Category Archives: News and Updates

Inauguration of Retreat Huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

On November 10 2014, the eight new retreat huts built at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala, India were inaugurated. The nuns sent the following photos of the special occasion.

Inauguration retreat huts Dolma Ling 2014

Nuns and monks holding white ceremonial khataks during the inauguration of the retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, November 10th 2014. Photo: Tibetan Nuns Project

The construction of the huts was completed thanks to the generous support of Tibetan Nuns Project donors and to the hard work of the nuns themselves who helped to build, furnish and landscape the huts.

Retreats are a core part of Buddhist practice and these huts will allow the nuns to develop their own insight and knowledge in complete privacy. This is the first time that retreat facilities have been available at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to over 230 nuns.

Each hut consists of a simple room with a bathroom and kitchen area. They are each furnished with a bed, a storage cupboard, a table, a prostration board, provisions for the small kitchen area and supplies for the small bathroom. One solar panel per hut provides light, power and warm water so that the huts are sustainable and ecologically sound.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns building the retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

The Tibetan Nuns Project would like to thank the following supporters for their acts of acts of kindness and generosity in helping the nuns with the construction and completion of the huts: Anne, Arline, Barbara, Bob, Brett, Carmela, Catherine, Chan, Charles, Chris, Cindy, Daina, Darlene, Deborah, DeeAnn, Diane, Elizabeth, Frederick, Freya, Garner, George, Jean, Jennifer, Jill, Joan, Joe and Beth, Judith, Judyth, Julia, Julie, Katherine, Kim, Laura, Lavinia, Leah, Linda Lee, Linwood, Lynn, Martha, Mary, Nancy, Oliver, Patricia, Pauline, Philippa, Raymond, Richard, Rick, Sandra, Scott, Shirley, Stephanie, Susanna, Takashi, Ted, Thomas, Timberly, Toni, Virginia, Wilbur, and Zuzana.

The meaning of the Tibetan Nuns Project logo

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The Tibetan Nuns Project logo is made up of the syllables E (pronounced “ay” as in “day”) and VAM, written in an ancient Sanskrit script and surrounded by a circle of twenty-one syllables TAM.

E and VAM are seed syllables that symbolize the two essentials needed for enlightenment— wisdom and method, emptiness and compassion, the feminine and the masculine.

Although this essential pairing is expressed in many forms throughout the tradition, E and VAM have a particularly strong and explicit link to the feminine and masculine. Thus we chose them because we are working primarily with women, working to strengthen the feminine, but within a context in which the development, balance, and harmony of both the feminine and the masculine is essential. Wisdom and compassion are the two wings of the bird flying to enlightenment, and without both, fully developed and perfectly balanced, enlightenment is not possible.

Through the online store, the Tibetan Nuns Project sells hoodies with the TNP logo. They are available in 5 sizes from small to XXL and in three colors, forest green, maroon, and black.

The seed syllables E and VAM are surrounded by a circle of twenty-one TAM, the seed syllable of Tara, the feminine embodiment of compassion, twenty-one because the twenty-one forms of Tara are one of her most popular manifestions. The nuns have a particular affinity for Tara and are frequently asked by the Tibetan community to perform Tara rituals on their behalf.

The Tibetan for Tara is “Dolma”, and thus “Dolma Ling”, the name of our main undertaking, the Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, means “Place of Tara”.

Visit our online store to see our hoodies available in three colors and two styles with logo large on the back and small on the front.

Giving thanks: What our supporters say about the Tibetan Nuns Project

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Through our online survey many people from around the world have shared their stories about how they learned about the Tibetan Nuns Project. They’ve also told us why the nuns and the Tibetan Nuns Project are important in their lives.

5 Tibetan Buddhist nuns hold a thank you sign in Tibetan and English We are so grateful to everyone who have shared their thoughts and ideas with us. Many of you have given us permission to share your words with a wider audience.

So today, in honor of US Thanksgiving, we give thanks to all our supporters around the world and share a small selection of their stories and words of kindness.

