traditions. These stories are part of a book project assigned by the English teacher at Dolma Ling, Mr. Tenzin Norgyal.

Traditionally Tibetan Buddhist nuns have had few opportunities for education. Most of the Tibetan refugee nuns were illiterate on their arrival in India. Now the nuns are at last able to study for higher degrees such as the Geshema degree, roughly equivalent to a PhD.

Thank you for educating and empowering these dedicated women. We hope you enjoy these stories written by nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute. This nunnery was built and is fully supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project

Five Illustrated Stories by the Nuns

Click here to view.

This first story, The Arrogant Rose, teaches not to judge by appearances.

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In A Group of Clouds

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The third story, Act of Kindness, illustrates how a small act of kindness can make a big difference.

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Here’s a cautionary tale called Naughty Meat with a cliff

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Finally, we have Venerable Sonam’s story The Destiny of Tenzin. We were unable to put this story in a slideshow without cutting off part of the text, but you can download the PDF here.

The Tibetan Nuns Project believes that education is the key to empowerment. We work to give nuns the resources to carve out independent, creative identities for themselves.

Thank you for helping the nuns on their path!

Here’s the link to the other four stories by Tibetan Buddhist nuns.

If you would like to donate to help fund Teachers’ Salaries, click here.

Tibetan Nun to Study Science at Emory University

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A senior Tibetan Buddhist nun from Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute has been selected for the Emory Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars program. She is one of 7 monastics chosen to study science for two years at Emory University in Atlanta starting in September 2021.

6th cohort Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars Program

A senior nun from Dolma Ling, Venerable Kelsang Lhamo (bottom right), has been selected as one of 3 nuns and four monks to study for two years at Emory University as part of the 6th cohort Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars Program. She and the other 6 monastics are to start at Emory University in September 2021 following a preparation course in South India. Photo from Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars Program.

Venerable Kelsang Lhamo was one of three nuns from Dolma Ling who applied for the program and sat qualifying exams. She has finished her studies at the nunnery and opted not to pursue a Geshema degree.

Born in 1988 in McLeod Ganj in upper Dharamsala, Venerable Kelsang Lhamo was studied at the Tibetan Children’s Village School in Choglamsar, Ladakh before becoming a nun at Dolma Ling.

The Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars Program is part of the Emory-Tibet Science initiative started in 2010 to support monastic science education. Over the past 10 years, 30 monastic scholars have completed the program and returned to serve their monastic institutions.

On March 16th, the newly selected science scholars began intensive training in math, science, English, and computer skills at Drepung Losel Ling Meditation and Science Center in South India. This course aims to prepare the scholars with the knowledge they need in advance of their two-year residency program at Emory University.

The three nuns and four monks will join the university in the fall of 2021 and focus on deepening their understanding of the basic sciences.

Training Monastic Science Leaders

The Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars Program is designed to develop and nurture Tibetan monastic science teachers by providing college-level science education at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The aim is to ensure the long-term sustainability of science education within Tibetan monasteries and nunneries in India. The scholars program, named after His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is supported by the Dalai Lama Foundation and Emory University. The program is part of the wider Emory-Tibet Science Initiative.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns taking part in the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative in 2019. Photo from the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative Facebook page.

As The New York Times wrote in 2013, a big challenge in teaching science is the lack of a Tibetan lexicon for many scientific terms. “How does one create new words for concepts like photosynthesis and clones, which have no equivalent in the Tibetan language or culture? How does one begin to name thousands of molecules and chemical compounds? And what of words like process, which have several levels of meaning for Tibetans?” Over recent years, thousands of new scientific terms have been added to the Tibetan language.

The ultimate goal of the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative is to build a bridge between two complementary systems of knowledge by educating future scientific collaborators who can contribute to new discoveries in the science of mind and body. The program is designed to give Tibetan monastics new tools for understanding the world, while also providing them with fresh perspectives on how to employ and adapt time-tested, Buddhist, contemplative methodologies for the relief of suffering in the contemporary world. Additionally, scientists and science educators are encouraged to learn more about the Buddhist science of mind and what it can contribute to the understanding of human emotions, the nature of consciousness, and integrative approaches to health and well-being.

