Tibetan Buddhist Holidays in 2022

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Here is a list of some of the major Tibetan Buddhist holidays in 2022, as well as some other important dates in the Tibetan calendar.

Each year, the Tibetan Nuns Project publishes a calendar with the Tibetan Buddhist holidays and other important ritual dates, plus the phases of the moon, inspirational quotes, and major US and Canadian holidays. This beautiful 2022 calendar is available from our online store, along with prayer flags, incense, malas and much more. By purchasing the calendar, you help provide education, food, shelter, and health care for over 800 Tibetan Buddhist nuns living in northern India. Thank you!

March 3, 2022: Losar, Tibetan New Year

Tibetan Buddhist nuns, Tibetan butter sculpture, Losar, Tibetan New Year

Tibetan Buddhist nuns make butter sculptures for Losar Tibetan New Year 2020. Photo by the Dolma Ling Nuns’ Media Team.

Losar, the Tibetan New Year, is a very special time of year. In 2022, Tibetan New Year or Losar falls on March 3rd and is the start of year of the Water Tiger, 2149. In the traditional Tibetan calendar, each year is associated with an animal, an element, and a number. The year of the Water Tiger ends on February 20, 2023 and the year of the Water Hare, 2150, begins the following day.

Tibetan Buddhist nun, prayer flags, hanging prayer flags

It is customary to hang new prayer flags and to burn incense at Tibetan New Year. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam

The animals in the Tibetan calendar are somewhat like those in the Chinese zodiac and are in the following order: Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar. The five elements are in this order: Wood, Fire, Earth, Iron, and Water.

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 or room from top to bottom.

Nuns at Dolma Ling making khapse biscuits for Losar. These deep-fried Tibetan cookies in different shapes and sizes are a staple of Tibetan New Year’s celebrations everywhere. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns, 2020.

After that, the Losar or “new year” is welcomed with prayers and by inviting all good, auspicious things into our homes and our lives. Special food is prepared such as khapse and a noodle soup called guthuk. See this recipe for vegetarian guthuk. Tibetans hang new prayer flags and also burn incense and juniper bows to welcome the new year.

March 10 and March 12: Tibetan Uprising Day

March 10th, Dharamsala, March 10th, March 10th demonstration, Tibetan nun, Tibetan Nuns Project, Tibetan Uprising Day

Nuns, monks, and lay people hold Tibetan flags and banners as they take part in a demonstration in Dharamsala, India to mark March 10th, Tibetan Uprising Day. Photo courtesy of the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

While not a Tibetan Buddhist holiday, March 10th is a very important date in the Tibetan calendar. This year marks the 63rd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising. Around the world, Tibetans and their supporters remember and pay tribute to all those who have sacrificed their lives for Tibet’s struggle. An estimated one million Tibetans have perished and 98% of monasteries and nunneries were destroyed under the Chinese occupation.

In 1950, Chinese Communist forces invaded Tibet. On March 10, 1959, Tibetans attempted to take back their country with an uprising in Lhasa. The protests were crushed with brutal force.

March 12th, 2022 marks the 63rd anniversary of the Tibetan Women’s Uprising. Following the National Uprising Day on March 10th, thousands of Tibetan women gathered in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa to demonstrate for Tibetan independence.

Read this blog post to learn more about these important dates and why Tibetans are in exile.

June 14, 2022: Saga Dawa Düchen

The most important month in the Tibetan calendar is Saga Dawa, the 4th lunar month which in 2022 runs from May 31st to June 29th. The 15th day of this lunar month, the full moon day is called Saga Dawa Düchen. Düchen means “great occasion” and this day is the single most holy day of the year for Tibetan Buddhists. In 2022, Saga Dawa Düchen falls on June 14th.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns, Saga Dawa, reading words of the Buddha

Every year, during the month of Saga Dawa, over a period of several days, the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery read the entire Tibetan Buddhist canon or Kangyur, the 108 volumes of the spoken words of the Buddha. Over the past two years, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the nuns had to observe physical distancing while reciting. Photo courtesy of the Nuns’ Media Team.

Saga Dawa Düchen commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of Buddha Shakyamuni. In other Buddhist traditions, this occasion is known as Vesak or is sometimes called Buddha Day.

Saga Dawa is known as the month of merits. Tibetan Buddhists make extra efforts to practice more generosity, virtue, and compassion to accumulate greater merit. Tibetans believe that during this month, the merits of one’s actions are multiplied. On the 15th day of the month, the merits of one’s actions are hugely increased.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns reading the kangyur for Saga Dawa

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling read the Kangyur, the spoken words of the Buddha, during the hoy month of Saga Dawa in 2021. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns

Over the past two years, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the nuns had to adapt their regular celebrations and rituals for Saga Dawa.

July 13, 2022: Universal Prayer Day

As on other auspicious occasions, such as Tibetan New Year and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday, nuns burn fragrant juniper boughs. Photo by the Dolma Ling Nuns’ Media Team

Universal Prayer Day or Dzam Ling Chi Sang falls on the 15th day of the 5th month of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, so in June or July. It is a time for spiritual cleansing. Tibetans hang prayer flags and burn juniper twigs.

July 6: His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Birthday

Around the world, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6th will be celebrated with happiness and prayers for his good health and long life. This year, His Holiness the Dalai Lama turns 87. The nuns will pray and make special offerings of tsok, khataks (prayer scarves), and sangsol (incense offering) to His Holiness. It’s a day of celebration with special food, such as Tibetan momos, the steamed savory dumplings that are much loved by Tibetans around the world and that are often made on Tibetan Buddhist holidays.