Sue in Alaska wrote: “My husband and I have been very pleased with the Tibetan Nuns Project as an organization over the years… We were fortunate to be able to travel to Dharamsala in 2006 with the Tibetan Nuns Project. It was an extraordinary trip and being able to meet the nun we had been sponsoring for over 8 years was an awesome experience. She showed us her room at the old Shugsep Nunnery and we shared photos from our home in Alaska with her. We really appreciated the work that TNP did to make the trip possible. In December 2010, we returned to Dharamsala for the inauguration of the new Shugsep Nunnery, presided over by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It was for us a once-in-a-life time experience. I support the Tibetan Nuns Project because my husband and I have seen the incredible work that TNP has done to benefit the nuns and the larger Tibetan refugee community of India. With a modest number of staff, TNP has accomplished so much, including the beautiful new nunneries of Dolma Ling and Shugsep.” Continue reading →

Buddhist Nuns Participate in Tibetan Handicrafts Exhibition

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The tailoring program at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute received a big boost in July when the nuns were invited to show their handicrafts at a special two-day Art and Craft’s Exhibition organized by the Department of Education of the Central Tibetan Administration.

No other nunneries and monasteries were invited to the exhibition that took place on July 25th and 26th.

Kalon Lobsang Sangay speaking to Tibetan Buddhist nun

The Chief guest at the exhibition was Kalon Lobsang Sangay who was very impressed by the display. He spoke encouragingly to the nuns.

The exhibition was organized to introduce traditional Tibetan crafts to 25 teachers and students from 9 different schools located in Himachal Pradesh, Dehradun and Nepal. The Dolma Ling Nunnery Product Manager, Mr. Tenzin Yanga, and two nuns from the tailoring section attended the exhibition. Continue reading →

Tibetan Nuns in India Close to Earning Highest Buddhist Degrees

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A group of Tibetan nuns have passed the halfway mark toward a historic milestone: winning the equivalent of a Buddhist doctorate degree, until recently almost exclusively reserved only for men.

In May, 22 nuns passed through the second stage of examinations for a “Geshema” degree, the female equivalent of a Geshe degree. The examination process began in May, 2013.

Three senior nuns awaiting their turns to debate during the 2014 Geshema examinations

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2015 Calendar from Tibetan Nuns Project now available

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September is always an exciting time of year at the Tibetan Nuns Project office in Seattle because it’s the month when our annual wall calendar comes from the printer.

The Tibetan Nuns Project has been selling beautiful charity calendars for many years to raise funds to support over 700 Tibetan Buddhist nuns living in India at 7 nunneries.

Proceeds from the sale of the 2015 calendar will help provide food, shelter, health care and education to the nuns.

The 2015 calendar is filled with stunning images of Tibetan life and culture all taken by the nuns. It also includes:

inspirational quotes
the Tibetan lunar calendar
Tibetan Buddhist ritual dates
phases of the moon
major US and Canadian holidays

All the photos were taken by the nuns in India. Dimension 6.5″ x 7″. Price $11.00

The calendar is available for purchase through our online store or by check from our Seattle office at:

Tibetan Nuns Project
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216
Seattle, WA 98134
Phone: (206) 652-8901
info@tnp.org

Please help us sell all 2,000 calendars by purchasing them as gifts for friends, family and teachers. We would be very grateful if you could also spread the word to your networks.

These calendars give back each and every day and bring happiness to you and the nuns.

Postcard from Dharamsala – Geshema exams, Sagadawa and more

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Here’s the latest news from Dharamsala:

Tibetan Buddhist nuns sitting round 2 of Geshema exams The second round of the Geshema Examinations was held at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute from May 1-16, 2014. 23 nuns sat the 2nd year exam, while 6 sat the 1st year exam. The results were released on July 6, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Birthday. We are very happy to announce that most of the nuns did very well in their exams; only three nuns failed, one from the 2nd year group and two from 1st year group.