The scholars are primarily selected from Tibetan monastic institutions participating in the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative science education program. They represent all the major Tibetan Buddhist schools, including Tibet’s indigenous Bon religion.

Since the start of the program in 2010, five cohorts of 30 scholars have completed the program. The fifth group graduated from their 2-year residency program in May 2021.

Upon the completion, the monastics return to their institutions to take up leading roles in the science education programs such as teaching science classes, serving as liaisons between Emory and their home institutions, and coordinating logistics for the annual summer intensives science courses that are part of the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative.

In addition, the scholars participate in Buddhism and science dialogues and seminars, collaborate on research projects with scientists, and give presentations on various scientific topics.

Tibetan Buddhist Nuns and Science

Since 2014, nuns from Dolma Ling have taken part in the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, a four-week program held at Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India. During the course, Tibetan nuns and monks are taught the philosophy of science, physics, neuroscience, and biology. The course is presented by faculty members from Emory and other distinguished universities with assistance from the Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars.

Nuns presenting science posters at Dolma Ling science fair

Nuns presenting science posters at a Dolma Ling science fair in 2019.

The nuns and monks attend classes for six hours a day and are tested on the last day of each course. Classes consist of lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on experiments. In 2018, eight nuns from Dolma Ling attended.

In 2017, in collaboration with the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala and the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative initiated a 6-year science program for nuns from five major nunneries in India.

The first nuns selected as Tenzin Gyatso Science Scholars were two nuns from Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod, South India. They were part of the 4th cohort of scholars to study science at Emory University and they completed their residency there in 2019. Both served as translators for the summer program of the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative held at Drepung Loseling Monastery in 2019.

Why are Tibetans in exile?

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On today’s anniversary of the Tibetan Women’s Uprising, we remember the thousands of brave Tibetan women who gathered on March 12th, 1959 to demand Tibetan independence. It’s also a suitable time to explain why there are Tibetans in exile.

During 1949 and 1950 Tibet, an independent nation the size of Western Europe was invaded by China. Since then, the Tibetan people have become marginalized in their own country, Tibetan culture has been severely restricted, and hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have died as a result of the occupation, through torture, execution, suicides, and starvation.

From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, many Tibetans fled their homeland. Hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist nuns were part of this exodus. Most escaped on foot over the Himalayas and made their way to Dharamsala, India, home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Tibet is ranked as the second least free country in the world, behind only Syria and worse than even North Korea.

Why are Tibetans in exile infographic

Torture and Imprisonment

For decades, nuns and monks have been at the forefront of calling for freedom in Tibet.

A wave of demonstrations against Chinese rule in 1987 was begun by monks and nuns. The protests were brutally put down but continued over the next few years.

Many nuns were imprisoned and tortured for taking part in demonstrations calling for basic human rights. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the was a new flood of Tibetans escaping Tibet and seeking refuge in India, including many nuns. By around 2000, demonstrators were arrested almost immediately and Tibetans were given long prison terms so getting out to tell their stories did not happen like before.

In 1987, monks and nuns played a dominant role in demonstrations for freedom in Tibet. The crackdown by the Chinese was brutal and a new flood of Tibetans escaped Tibet seeking refuge in India, including many nuns. Photo by John Ackerly

One Nun’s Story

In 1989, I took part in a protest march against the Chinese occupation of my motherland. I was caught and they took us straight to Gutsa Prison. They tied my hands at the back of my neck with a chain. While in this position they kicked, boxed, and slapped me constantly. I stayed in isolation for 18 days and was constantly interrogated and beaten. I stayed in Gutsa Prison for two and a half years.

After my release, I went to my village and then stayed secretly at my nunnery in spite of the ban on the re-admission of ex-prisoners… I decided to leave for India… We walked for about 18 days to Kathmandu. It was a very hard journey.

When I reached India I was able to enter Dolma Ling Nunnery along with three other nuns who came with me.

Escape into Exile

The Tibetan Nuns Project was formed in 1987 and almost immediately had to respond to a large influx of nuns escaping from Tibet and arriving in India.

Tibetans in exile Buddhist nuns in India

Tibetan refugee nuns in India in their classroom tent. When large numbers of nuns began arriving in India in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the existing nunneries were already overcrowded. The Tibetan Nuns Project was formed under the auspices of this association and the Department of Religion and Culture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to provide long-term care for the nuns.