August 1, 2022: Buddha’s First Teaching

Called Chokhor Düchen, this important day falls on the fourth day of the sixth lunar month. This day is the third “great occasion” (düchen) in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar. It celebrates the first teaching by the historical Buddha, named Siddhartha at birth and commonly known as Shakyamuni Buddha.

On this day, over 2,500 years ago, the Buddha gave the teaching of the Four Noble Truths in Sarnath, shortly after attaining enlightenment in Bodhgaya. This event is known as the “turning of the wheel of dharma”. In Theravada traditions, this event is remembered on Dhamma Day, also known as Asalha Puja, and is generally marked on the full moon of the eighth lunar month. To celebrate Chokhor Düchen, Tibetan Buddhists make pilgrimages to holy places, offer incense, and hang prayer flags.

November 15, 2022: Buddha’s Descent from Heaven

Tibetan Buddhist nuns, Tibetan Buddhist holidays, praying, Olivier Adam, Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhist nuns praying. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.

Another “great occasion” or düchen in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar is Lhabab Düchen. This date commemorates the Buddha’s descent from the heavenly realm following his visit there to teach his deceased mother. Lhabab Düchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month, according to the Tibetan calendar.

On this day, the karmic effects of our actions are multiplied millions of times. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, people engage in virtuous activities and prayer to gain merit and to mark this special occasion.

February 21, 2023: Losar (Tibetan New Year)

butter sculptures, Losar, Tibetan Buddhist holidays, Tibetan New Year, offerings, Tibetan Nuns Project

Butter sculptures and offerings made by the Tibetan nuns for Losar, Tibetan New Year.

Losar in 2023 falls on February 21st and will be the Year of the Water Hare, 2150 according to the Tibetan calendar.

Tibetan Buddhist Holidays in 2022 and the Tibetan Nuns Project Calendar

It is still possible to order copies of our 2022 Tibetan Nuns Project calendar. It’s a great way to keep track of the Tibetan Buddhist holidays and all the special events throughout the year. The calendar includes the dates of the Tibetan lunar calendar, .important Tibetan holidays, and special ritual days for Tibetan Buddhist practices. The cost is $12 plus shipping and your purchase helps support over 800 Tibetan Buddhist nuns and 7 nunneries in India.

Update on Life at Sherab Choeling Nunnery in 2021

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Despite the pandemic, the nuns at Sherab Choeling Nunnery have all been well and the academic year has gone smoothly. They recently send these photos and an update on life there. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored a nun at Sherab Choeling! We hope you enjoy this post about daily life at this remote nunnery.

Fresh snow on the mountains above Sherab Choeling Nunnery in Spiti. The nuns took this photo on October 21st, 2021 and it also shows the newly paved road leading up to the nunnery. The road enhancement was done by government.

Sherab Choeling Nunnery in the Spiti Valley of northern India is one of the seven Tibetan Buddhist nunneries supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project. It is a non-sectarian nunnery that recognizes the beauty and value in all Buddhist traditions.

The nuns’ daily routine is to have prayer sessions in the morning, followed by regular classes and internal debate sessions. Nunnery kitchen and cleaning duties are shuffled amongst the nuns.

Currently 62 nuns live there. The youngest nun at the nunnery is around 13 while the eldest nuns are in their 60s.

The nuns practice debating in the sun-filled corridor of the nunnery. Learning traditional monastic debate is an essential component of working towards higher academic degrees, such as the Geshema degree, equivalent to a PhD in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.

The nunnery is very secluded and lies in the village of Morang at 4,000 meters altitude. It was built in 1995 by 20 nuns and their teacher to address the problem of the inadequate education of women in the region.

mealtime at Sherab Choeling Nunnery, update from Sherab Choeling
Traditionally women in this region have suffered from many social and educational disadvantages. Many have been deprived of any kind of education, and this institute is the first in Spiti to provide women with the opportunity to overcome these disadvantages.

One of the nuns on kitchen duty cooks flatbreads on the stove that also serves to help heat the room. The nuns have a simple vegetarian diet.

Many young girls seek admission to Sherab Choeling, but due to lack of facilities and sponsors, it is not possible for all to gain entrance. The Tibetan Nuns Project helps by raising awareness, finding sponsors for the nuns, and helping them to fundraise for the further development of the institute.

The nuns at follow a 17-year study program. The curriculum is designed to educate the nuns in Buddhist philosophy, meditation, Tibetan language and literature, plus a basic education in English, Hindi, and math. The broad education is intended to provide the nuns with necessary skills to educate future generations of nuns and the communities from which they come.

A Tibetan Buddhist nuns makes what looks like tea and tsampa (roasted barley flour) using an improvised whisk made of thin sticks.

The senior most nuns are in Uma class. The nunnery’s two philosophy teachers have been very encouraging to the nuns and and have been telling them to prepare themselves mentally to achieve the Geshema degree.

update from Sherab Choeling Nunnery

The nuns have a simple vegetarian diet and grow some of their own food. The nuns have three female cows which are cared for by the nuns. They now have three greenhouses and had a good crop this year of radishes and spinach. Since the greenhouses are so successful, two nuns each from Pin Nunnery and Khowang Nunnery came to Sherab Choling to learn how to grow vegetables and take care of the greenhouse.

