Please help provide crucial, long-term financial support for women pursuing advanced monastic degrees, such as the historic Geshema degree (a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy) and advanced Tantric studies.
The Need to Support Higher Studies for Nuns
The number of nuns pursing the highest degree in their tradition has more than tripled since 2019 and we need your help to cover the costs associated with the exams and higher study programs.
Ten years ago, in 2016, the first Tibetan Buddhist nuns earned their Geshema degrees. That historic occasion was a dream come true for the 20 pioneering nuns, most of whom were illiterate when they escaped from Tibet. The Geshema degree is the highest level of training in the Gelug tradition and is equivalent to a PhD in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.
Now, an increasing number of nuns in the Gelug tradition are seeking higher education. They are taking the rigorous four-year Geshema exams in record numbers, and many also wish to pursue post-graduate training in Tantric Buddhism as part of a program launched by the Tibetan Nuns Project in 2017.
As you can see from the chart, the number of nuns taking the four-year Geshema exams has increased dramatically. This is great! Unfortunately, it also means that the small fund we created in 2021 no longer covers the rising costs associated with higher studies, including food and transport.
Our goal is to build up the Higher Studies Fund so that both the Geshema exam process AND the Tantric Studies program are self-sustaining. Please support the Higher Studies Fund, a quasi-endowment that will support Tibetan Buddhist nuns who wish to become Geshemas, teachers, and leaders and to preserve their religion, culture, and language.
Can you help?
This spring, a record number of Geshemas from India and Nepal enrolled in the Tantric Study Program. Thirty-four of them are from nunneries outside Dharamsala and must be fed and housed at Dolma Ling for the approximately 1-year program.
The Higher Studies Fund will support the annual Geshema exams and graduation and also provide food for the nuns and transportation from their home nunneries from across India and Nepal.
Please enable Tibetan Nuns to Pursue Higher Studies!
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 Advanced Education)
- Donate securities
- Leave a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project
In February 2026, 13 Geshemas who graduated from the 2025 Tantric Studies program had an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Tantric Studies program was launched in 2017, but we need funds to support it.
Twenty-five years ago, in 2001, our Founding Director, Rinchen Khando Choegyal, wrote, “Upon arriving in Dharamsala, 99% of the nuns could neither read nor write. They appeared to be strong young women, but in the classroom it was as if they were in kindergarten… Eventually I hope that the Dolma Ling Institute for Higher Learning will be a place where both nuns and lay women can receive the finest advanced studies in all of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions.”
In November 2025, a record 47 Tibetan Buddhist nuns graduated as Geshemas. We need your help to enable Geshemas, now and in the future, to do advanced education in Tantric Studies so that they can be fully qualified masters capable of teaching their complete tradition.
Through higher studies, Tibetan Buddhist nuns can become fully qualified teachers of their traditions and help preserve Tibet’s rich religion and culture.
Thanks to your support, we have come a long way! Please help put the advanced studies program based at Dolma Ling on secure footing for the future.