The nuns arrived ill and exhausted. Most refugee nuns escaping to northern India had no education in their own language, nor were they given education in their religious heritage while in Tibet. Many nuns were illiterate on arrival and could not even write their names.

In addition to the trauma of their escape, many nuns were in poor health and had faced arrest, imprisonment, and torture in Tibet at the hands of the Chinese authorities in Tibet for their peaceful demands for basic human rights. When released from prison, the nuns were forbidden from rejoining their nunneries in Tibet.

The Decline in Tibetans Escaping

“Fleeing Tibet has always been perilous due to the harsh weather, the patrolling soldiers and the cost of people smugglers, but Tibetans have seen it as worth the risk in order to preserve their nation and to gain some form of relative freedom,” wrote the Byline Times.

These days it is extremely dangerous for Tibetans to escape from Tibet and the number of Tibetans arriving in exile has dropped from thousands per year before 2008 to just 18 in 2019.

In 2006, mountaineers filmed Chinese border guards shooting Tibetan refugees and killing a Tibetan nun in her 20s, shown here surrounded by three soldiers. The group of 43 Tibetans, mainly women and children, were trying to cross a mountain pass into Nepal. The shocking footage made global headlines.

While the repression today is not as heavy-handed as periods in the past, Tibetans enjoy no more freedom than they did 30 years ago. Inside Tibet, the Chinese authorities continue to impose severe constraints on the religious practice of Tibetan Buddhists. Surveillance is pervasive in nunneries and monasteries. Nuns and monks are subjected to routine re-education campaigns.

This month, Human Rights Watch reported that China’s education policy in the Tibet Autonomous Region is significantly reducing the access of Tibetans to education in their mother tongue.

Tibet Today: An Orwellian Nightmare

“Tibetans are living in an Orwellian nightmare where they are constantly surveilled, imprisoned for exercising their human rights, discriminated against in the job market and legal system and forced to watch the Chinese Government wage war against their very culture and way of life,” said Bhuchung Tsering of the International Campaign for Tibet.

“Under Chinese rule, Tibetans cannot freely practise their religion, speak their language, or express their cultural identity in any meaningful way. Many Tibetans realize they have a better chance of maintaining their unique identity in exile, so they choose to flee.”

Tibetan Buddhist nuns arrested by Chinese

From a video showing Tibetan nuns evicted from Larung Gar in Tibet being “re-educated.” Wearing military fatigues, the nuns are being forced to sing a Chinese Communist Party song, “Chinese and Tibetans, children of one mother”. The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy has reported that the Tibetan nuns held in China’s re-education camps have been gang-raped and sexually abused.

John Jones from the UK-group Free Tibet said China wants the border closed to avoid scrutiny.

Jones said, “The decline in numbers is certainly, in part, due to the increased security on the border with India. The numbers started to noticeably decrease after 2008 but really dropped after 2012 when authorities began to confiscate passports of Tibetans living in border areas and also imposed restrictions on travel to Lhasa. In addition, there has been increased surveillance and controls on the borders where the mountain passes are.

“Beijing has a strong interest in preventing Tibetans from escaping because they can provide first-hand information of the human rights abuses that they routinely are subjected to. They can also explode Beijing’s claims that Tibetans are happy, prosperous, and keen to be governed by China.

“Since 2008, China has significantly stepped up security across Tibet to ensure that there is no repeat of the mass, country-wide demonstrations there, which received global media attention. The heavy-handed response to the protests, involving live gunfire, beatings and mass arrests, was met by international criticism that was embarrassing for Beijing.”

Educating Tibetan Buddhist nuns

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Spring marks both a new academic year and intake time at the nunneries in India so it is a good time to share some stories and reflect on the education of Tibetan Buddhist nuns.

Educating the nuns is the core of our work. In the 1980s and 1990s, when hundreds of nuns were escaping from Tibet, the overwhelming majority of the nuns were totally illiterate. Most of the newly arrived nuns had had no education in their own language. While in Tibet they had also been denied education in their religious heritage.