Also this year, the nuns set up an underground water tank to irrigate their fields. In 2019 there were reports of a water crisis in the Spiti Valley from inadequate snowfall and retreating glaciers. Lakes, ponds, and streams that once helped irrigate fields are drying up.

Nuns lining up for a simple meal at Sherab Choeling Nunnery.

Morning prayers by the light of solar lamps at Sherab Choeling Nunnery. The nuns are making the Mandala Offering Mudra, a complex sacred hand gesture that is a symbolic offering of the entire universe for the benefit of all sentient beings.

New Buddha statue at Sherab Choeling Nunnery 2021

The nuns are very grateful to Shaptung Rinpoche who sponsored the cost of making a seven-foot Lord Buddha statue for Sherab Choeling. It was from Tso Pema and the nuns were able to get it moved to the nunnery in October 2021. The statue is now in the big hall which is being painted and will be used in future as a simple community prayer hall.

first snowfall at Sherab Choeling Nunnery

First snowfall this season at Sherab Choeling Nunnery. The photo was taken by the nuns in the early morning on October 21st, 2021.

Daily life at Sherab Choeling Nunnery in Spiti

The nuns share chores. Spiti is a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas in north-eastern part of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The name “Spiti” means “the middle land”, that is the land between Tibet and India.

If you are interested in seeing more photos of life at Sherab Choeling Nunnery you can see these blog posts:
Slideshows and Updates from all the Tibetan Buddhist Nunneries
Daily Life at Sherab Choeling Nunnery in Spiti Valley India
Life at a remote Tibetan Buddhist Nunnery in Spiti [with photos and audio of chanting]

A little goes a long way

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A little goes a long way to help Tibetan Buddhist nuns in India.

In this blog post, we want to share with you the cost of basic food items at the largest nunnery we support in India so that you can see the impact of your support. In this blog, we take you inside the kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to 347 nuns plus staff.

Rice

Rice is a staple food for the nuns in all the Tibetan Buddhist nunneries we support in India. One of the most common meals for Tibetans in exile is rice and dal. This simple dish is nutritious and inexpensive. A huge bag of rice costs 640 Indian rupees or just under $9. Each day at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, the nuns use about 1.5 bags of rice to feed close to 400 nuns and staff.

$12/day feeds rice to 350 nuns

A nun on kitchen duty at Dolma Ling checks rice. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Flour

Flour, like rice, is used daily at the nunneries to make bread, noodles, and steamed buns. An 88 pound (40 kg) bag of flour costs just over $12 and is enough to feed over 300 people.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns in kitchen using flour Brian Harris copy

This summer, donors kindly helped the nuns at the two largest nunneries we support, Dolma Ling and Shugsep, purchase dough-making machines. Until now, the nuns would have to knead dough by hand.

$12/day provides 350 nuns with flour

Potatoes

All the nunneries have a vegetarian diet and potatoes are important staple food. Just a small monthly donation to the Tibetan Nuns Project feeds hundreds of nuns in a day. For instance, a 110 lb (50 kg) bag of potatoes costs just $14 and will feed a lot of nuns. We are extremely grateful to everyone who sponsors a nun and also to those donors who give monthly at any amount they choose. As you see, even $5 a month helps feed hundreds of nuns.

$14 buys 110 lbs of potatoes

cost of food, Tibetan Buddhist nun at Dolma Ling peeling potatoes, cost of basic food items, peeling potatoes

A nun on kitchen duty at Dolma Ling Nunnery pauses from peeling potatoes. There are about 350 nuns at the nunnery so that means a lot of peeling! Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

Onions

Some Buddhists follow a strict diet that avoids aliums including onions, garlic, and chives. However, Tibetan Buddhists do use onions and garlic in their cooking, especially in exile in India and Nepal. A 55 lb bag of onions (25 kg) costs $10.

$10 buys 55 lbs of onions

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute chopping onions ⓒ Robin Groth

With COVID, the nuns have not been shopping in the same way as before because it was unsafe to go to the market. Instead, during the lockdown times, they had supplies such as vegetables delivered to the gates of the nunnery where they would be sanitized and then stored in the storage room shown below.

cost of basic food, vegetables in storeroom at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute copy

Vegetables in the storeroom at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in India. The nunnery is home to about 350 Tibetan Buddhist nuns and they have a vegetarian diet, so lots of vegetables are needed.

Thank you again for helping the nuns!

a little goes a long way, Dolma Ling Nunnery

Bags of vegetables outside the gate of Dolma Ling Nunnery during the COVID lockdown in 2020

Dorjee Zong Nunnery in Zanskar: Construction and Bus

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Dorjee Zong, An Ancient High-Altitude Nunnery

Dorjee Zong Nunnery is one of the oldest centers in pursuit of monastic education in Zanskar, an arid, high-altitude region of northern India. Founded in the 14th century, it has a long tradition of meditating nuns, some famed for reaching high levels of realization and attainment.

Young girls studying at Dorjee Zong Nunnery photo by Olivier Adam copy

Photo of young girls studying in the single old classroom at Dorjee Zong. The girls and women from this area have traditionally been given far less education than boys and men and were often removed from school as early as Grade 4 if they were sent to school at all. The nunnery gives them a chance for an education that they would not have otherwise. Photo by Olivier Adam

The Tibetan Nuns Project accepted the nunnery into its sponsorship program in 2009. Until recently, the buildings at this 700-year-old nunnery were very basic. There was just one classroom and one main building that was used for everything.

