Did you know that you can visit the Tibetan Nuns Project website to request special prayers, also known as pujas, to be said by the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery in India on your behalf?

The nuns regularly perform a variety of pujas and also offer butter lamps for the benefit of others. People around the world can sponsor or request pujas in honor of a friend, family member, or even an animal who may be suffering from obstacles, ill health, or who has passed away.

This photo shows nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India saying sponsored prayers in 2013. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris

There are many different types of prayers or pujas to choose from, ranging from offering 100 butter lamps to the elaborate “Twenty-one Praises of Tara” which includes 100,000 recitations of the “Twenty-one Praises to Tara” prayer, renowned for removing obstacles and fulfilling wishes.

Tibetan nuns preparing ritual offerings for a special puja.

“I like sponsoring prayers through the Tibetan Nuns Project’s online shop,” says Heather, a donor from Canada. “When my friend’s son committed suicide after years of battling mental illness, I asked the nuns to say prayers for him. I chose the Four Hundred Offerings, said to be one of the most widely practiced ceremonies in Tibetan Buddhism and which is supposed to aid in untimely death. I know that the grieving relatives really appreciated the nuns saying prayers because they felt so helpless and the prayers gave them some comfort.”

You don’t have to be a Buddhist to sponsor prayers by the Tibetan nuns.

Tibetan nuns preparing a puja with butter lamps. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Offering butter lamps is deeply ingrained in the Tibetan tradition and sometimes as many as 10,000 are offered. Lamps may be offered for many occasions, such as when someone is starting a new venture, to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or graduation, to say thank you, or when you or someone you know is in trouble. It is good to offer butter lamps whenever you feel there is a need for more light in the world.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns lighting butter lamps. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris

When requesting a puja or prayers from the Tibetan Nuns Project please provide information about who the prayers are to be directed to and for what purpose.

The funds given to the nuns to sponsor pujas is used to purchase supplies and also helps to support the nunnery as a whole.

A gift of prayer is something very special. As soon as we receive your request for a puja or for the offering of butter lamps, we will send you a thank you message by email and, as soon as possible after that the nuns will send a confirmation note to you from India to let you know that the puja has been performed.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery offering prayers for someone’s health during a sponsored puja. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.