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Collage of photos of education of Tibetan Buddhist nuns. Bottom left photo courtesy of Olivier Adam; other photos courtesy of Brian Harris.

The Tibetan Nuns Project created an education program for nuns from the ground up. “Today when I see those nuns who didn’t know how to read and write their own names now have Geshema degrees, it is amazing. In a way, 30 years is a long time, but when it’s creating history it is not very long,” says Rinchen Khando Choegyal, Founding Director and Special Advisor to the Tibetan Nuns Project.

The Tibetan Nuns Project also serves women from the remote and impoverished border areas of India such as Ladakh, Zanskar, Spiti, Lahoul, and Arunachal Pradesh. The women and girls from these areas have traditionally been given far less education than men and boys. The nunneries give them a chance for education that they would not have otherwise.

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Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Pema’s Story

Pema grew up in Tsum near the Nepal-Tibet border. “Being isolated from towns and cities, there isn’t any school in our village so we are very backward and most of the people are uneducated. They actually don’t realize the importance of getting a good education. I really wanted to go to school, but I didn’t have the opportunity because the school was extremely far away. I had to walk for a whole day and night to reach it and we didn’t have any relatives there or a place for me to stay. Those who had relatives there were able to stay and go to school and become educated. I don’t know about the quality of education that the school provided, but at least those students are getting to learn something.”

“The most courageous thing I think I have ever done was to run away from home to live my dream. I had put forward my desire and wish to become a nun, but my parents never supported my decision and objected strongly to my pleas. I could not find any way to convince them. I tried a lot but failed all the time, so the only option left for me was to run away from home. I brought tsampa (roasted barley flour) to eat so that I wouldn’t have an empty stomach and to stay healthy. I will never forget those days of struggle. I reached Kathmandu and stayed at my friend’s home for one night. She was very welcoming and bought me a ticket to go to Delhi.”

“My brother who is a monk contacted one of the elder nuns at Tilokpur Nunnery and this is how I came here. I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to study in such an institution where everything is taken care of by the institution. Especially, the education facilities are really impressive and very satisfactory. I am very grateful for those who helped me in living my dreams. Now that I am one such lucky nun to study at this prestigious institution, I am studying very hard. Currently, I am learning Tibetan, English, and debate.”

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Nuns debating at Tilokpur Nunnery. “Opening up education to the women, particularly in conjunction with training in debate, has been transformative for the nuns,” says Dr. Elizabeth Napper, Tibetan scholar, US Founder and Board Chair of the Tibetan Nuns Project. “Not only have they been given access to the full intellectual richness of their Buddhist tradition but also, through debate, they have been trained to actively engage with it in a way that gives them confidence in their knowledge.”

Rinzin’s Story

Rinzin grew up in a farming family in northern India caring for her family’s chickens and livestock and going to the nearby India school. Her life changed direction when she saw Tibetan Buddhist nuns. “During holidays, I would see nuns coming to their family homes. They look so happy. I would talk to them and they would tell me about their nunnery. I got so fascinated and wanted to become a nun. I had a sudden urge to become a nun.”

“I told my parents, but my mother told me to stay home and go to school. I urged my father to persuade my mother to let me be a nun. Finally, my mother agreed. They advised me to be a good nun.”

Rinzin first joined a Nyingma nunnery at Varanasi, where she studied for five years. “One day, a relative who was a Geshe [a monk with a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhism; the female equivalent is a Geshema] came to visit at the nunnery and stayed there for a while. He noticed that there was no debate on Buddhist philosophy. He told us younger nuns who were from the same village that debate is important and that we should learn it. I, along with a few other nuns agreed, and he took us to Dharamsala, where he told us to choose between Geden Choeling Nunnery and Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute.”

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Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute sitting exams

“I chose Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute because I have a relative who is a nun there. I heard from her that Dolma Ling is a good place to study, as it is quite strict and the education facilities are good. I thought it would be a good place to study, so I decided to go to Dolma Ling Nunnery.”

“In 2017, the nunnery was admitting new nuns so I went through an interview and written exam. I passed and I became a nun here. Dolma Ling Nunnery is a beautiful and quiet place. In February 2018, I got ordained along with my classmates in the presence of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama. He advised us to study well and to abide by the oath.”