Dorjee Zong Nunnery Zanskar by Olivier Adam

In the past, the nuns at Dorjee Zong did not have the opportunity to engage in rigorous philosophical studies, but their education program is improving. This photo courtesy of Olivier Adam was taken before the expansion project started in 2019.

Dorjee Zong is now going through an exciting transition and major construction project thanks to generous donors. In 2019 building began on:

A nunnery school with seven classrooms to accommodate 50 students
A new housing block
A new kitchen, dining hall, and storeroom
A prayer hall
An office block
New toilet and bathroom building

Construction Continues During Pandemic

The project is nearing completion. Despite the pandemic, this summer work continued on the construction of the new buildings, including the housing blocks, the kitchen, the classrooms and so on.

Expansion project Dorjee Zong Nunnery Zanskar summer 2021

The multi-purpose two-story building has 10 rooms to provide accommodation for 50 students. It contains the kitchen, dining hall, storeroom on the ground floor and, on the upper floor, the prayer hall and a conference hall. Notice the newly added traditional wooden window frames.

In the summer of 2021, 20 workers were employed on the project. Although the construction season at this altitude is very short, there was a lot of work done including:

Plastering of the exterior and interior second story of the main building
Carpentry work for the dining hall, kitchen, classroom, library, and prayer hall
Making cupboards, chairs, tables, and little study tables for the young nuns
Plumbing for the kitchen and bathrooms
Windows for the classroom, staffroom, and second story

Construction at Dorjee Zong Nunnery 2021, Report on Dorjee Zong

The old nunnery buildings can be seen in the distance. At this altitude, the construction season is short.

New School Bus In Action

In 2019, generous donors funded the purchase of a school bus to enable the young nuns at Dorjee Zong to continue their education. The nuns needed a school bus to make the 12-mile round-trip journey to the government school to continue their education beyond Grade 5.

Here’s a photo of the new school bus in action. As you can see, it has a capacity of about 20 seats so serves not only the nuns but also other girls. This is important in a region where girls traditionally have little access to education.

The bus is providing a wonderful service not just for the nuns but also for young girls going to and from school. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the Indian schools were closed for some time. Now they are open again and the nuns are going back and forth to school using the bus.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the expansion project and the bus!

Armchair travel to seven nunneries

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Where Your Gifts Help

Your generosity supports over 800 nuns in 7 different nunneries in northern India from all religious orders of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

ibetan Nuns Project nunneries, Tibetan Buddhist nunneries in India

Map showing the 6 nunneries and one nuns’ college in India where your donations to the Tibetan Nuns Project support nuns.

Traditionally, Buddhist nuns have not had the same access to education as monks. The Tibetan Nuns Project aims to elevate the educational standards and the position of women.

The majority of Tibetan Buddhist nuns left Tibet because of the repressive political situation. In the 1980s and 1990s in particular, a steady stream of nuns arrived in Dharamsala in the Himalayan region of northern India seeking refuge. These brave and dedicated women wished only to live, study, practice, and teach in accordance with their spiritual beliefs. Ranging in age from early teens to mid-80s, the nuns came from all parts of Tibet and from many different backgrounds.

Your support also helps women from the remote and impoverished border areas of India such as Ladakh, Zanskar, Spiti, and Arunachal Pradesh. Women and girls from these areas have traditionally been given far less education than men and boys. Your generosity gives them a chance for education. Finally, your donations also support some nuns who are not living in nunneries, but who prefer to live on their own. They are often older nuns interested in meditative retreat rather than in learning higher Buddhist philosophy.

Seven Tibetan Buddhist Nunneries in India

Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute is a non-sectarian nunnery that was built and is fully supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project. It was the first institute dedicated specifically to higher education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns from all traditions. The nunnery is now home to about 250 nuns and is a model educational institution.
Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

Shugsep Nunnery and Institute, of the Nyingma tradition, was built and fully supported by the Project, and traces its lineage back to some of the greatest female teachers in Tibetan Buddhism. Shugsep is home to about 100 nuns.

Shugsep Nunnery and Institute in Himachal Pradesh, Tibetan Buddhist nunneries

Geden Choeling Nunnery, of the Gelug tradition, is the oldest nunnery in Dharamsala and is home to about 200 nuns. It is located on the wooded slopes of McLeod Ganj in Upper Dharamsala. The nunnery had absorbed a steady stream of refugee nuns since 1975.

Geden Choelng Nunnery in Dharamsala, Tibetan Buddhist nunneries

Tilokpur Nunnery, of the Kagyu tradition, is home to about 100 nuns. Built near the cave of the great Indian yogi Tilopa, Tilokpur Nunnery (also known as Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling) overlooks a small town about 20 miles from Dharamsala. It was founded in 1966 by Mrs. Freda Bedi, a British nun who was ordained by the previous Karmapa.

Tilokpur Nunnery

Sakya College for Nuns is not a nunnery but a college for nuns. Home to about 50 nuns, it was inaugurated in 2009 in Mundawala near Dehradun. The college offers a full course of studies followed by the monks at Sakya College.

Sakya College for Nuns near Dehradun

Sherab Choeling Nunnery in a non-sectarian nunnery in the remote Spiti Valley. It has about 75 resident nuns who pursue a rigorous course of study, the first of its kind for women of that region.