Sagadawa, which is considered a holy month, fell this year from June 13 – July 12. Three events in the life of Lord Buddha took place within this holy month, his birth, enlightenment, and demise. If we practice good deeds during this time period, we consider we will earn more merit than usual, so everybody puts their effort into doing some wholesome activities. In the nunneries, they do special Nyungne (fasting retreat) and in some they read the full 108 volumes of the Kangyur (teachings of Lord Buddha) over a number of days. Most observe the specific practice for ordained people of not eating dinner during that month. Continue reading →

Video of Losar at a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery

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The Tibetan New Year – Losar – is a very special time of year. This year, 2014, the first day of fell on March 2nd which, by the Tibetan calendar, is the first day of the Wood Horse Year of 2141.

Losar Video

Losar-related rituals fall into two distinct parts. First, the nuns like all Tibetans, say goodbye to the old year and let go of all its negative or bad aspects. Part of this involves cleaning one’s home from top to bottom. After that, the “new year” or Losar is welcomed, with prayers and by inviting all good, auspicious things into our homes and our lives.

Here’s a Losar video showing preparations and celebrations at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala, northern India with photos taken by the nuns themselves. The nunnery is home to over 230 nuns. Enjoy and Happy Losar!

Celebrating Losar at a Buddhist Nunnery

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Losar, or Tibetan New Year, falls this year on March 2nd 2014 and is the start of the Wood Horse Year, which is year 2141 in the Tibetan lunar calendar.

Happy Losar card - nuns hanging prayer flags by Olivier Adam

Photo of nuns hanging prayer flags courtesy of Olivier Adam

This year will be the first time in many years that Losar celebrations will take place at Tibetan exile communities and at Dolma Ling Nunnery near Dharamsala, India and other nunneries.

Since 2008 and the unrest in Tibet, many of the Tibetan settlements, monasteries and nunneries in India have not been celebrating Losar. With many Tibetans self-immolating for the cause in Tibet, Tibetans in exile have joined together in prayers, but have not followed traditional Losar celebrations.

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2013 Milestone: Geshema Exams for the Tibetan Nuns

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May 2013 marked the beginning of the first ever Geshema examinations. After years of rigorous study, 27 nuns from 5 nunneries – 6 from Jangchub Choeling, 7 from Jamyang Choeling, 2 from Geden Choeling, 2 from Khacho Gakyiling (Kopan) and 10 from Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute – gathered at Jamyang Choeling near Dharamsala, India, to complete the first round of a four-year examination process.

The nuns were tested on a variety of areas of study, including the Perfection of Wisdom, the Middle Way, and other subjects such as Tibetan grammar and science through both written examination and demonstration of their debating skills.

In July, just in time for the celebrations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday, the examination results for the first round of examinations were released with the very good news that 25 of the 27 candidates successfully passed the first round. If these nuns can continue to successfully demonstrate their knowledge over the next three years, they will be awarded the prestigious Geshema degree.

The Geshema degree will be the highest degree in Buddhist philosophy for nuns. A basic requirement for the nuns to take the exams is to have completed the full 17-year course of study with average marks of 75% or higher.

The opportunity to take the examinations to earn this degree has been made available especially by the continuous support of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the dedication of the nuns, and the Department of Religion and Culture of the Kasur Rinchen Khando la meeting with the nuns Central Tibetan Administration. The Tibetan Nuns Project and its supporters have also played a significant role in making this landmark achievement possible, working over the past 25 years to increase the educational level of the nuns.

low res Yangdron_Delek_2013_05_GeshemeExam_19 copy

Rinchen Khando Choegyal, the founder of the Tibetan Nuns Project, addresses the nuns at the Geshema exams.

The higher-level educational opportunities that nuns have today were not always available, creating a gap between the education of monks and nuns. The Tibetan Nuns Project has worked to close this gap and prepare the nuns to demonstrate their skills and learning. The debating practice that nuns undertake daily, as well as at the annual Jang Gönchoe inter-nunnery debate, have been highly beneficial to the nuns, expanding their understanding of the Buddhist philosophical texts and allowing them to develop the debating skills that are tested during the Geshema exams.

Congratulations to all the nuns who have successfully completed the first round of exams!

Established in 1987, the Tibetan Nuns Project provides education and support to more than 700 nuns in northern India.