“Currently, I am studying in Duta Class. We learn basic Tibetan and debate. I am having a bit of difficulty with debate because it is a new subject for me. I think I will be okay because I have my classmates and teachers who will guide me. I wish to do my best and get the Geshema degree.”

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Nun holding her Geshema certificate. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.

What the Tibetan Nuns Study

A primary goal of the Tibetan Nuns Project is to assist nuns in reaching the same level of education as the monks. Each of the four traditional schools of Tibetan Buddhism has its own specific curriculum and degrees attained, but much is shared. All are based on the teachings of the Buddha and the Indian commentaries that developed to explicate them.

Exactly which commentaries the nuns most closely rely on varies between traditions as do the number of years of study, but there is uniformity as to the basic topics. Thus, all the nuns study:

Logic and Epistemology, which provide the basic tools for advanced philosophical study;
Perfection of Wisdom for understanding of the Buddhist path;
Middle Way for understanding of Buddhist philosophy; and
Tantra for the final level of teachings.

At most nunneries supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project, courses are also offered in Tibetan language, English, and computer skills, as well as in ritual arts such as sand mandalas and butter sculpture. The smaller nunneries in more remote areas are at earlier stages in the educational process.

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Tibetan Buddhist nuns taking part in a Tibetan calligraphy competition

In addition to providing basic educational requirements, the Tibetan Nuns Project seeks to elevate the educational standards and the position of women within the monastic community. To prepare the nuns for positions of leadership and moral authority in a culture that is going through a very challenging transition, it is essential to combine traditional religious studies with aspects of modern education.

Why Educating Tibetan Nuns Is So Important

It is a historic time for both Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan nuns.

Inside Tibet, nuns and monks are under constant surveillance and are unable to freely practice their religion. There’s a very great risk that the priceless wisdom and teachings of Tibetan Buddhism may be lost. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, “The Tibetan Buddhist philosophy is something precious which we can be proud of and should strive to preserve.”

It is also a time of opportunity for Buddhist women. Never before have Tibetan nuns been able to receive the same education and the chance to study and sit for the same degrees as their male monastic counterparts, Tibetan monks.

For the first time in the history of Tibet, nuns can take the Geshema degree, roughly equivalent to a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhism. Our focus with the Tibetan Nuns Project has been on helping the nuns to gain the top degrees within their Tibetan Buddhist traditions, so that they could reach the same level of academic proficiency in those traditions as the monks. Our further hope is that they will go on to teach other nuns so that teachers do not always have to be monks.

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Senior nuns studying at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris

Learn about our Current Projects here and how you can sponsor a nun here.

The story of a Tibetan Buddhist nun

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This is the story of a Tibetan Buddhist nun living in exile in India. In August 2018 she is taking her final set of examinations for the Geshema degree. This highest degree, equivalent to a PhD in Tibetan Buddhism, was until very recently only open to men. To protect this nun’s privacy and the safety of her family still in Tibet, we have not used her name or the some of the details of her home.

I was born in 1968 in a village in eastern Tibet situated on the hillside of a thickly wooded valley. Above our village was our pastureland and further north there are rocky mountains. There were about 25 semi-nomadic families living in our village when I lived there.

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Traditional Tibetan prayer flags flutter in front of snow mountains.

Our winters are very cold, like all the other places in Tibet, but the summer temperatures are quite high. Crops like corn, peas, and wheat grow very well there. Our herd consisted of only yaks and dris (female yaks). We didn’t live on the mountains permanently like the nomads.

During the summer months, we stayed in small yak hair tents called masong pitched on the higher grasslands and, in the winter, we returned to the farm. All the village animals were tended by one designated person during the winter when there wasn’t much work to do. In summer, during the calving season, all the animal owners returned to the mountains and pitched their tents, where they remained for the entire summer.

My parents and three of my brothers still live at our home in Tibet. I am the only daughter. My youngest brother is a monk studying in a monastery in South India. I never went to school in Tibet. I spent my time at home tending the animals. There was work in the village, but I always chose to be up on the mountains with the animals.

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Nun’s bag and robe. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam

At age 18, I became a nun. In 1989, I joined a group of pilgrims from Lithang who were doing a prostration pilgrimage from Lithang to Lhasa to see the holy temple called the Jokhang.