Sherab Choeling Nunnery in Spiti

Dorjee Zong Nunnery in Zanskar is an ancient nunnery dating back to the 14th century. It has a long tradition of meditating nuns, some of who are famed for having reached high levels of realization and attainment. It is home to about 20 nuns. The nunnery is now going through a very important and exciting transition with a major construction project started in 2019 to build new classrooms, a housing block, kitchen, storerooms and more.

Dorjee Zong Nunnery in Zanskar

Other nuns and nunneries that we help include nuns not living in nunneries and nuns on retreat.

Happy Nuns in the Dolma Ling Kitchen

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Cooking for about 250 nuns a day is a challenge, especially during the pandemic. This spring, the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute asked for your help to buy an electric rice cooker, a dough-making machine, a refrigerator, and two new gas burners.

The kitchen equipment has arrived now and the nuns are happy because their daily tasks are safer and easier.

Helping the Nuns Cook Rice Safely

new electric rice cooker at Dolma Ling Nunnery

“We are very happy with the new rice cooker. Now we just have to wash the rice, put it in the rice cooker, add water, close the lid, and press the cook button. So easy and safe! We don’t have to worry about the hot rice water,” said one nun. It also saves on fuel costs and produces better, more nutritious rice.

Venerable Samten Dolma, the nun in charge of the kitchen this year, said, “Before, I had to check regularly to see if the rice was cooked perfectly or not. Now, with the new rice cooker, I don’t have to worry about rice being undercooked or soggy.”

Tibetan Buddhist nun cooking rice at Dolma Ling

“The rice is so delicious now and every time it is evenly cooked.” The new rice cooker can cook up to 77 pounds of rice safely and efficiently. The nuns eat rice every day, so it’s a huge help to them.

“Every day five nuns have to prepare a day’s meal,” said a nun on kitchen duty. “In the morning while preparing lunch, we used to have two nuns in charge of the rice and three nuns to cut and prepare the lunchtime vegetables. But now, with the rice cooker, it is so much easier. All five nuns can cut and prepare vegetables for lunch. While we eat our lunch, we can use the dough machine to prepare the dough for the evening. Now we have more time on our hands.”

With the old way of cooking rice, the nuns were always in danger of being scalded by the boiling water and steam. Detail of photo by Brian Harris.

Before the nuns got the rice cooker, it took a long time to cook rice in a huge caldron over one of the two large gas burners. When the rice was half cooked, the excess water had to be poured off – a very risky operation. It took two strong nuns to pick up the pot and carry it across the kitchen to the drain. This operation had to be done quickly and carefully to avoid scalding from the boiling water and losing the steam.

Having the new electric rice cooker means that the rice cooks more evenly and keeps more of its nutritional qualities so it is better for the nuns’ health.

The New Dough Maker

Each day the nuns on kitchen duty prepare traditional Tibetan bread and steamed buns for hundreds of nuns. Until now, the nuns had to mix the dough by hand which was very labor intensive and less hygienic than using a machine.

before and after, Tibetan Buddhist nuns using new dough machine

“The dough machine saves us a lot of time and energy! I never knew it was this easy to knead dough.” The nuns bought a 55-lb (25 kg) capacity dough maker. Before photos by Brian Harris; after photos by Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

On special occasions, the nuns make paratha (fried flatbreads) and khapse which are fried Tibetan biscuits. At Losar, Tibetan New Year, every member of the nunnery gets a large bag of khapse to celebrate Tibetan New Year so preparing large quantities is a great deal of work.

making dough, Dolma Ling Nunnery, inside the kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery

Before, as in this photo, the nuns had to knead dough by hand. Now mixing dough by machine takes only 15 to 20 minutes, so it is much easier to prepare multiple batches for bread, buns, and noodles. Normally the nuns up to 20 kg (44 pounds) of flour at a time.

New Refrigerator Saves Costs and Prevents Waste

Dolma Ling’s refrigerator was very old and broke down in the spring. Thanks to our supporters, the nuns were able to buy a new fridge in time to store food during the summer heat.

A nun shows the new refrigerator at Dolma Ling

When the old refrigerator broke down, you kindly helped the nuns buy a new one, just in time to keep food from spoiling during the intense summer heat. The temperature in the kitchen regularly reached 97 degrees.

The nuns follow a vegetarian diet. Without a fridge, vegetables, fruits, milk, butter, and tofu quickly rot. It is not possible for the nuns to get fresh supplies of everything daily so they need to buy for more than one day. They are happy to have the fridge to safely store perishable vegetables and fruit to avoid wastage and save money.

Without the fridge, they would be restricted in what they could buy and their diet would have been more monotonous. Especially during the pandemic, everyone looks forward to lunchtime. Now, the nuns can use different vegetables such as tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, and spinach which need to be kept chilled. With the new fridge, the nuns and staff are healthier and happier!

Thank you for your support!

Tibetan Butter Lamps

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It is good to offer Tibetan butter lamps whenever you feel there is a need for more light and hope in the world.

Offering butter lamps is deeply ingrained in the Tibetan tradition. Part of daily Tibetan practice, people light butter lamps for many occasions. It is common to offer butter lamps for those who have passed away or for those who are sick. Butter lamps are also lit for happy occasions like birthdays, marriages, and for one’s wishes to come true. Tibetans light butter lamps on sacred days in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, such as the 10th, 15th and 25th day of each lunar month, as well as during the holy month of Saga Dawa.

