The new retreat center at Shugsep Nunnery and Institute is built, but we need your help to furnish it. The completed retreat center will elevate aspirations, set higher standards, and strengthen the confidence of the next generation of nuns.
Will you help the nuns purchase beds, mattresses, tables, chairs, and kitchen equipment so the senior nuns can begin their retreats? Your gift, no matter the size, will make a difference — please give today. For instance, a wooden bed costs $100 and a mattress costs $82.
Once furnished, for the first time in its history in exile, the nunnery will have a purpose-built facility where senior nuns can enter long-term retreat within their own community. This achievement provides continuity for the nuns’ path of teaching while fortifying the belief that their years of rigorous training culminate in meaningful opportunities for spiritual growth and integration.
The retreat center makes visible a clear path of progression: from study to retreat to teaching. This opportunity was previously limited because retreats had to be undertaken elsewhere. A lasting impact is the inspiration provided to younger nuns.
The most enduring benefit is the strengthening of teaching capacity within the nunnery. Many of the nuns who will use the retreat center are holders of the Loponma degree, the highest degree in their tradition. Following their retreats, they will be fully qualified to guide junior nuns and contribute to the wider community. This creates a sustainable cycle of study, retreat, and teaching that secures Shugsep’s role as a respected Nyingma institution.
Please help furnish the Shugsep Retreat Center!
To help you can:
- Make a gift online
- Call our office in Seattle, U.S. at 1-206-652-890
- Mail a check to The Tibetan Nuns Project, 815 Seattle Boulevard South #418, Seattle, WA 98134 U.S. (note that it is for the furniture for the retreat center)
- Donate securities
- Leave a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project.
Here is a video made by the nuns explaining the importance of practicing retreat.
The completed retreat centre provides accommodation for up to eight nuns at a time. Each of the eight self-contained rooms has been designed to meet the practical and spiritual needs of the nuns. They include a private toilet and washroom, storage space, a small kitchenette counter, and sufficient room for both study and prostrations, which are an integral part of their daily practice.
Shugsep Nunnery was re-established in India after many nuns escaped from Tibet. The senior nuns are the teachers and leaders of the future and need a place where they can practice retreat.
In addition to the individual retreat rooms, the building contains a communal prayer hall where nuns in retreat can gather periodically for group prayer, teachings, and guidance from visiting teachers. A kitchen cum dining hall provides space for nuns to warm food provided by the nunnery kitchen and to make light meals and tea. A dining table and chairs will be provided, allowing the nuns to eat together if they wish.