[Note: A prostration pilgrimage is a form a Tibetan Buddhist worship in which the person stretches out full length on the ground, marks the spot where her or his fingertips reach, and stands and steps forward to that spot, then prostrates again. Through prostrations, Tibetan Buddhists seek to purify the body, speech, and mind, freeing oneself from delusions, negativity, and any bad karma. It is a form of spiritual devotion and mental training that, like other forms of Buddhist practice, was banned by the Chinese during the Cultural Revolution. The large group of over 150 Tibetan Buddhist nuns and monks who undertook this pilgrimage from Lithang to Lhasa performed prostrations for the entire distance – about 1,200-miles. Here’s a short video showing a Tibetan Buddhist nun and a lay person prostrating in Lhasa.]

Lithang is about two days by car from my home. I was with the group from the very beginning of the pilgrimage. We gathered at Lithang and then prostrated eastward to Menyak to see the famous Pai-lhakhang, the temple dedicated to Palden Lhamo, the guardian deity of Tibet.

We returned to Lithang after six months and then made our journey towards Lhasa. The pilgrimage took us almost two years to complete. On the way, I learned to read and write Tibetan. We prostrated during the day and in the evenings we studied by the light of oil lamps and candles. It was a hard pilgrimage. We couldn’t do the whole distance from Lithang to Lhasa by prostrations because the group became too large after a time and it was impossible for such a large group to keep moving. So we would stop at a few places for months, do a number of prostrations, and then move again until we reached Lhasa.

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This nun was one of this large group of pilgrims from Lithang who did prostrations for over two years. When they escaped from Tibet and arrived in India, there was no space at existing nunneries to accommodate them. The Tibetan Nuns Project cared for them and other nuns and eventually built two new nunneries, Dolma Ling and Shugsep.

At Lhasa, we could not enter the holy city because there was trouble in the Tibetan capital at the time and the Chinese were fearful of the attention such a large group might attract. We were instead diverted to southern Tibet to another holy city, Shigatse. From Shigatse, we went on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. At Kailash, Yonton Phuntsok Rinpoche [a lama from Kham and the leader of the pilgrimage] decided to leave for India, and I, along with many other monks and nuns, followed him into exile. He made all the arrangements for our escape and we didn’t have to do much. We came to Dharamsala via Nepal and have remained in Dharamsala ever since.

[A note about the escape from Tibet: Like most Tibetans, this group escaped on foot over the Himalayas to Nepal. It took the group 27 or 28 days to make this harrowing journey into exile. The group was ill equipped and was forced to hide during the day and walk at night in order to avoid detection. Once in Nepal, they went to the Tibetan Reception Center at Kathmandu for medical care and to register as refugees. Now the border is heavily patrolled and freedom of movement inside Tibet is severely restricted, so it is virtually impossible for Tibetans to escape.]

The Tibetan Nuns Project took care of us from the very beginning. I saw Dolma Ling Nunnery come alive from barren land into becoming this popular center of learning where people flock to get a place. All the nuns who were with me on the pilgrimage are also at Dolma Ling. The study course here is for 19 years and I have now completed all 19 years of Buddhist philosophical studies.

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Four nuns and a small tent on the empty plot of land where Dolma Ling Nunnery was built. The nunnery is now home to about 250 nuns.

At Dolma Ling we have a computer room. Nuns who received training from overseas volunteers with support from the Tibetan Nuns Project then taught us and there are many nuns who are interested in learning. I have learned basic computer skills for many years now and I feel so proud.

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Computer training for Tibetan nuns by volunteer, Harald Weichhart, 2009.

I feel so privileged to be a part of this institute, and I am thankful to everyone who made this possible for us. I am happy here, and Dolma Ling will be my home for many years to come.

Behind the Camera: Showcasing Nuns’ Media Team Photos

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The Nuns’ Media Team at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala in northern India is a special group of women. They tell stories through photos and stories matter.

Traditionally Tibetan Buddhist nuns have been a quiet and faint presence in the world. They have had little or no opportunity to tell their own stories or document their own lives. Now the nuns, through the Nuns’ Media Team, are increasingly able to share their own news and images.