Tibetan butter lamps, offering butter lamps, lighting butter lamps

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

Tibetan butter lamps are a common feature of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries throughout the Himalayas. Traditionally, Tibetans used clarified butter from dri (female yaks), but in exile they use ghee.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns add ghee and cotton wicks to hundreds of Tibetan butter lamps in preparation for a puja for someone who is sick. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Usually during morning prayers, Tibetan families offer a butter lamp and water bowls as part of their household shrine or altar. Part of the symbolism of lighting butter lamps is to dispel darkness and ignorance. Buddhist teachings consider ignorance as the source of suffering in the world.

Offering Tibetan Butter Lamps

You don’t have to be a Buddhist to sponsor butter lamps or prayers by the Tibetan Buddhist nuns in India.

If you, someone you love or even strangers are suffering, you can pay for butter lamps to be lit or prayers to be said for them via the Tibetan Nuns Project. The cost to light 100 butter lamps is $10. There are many types of pujas which you can request from the nuns.

When requesting a puja or prayers from the Tibetan Nuns Project, please provide information about the purpose of the prayer and who they are for.

Tibetan nuns inside the butter lamp house at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute. The building in set apart from the rest of the nunnery to prevent fires. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris

Lighting butter lamps is a spiritual practice. The entire process is carried out in a meditative and devout manner. When you sponsor the lighting of butter lamps, you also earn merit for your generosity and compassion.

The Tara Puja

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Each Wednesday, more than two hundred Tibetan Buddhist nuns rise before dawn and perform the ritual practice of Tara. As do monastics at many nunneries and monasteries of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute pray to Tara help end the suffering all sentient beings and to aid them on their spiritual path.

Starting at 5:30 am and continuing for 90 minutes, the nuns perform a complex ritual focused on Tara, the female Buddha who embodies the wisdom and the compassion of all enlightened beings.

Here is a recording of the Tara puja made by Olivier Adam, a French photographer and supporter of the Tibetan Nuns Project, when he visited Dolma Ling. (Can’t hear the recording? Click here.)

The nuns perform the drolchok or Tara Puja on Wednesdays because it is considered an auspicious day for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

White Tara surrounded by mani stones. Tara is especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism and is known as the “mother of liberation”. Photo courtesy of Heather Wardle

Tara

Tara is believed to be a Bodhisattva of compassion and a protector who relieves physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. She is known as the “mother of liberation”. Her name in Tibetan is Dolma, “She who Liberates”.

When meditating on Tara, one seeks to develop and enhance inner qualities such as compassion (karuṇa), loving-kindness (maitri), and understanding of emptiness (shunyata).

Painting of Green Tara from Dolma Ling Nunnery. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Tara has a great many forms, in which she manifests in various colors. The main are Green Tara, White Tara, and Red Tara.

She is best known in her green form, associated with enlightened activity and abundance, and the best-known prayer to her is the Praises to the Twenty-One Forms of Tara. It is said that she herself revealed it to the great 11th century scholar and teacher, Atisha. He was about to leave on a journey to Tibet to share Buddhist teachings there, and it is said that she appeared to him and said that she would protect him on his journey and he should recite that prayer to protect himself from any difficulties or obstacles. That prayer in the centerpiece of the weekly Tara Ritual, in which it is recited 12 times at various points within the ritual.

Each of the twenty-one emanations of Tara has her own name, special attributes, and a specific mantra with which she is associated, offering protection from various types of fears, harm, and calamities.

The Tara mantra is Om tare tuttare ture svaha.

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, His Holiness the Dalai Lama advised people to chant the Green Tara mantra because it would be “beneficial for effectively containing the spread of the virus”. He has asked people suffering from the disease to chant the Tara mantra, Om tare tuttare ture svaha, to maintain peace of mind and remain free from worries.

Listen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama chanting the Tara Mantra.

H.H. Dalai Lama 尊者達賴喇嘛漢譯 · 度母心咒

The Praises to the Twenty-One Forms of Tara

Reciting the Praises to the Twenty-One Forms of Tara with devotion at any time of the day or night protects you from fear and dangers, and fulfils all your wishes, especially wishes on the spiritual path. Meditation on Tara feeds you with endless energy to continue on the path.

Here is an English translation of the Praises to the Twenty-One Forms of Tara.

The Praises to the Twenty-One Forms of Tara

OṂ Jetsunma, prostrations to exalted Tara!

1 Prostrations to Tara, swift and heroic, eyes like lightning, instantaneous,
Sprung from the opening petals of the Lord of the Three Worlds’ tear-born lotus.

2 Prostrations to Her, face as bright as the light of a hundred full moons of autumn,
Blazing with light resplendent of a constellations’ thousand stars.

3 Prostrations to Her, hand adorned with a gold-blue water-born lotus,
Giving, effort, discipline, peace, patience, and concentration Her sphere.

4 Prostrations to Her, crown ornament of the Tathāgatas who has achieved limitless victory
And is served by the Conquerors’ Offspring who have attained all the perfections.

5 Prostrations to Her, who fills the realms of desire, direction, and space with TUTTARA and HŪṂ,
Who pressing down with her foot on the seven worlds can summon all without exception.

6 Prostrations to Her, worshipped by Indra, Agni, Brahmā, Vāyu—by the many worldly Lords;
Before whom the hosts of spirits, corpse-raisers, gandharvas, and yakṣhas give praise.

7 Prostrations to Her who with TRAT and PHAṬ destroys foes’ harmful magic,
Pressing down with right leg bent and left extended, she blazes with raging fire.

