Shugsep Nunnery and Institute inaugurated in 2010 is one of two large nunneries built and fully supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project.

The nunnery is a dream come true for the nuns, many of whom came from the original Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet.  The nuns risked their lives fleeing their homeland to seek sanctuary in India. They wished for nothing more than to live, study, practice, and teach in accordance with their spiritual beliefs.

This is a video made in 2006 that tells the story of Shugsep Nunnery.
Can’t see the video? Click here.

See our Current Needs at Shugsep Nunnery

Oppression and Escape

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet was completely destroyed and the nuns were ordered to leave. Although the nunnery was partially rebuilt in the 1980s by the nuns themselves, the nuns faced constant harassment by Chinese authorities.

In 1987, many of the Shugsep took part in peaceful demonstrations in Lhasa calling for religious freedom and basic human rights. As a result, they were expelled from the nunnery. Many of the nuns were imprisoned and tortured.

In the early 1990s, many nuns from Shugsep Nunnery fled Tibet seeking freedom and a safe place to practice their religion.

Their escape was perilous and difficult and they faced frostbite, starvation, and arrest. They trekked through the snow-covered Himalayas for about 17 days to Nepal and then finally sought refuge in Dharamsala.

One nun describes her journey to freedom after almost three years of imprisonment and torture in Tibet:

Fearing for our lives, we walked for one month in the mountains. We were weak and sick. We were without food for days. By divine grace, we met some Western tourists trekking with a Nepalese porter. They gave us food and clothing and treated our frostbite. On the roadside, we found four Tibetans who had died from the cold: a boy, a monk, a lady, and a soldier. We carried their valuables to give as offerings at the temple in Dharamsala, as they would have wanted.

The Story of Shugsep

Shugsep Nunnery and Institute follows the Nyingma school of Buddhism and traces its rituals and practice to some of the most illustrious female practitioners in Tibetan history, including one of the most famous teachers of her time, Shugsep Jetsun (1852-1953).

The late Tibetan scholar, Lobsang Lhalungpa, visited Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet in the early 1940s and met Shugsep Jetsun. He wrote, “She was an extraordinary woman, small in stature, with a serene face radiating compassion and sensitivity… In her presence we felt an awesome power that permeated our whole stream of being… Her teachings and blessings have given me inner strength and inspiration ever since. To me she was the personification of the great woman teachers of Tibet.”

In the main temple at Shugsep Nunnery in India the nuns have special items belonging to Shugsep Jetsun, including her hat.

The Rebirth of Shugsep Nunnery in India

Shugsep Nunnery was re-established in northern India near Dharamsala and is now home to about 100 Tibetan Buddhist nuns.

After fleeing to India, the Shugsep nuns wished to remain together to maintain the unique Nyingma traditions of Shugsep. At the time, there were almost no facilities for the nuns in exile and they were forced to camp by the side of the road. The Tibetan Women’s Association stepped in to look after them. Then the Tibetan Nuns Project, with wonderful support from donors, took responsibility for their long-term care and support.

The Shugsep nuns, together with other escapee nuns, were temporarily housed in two buildings in Gambir Ganj on the hillside below McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala. They had no beds and few blankets. The kitchen was set up outdoors, and they shared one cold-water spigot among them. Thanks to the sponsorship of Tibetan Nuns Project donors and the Tibetan Women’s Association, conditions steadily improved.

The Tibetan Nuns Project was able to purchase for the nuns the small piece of land with two small buildings where they had been living on the outskirts of Dharamsala. Initially there were plans to enlarge their facilities there, but that proved impossible. So a new piece of land a half hour below Dharamsala was acquired.

Construction of the new nunnery began in 2003. The Tibetan Nuns Project had been fundraising for the rebuilding project for a number of years. Once construction began, a major donor stepped up and promised to support the project through to its completion, and so the building project moved ahead steadily.

In May 2008, 58 Shugsep nuns moved into the completed first phase of their new nunnery which included a housing wing, 5 classrooms, a library, lecture hall, dining hall, and kitchen. Phase 2 of the creation of Shugsep Nunnery in India included the building of two further housing wings, a prayer hall, an office, a clinic, the solar shower facility, and a guesthouse. This was completed in 2010.

Shugsep Nunnery Today: A Place of Refuge and Education

The majority of the nuns studying in Shugsep Nunnery in Dharamsala came from the original Shugsep. In Tibet they had little education. For decades, the nuns at Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet were primarily engaged in learning scriptures and meditation and lived the aesthetic life of hermits in caves on the hillside.

By contrast, Shugsep Nunnery in India offers the nuns a 9-year academic program of Buddhist philosophy, debate, Tibetan language, and English. Thanks to Tibetan Nuns Project supporters, the nuns now have a safe place to practice their religion, access to education, and the opportunity preserve their unique Nyingma traditions.

Take a guided tour of Shugsep Nunnery today with this video made in October 2017, courtesy of Dustin Kujawski in October 2017. Can’t see the video? Click here.

We have a number of projects that we need help with at the nunnery.