In this blog, we’d like to showcase some of the photographs taken by the Nuns’ Media Team and tell you about an exciting new project to provide cameras to all 7 nunneries that we support.

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The Nuns’ Media Team is able to capture intimate portraits like this one of two nuns reading Tibetan.

The nuns who form the Nuns’ Media Team initially received training from overseas volunteers. As they are empowered and gain in skills, they are also less reliant on non-Tibetan photographers.

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The Nuns’ Media Team captured this candid shot of a tug of war during celebrations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday. It was a rare opportunity for the nuns to take a break from their studies and nunnery chores.

Now they are now passing on their knowledge to other nuns. Venerable Delek Yangdron, the supervisor of the Nuns’ Media Team, has trained several nuns in still and video photography, in interview techniques, and in cutting and editing footage to make videos. The nuns have already produced a series of videos on life at Dolma Ling, the Tibetan Nuns Project, and Shugsep Nunnery.

This atmospheric shot of nuns lighting butter lamps at Dolma Ling Nunnery was taken by the Nuns’ Media Team. Over time they have developed their skills in taking photographs in low-light conditions.

While we at the Tibetan Nuns Project are extremely grateful to the many photographers who have shared their images with us, we know that these volunteers can only visit the nunneries for short periods, and that they can never truly have the access and understanding that Tibetan Buddhist nuns themselves can have to nunnery life.

These smiling faces of nuns wearing knitted items donated by Wool-Aid were captured by the Nuns’ Media Team. The nuns are able to capture relaxed portraits like these.

One professional photographer said this about empowering diverse communities with cameras: “Indeed, the beauty behind documentary photography doesn’t reside in the taking of the images, but in the access and the depth with which you can document a phenomenon or a subject.”

The Nuns’ Media Team is in a unique position to document life at the nunnery. Here the nuns of Dolma Ling undertake the big task of cleaning the pond reservoir.

Currently the nuns write, edit, and publish their own annual magazine in Tibetan and also supply photographs for the annual Tibetan Nuns Project calendar that is an income earner for all of the nunneries. These are both achievements to be proud of given than so many nuns were illiterate on arrival in India.

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Tibetan nuns are able to capture with respect scenes like this in the prayer hall at Dolma Ling Nunnery. Photo by the Nuns’ Media Team

One of our board members, Robin Groth, has generously offered to match gifts up to a total of $1,000 towards the Media Equipment Project to provide all 7 nunneries with a camera.

Robin Groth says, “I spent my career as a broadcast journalist and documentary producer, telling stories of people’s lives, and witnessing historical events. Now I can help the nuns give voice to their own stories of survival, hope, educational equality, and empowerment. What a joy to be part of a project enabling the nuns to record, preserve, and share their culture and accomplishments with the world.”

Sometimes members of the Nuns’ Media Team are able to travel to other nunneries and capture images there, like of these nuns debating at Geden Choeling Nunnery in Dharamsala. We hope we can provide each nunnery with a camera.

Look for photos from the nuns on our new Tibetan Nuns Project Instagram account.

Poster showing the Nuns’ Media Team based at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

Tibetan photographer with a compassionate eye: Delek Yangdron

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Venerable Delek Yangdron is one of the most senior nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India. She arrived in India the winter of 1990 as part of the first group to join the newly founded nunnery. Almost illiterate on arrival, she began her education in Buddhist studies and is now the leader of the nuns’ Media Team and is a skilled photographer and videographer.

Her determination and story of academic and professional success are inspiring.

Venerable Delek Yangdron’s path to academic and professional success has been long and difficult. She now heads the Media Team of nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India.

Delek Yangdron was born in Lithang in the eastern Tibetan province of Kham, surrounded by open grasslands and snow-capped mountains. Born into a nomad family, she helped care for the family’s animals, moving the livestock in search of better pastures. Sadly, her father passed away when she was just seven and her mother died in 2000. During her time at home in Tibet, Delek Yangdron never had the opportunity to go to school or to study.

In the late 1980s, a lama from Kham, Yonten Phuntsok Rinpoche, decided to organize a special pilgrimage from Parlhakang in Kham all the way to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Delek Yangdron joined the group of over 150 pilgrims. Continue reading →