8 Prostrations to TURE, terrifying one, destroyer of Māra’s warriors,
Lotus face displaying wrath, she slays all foes without remainder.

9 Prostrations to Her, fingers poised at her heart in the mudra of the Three Precious Jewels,
Her palm is adorned with a universal wheel whose fierce radiance fills all directions.

10 Prostrations to Her, spreading great joy with the rays of light that garland her crown,
Mirthful, laughing, with TUTTARA, she brings the worlds and demons under her sway.

11 Prostrations to Her, able to summon the entire host of earthly protectors;
Fiercely frowning, with the syllable HŪṂ she rescues from every misfortune.

12 Prostrations to Her, crown adorned with a crescent moon, all adornments blazing bright,
From Amitābha within her topknot, light rays always shine forth.

13 Prostrations to Her dwelling in the midst of a garland of flames like the fire at an aeon’s end,
Right leg out, left bent in, she destroys the encircling army of the foes of happiness.

14 Prostrations to Her who smites the earth with her palm and stamps it with her foot;
Displaying wrath, with the syllable HŪṂ she shatters the seven underworlds.

15 Prostrations to Her, blissful, virtuous, peaceful, her sphere is peace, nirvāṇa;
Her mantra graced with OṂ and SV H utterly destroys great wrongdoing.

16 Prostrations to Her who turns the wheel giving joy to those whose foes she destroys;
She liberates with the ten-syllable mantra and knowledge mantra with HŪṂ.

17 Prostrations Swift One, who stamps with her feet, whose seed is the syllable HŪṂ,
She causes Meru, Mandara, Vindhya and the three worlds, too, to shake.

18 Prostrations to Her, who holds in her hand the hare-marked moon shaped like a heavenly lake;
With twice-spoken TARA with the syllable PHEṬ, poisons are completely dispelled.

19 Prostrations to Her, served by the Kings of gods, by gods and kinnaras too;
With the armour of her joyful splendor she dispells conflicts and bad dreams.

20 Prostrations to Her, whose two eyes, the sun and full moon, illumine by their radiance;
With twice spoken HARA and TUTTARA she dispells pestilence and disease.

21 Prostrations to Her with the threefold suchness, perfectly endowed with the power to give peace;
She destroys the hosts of spirits, corpse-raisers and harmers, Oh TURE most sublime!

This is praise of the root mantra and is offered with twenty-one prostrations. (2x)

Tara Mantra OM TA-RE TUT-TA-RE TU-RE SVA-HA

How to request a Puja or Prayers

You don’t have to be a Buddhist to request prayers by the Tibetan nuns. You can ask the Tibetan Buddhist nuns to perform prayers and pujas on your behalf.

People around the world can sponsor pujas or prayers through the Tibetan Nuns Project website. Many people sponsor prayers in honor of loved ones, friends, family members, or even pets who may be suffering from obstacles, ill health, or who have passed away.

There are many different types of prayers or pujas to choose from. Full descriptions of each puja are available here.

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. All puja funds are sent to the nunneries. All funds are used to purchase puja supplies and to help the nuns and their nunneries.

Tara and the Tibetan Nuns Project Logo

The center of the Tibetan Nuns Project logo is made up of the seed syllables E (pronounced “ay”) and VAM, written in an ancient Sanskrit script, which symbolize wisdom and compassion. These are surrounded by a circle of 21 TAM, the seed syllable of Tara.

There are 21 because the 21 forms of Tara are one of her most popular manifestations. The nuns have a particular affinity for Tara, the feminine embodiment of compassion and are frequently asked by the Tibetan community to perform Tara rituals on their behalf.

Geshema Endowment Fund Launched

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The Tibetan Nuns Project has created a Geshema Endowment Fund to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the Geshema program.

The Geshema degree is the highest level of training in the Gelugpa tradition and is comparable to a doctorate in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This degree was only formally opened to women in 2012. To date, 44 nuns hold the Geshema degree.

Given the spike in coronavirus cases in India and Nepal, the Geshema Committee has decided to postpone this year’s exams from August 1st to October 1st. Photo of the 2019 Geshema exams courtesy of the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

This degree enables Tibetan Buddhist nuns to become teachers, leaders, and role models. It makes these dedicated women eligible to assume various leadership roles in their monastic and lay communities reserved for degree holders and hence previously not open to women.

At the conclusion of their 17-year course of study, the nuns must successfully complete a 4-year series of examinations in order to attain the Geshema degree. The examinations, held each year in late summer, take place over a one-month period.

The Geshema Endowment Fund will help cover the costs involved in training and qualifying more Geshemas. This includes the costs of travel, food, and accommodation for the Geshema candidates to attend the exams. The fund will also cover the cost of administration and materials for the exams, including hosting meetings, couriering exam materials, and providing each new Geshema with a set of nuns’ robes and yellow hat that signifies the holding of the degree.

Our fundraising goal this year is $100,000, but we hope to raise $200,000 for the final fund.

Please help enable more Tibetan Buddhist nuns to become Geshemas!

Make a gift online at tnp.org
Call our office in Seattle, US at 1-206-652-8901
Mail a check to The Tibetan Nuns Project (for the Geshema Endowment Fund)
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216, Seattle, WA 98134 USA
Give a gift of securities
Leave a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project

Geshema, Geshema degree, Geshema Endowment Fund

A Geshema holds the yellow hat that signifies her degree. Detail of photo by Olivier Adam.

Help Tibetan Buddhist Nuns Continue to Progress

With the goal in mind of educating and empowering nuns to become teachers and leaders, the Tibetan Nuns Project has fundraised for a number of years to endow the inter-nunnery debate session called the Jang Gonchoe. This annual event now brings together 400 to 600 nuns from 6 to 9 nunneries in India and Nepal for one month of intensive training in philosophical debate. The nuns debate key concepts from the philosophical texts they study as they progress towards the Geshema degree, the highest degree of their Tibetan Buddhist tradition. We have now been able to fully fund the Jang Gonchoe Endowment Fund, thereby ensuring that the annual inter-nunnery debate can continue for many years.

As the next step in helping the nuns reach the level of education they need to stand as equals with monks, we have created the Geshema Endowment Fund to ensure the future of the Geshema program.

On December 22, 2016, His Holiness the Dalai Lama awarded 20 Tibetan Buddhist nuns with Geshema degrees at a special graduation ceremony held at Drepung Monastery in Mundgod, South India. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.

“Educating women is powerful,” says Rinchen Khando Choegyal, Founding Director and Special Advisor to the Tibetan Nuns Project. “It’s not just about books. It is also about helping nuns acquire the skills they need to run their own institutions and create models for future success and expansion. It’s about enabling the nuns to be teachers in their own right and to take on leadership roles at a critical time in our nation’s history.”

“Humanity needs this gender equity if we are to navigate perilous times ahead,” says Steve Wilhelm, a Tibetan Nuns Project board member. “The fact that growing numbers of women are achieving equality with men in the highest levels of Buddhist monasticism, by earning the equivalent of doctorate degrees, is joyous and of enormous importance to the world.”

Tibetan Buddhist nuns are making history and you can help them on this path. Following further study and exams in Buddhist Tantric Studies, the Geshemas are becoming fully qualified as teachers. In 2019, two of the Geshemas who graduated in 2016 were hired as teachers at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute.

The Geshemas are also beginning to take on leadership roles in their communities once held only by men. In 2020, a Geshema made history when she was appointed to be an election commissioner for the Tibetan government-in-exile elections.

Thank you for supporting the Geshema Endowment Fund and enabling more nuns to attain this high level of education.

Some Facts About the Geshema Degree

The Geshema degree is 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.
Until recently, this highest degree could only be earned by monks.
In 2011, a German nun, Kelsang Wangmo, who spent 21 years training in India, became the first female to receive the Geshema title.
The historic decision to confer the Geshema degree to Tibetan Buddhist nuns was announced in 2012 by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Tibetan Administration, following a meeting of representatives from six major nunneries, Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, and the Tibetan Nuns Project.
Candidates for the Geshema degree are examined on the entirety of their 17-year course of study of the Five Great Canonical Texts.
To qualify to begin the Geshema process, nuns must score 75% or above in their studies to be eligible to sit for the Geshema exams.
On December 22, 2016, His Holiness the Dalai Lama awarded 20 Tibetan Buddhist nuns with Geshema degrees at a special graduation ceremony held at Drepung Monastery in Mundgod, South India.

Torrential monsoon rains and flash floods hit Dharamsala area

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Torrential monsoon rains hit Dharamsala in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh causing flash floods and devastation. Four of the seven nunneries supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project are in the area but the nuns and nunneries are safe: Geden Choeling Nunnery, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, Shugsep Nunnery and Institute and Tilokpur Nunnery.

The heavy rains which fell on July 12th are set to continue for the next several days and the India Meteorological Department has issued a Severe Rainfall Alert. Authorities have told tourists to avoid Himachal Pradesh due to the present situation.

Torrential monsoon rains and flash floods hit Dharamsala area

Dharamsala is the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile. Many Tibetan refugees live there and it is the site of many Tibetan Buddhist nunneries and monasteries.

Dramatic videos after a cloudburst in McLeod Ganj, upper Dharamsala, show several cars being swept away as muddy water rushed through the hillside town. The rains also damaged many buildings. The local airport in Gaggal cancelled all incoming flights.

The Nuns’ Media Team at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute have helped capture the situation through video and photographs. Here’s a video of the rains at Dolma Ling. (Can’t see the video? Click here.)

Dolma Ling Water Supply Damaged

The monsoon damaged the water channels and lines that provide 80% of Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute’s water. As the rains abated on July 13th, the nuns, staff, and teachers from Dolma Ling worked all day with local people on repairs. Without these channels the nunnery could face an acute water shortage. By the end of the day, the supply lines were fixed and the nunnery was able to access the water that they needed. Here’s another video. (Can’t see it, click here.)

We are extremely thankful to the late MN Ashish Ganju, architect of Dolma Ling, for his careful design of terraces and water channels. Our gratitude goes out to those who helped fund projects over the past five years aimed at preventing flooding and providing safe drinking water for both Dolma Ling and Shugsep nunneries. Without your support, the situation for both nunneries would be severe.

At present, the nuns are not in need of additional assistance, but if needed we will post projects on the Current Needs page of our website.

The nuns at Shugsep Nunnery and Institute are safe but the nunnery has had a power outage. The power went out on July 12th to the local area and may not be restored for a few days.

In Dharamsala, efforts are underway to clear up the blocked roadways and clogged streets after the mud gushed down the mountainsides.

The following news video shows flash floods and damage caused by the unusually heavy monsoon rains. (Can’t see the video? Click here.)