Tag Archives: Dolma Ling Nunnery

Progress on our 2015 Wish List for the nuns

This spring we reached out to our supporters around the world with our Wish List of special projects that need funding in 2015.

We’ve had a wonderful response so far and we wanted to update you on our progress with the various projects and programs to help the nuns.

New Truck for Shugsep Nunnery

Thanks to Andrea in Albuquerque, Lorena in Roanoke and about 20 other donors, we have raised all the funds needed to replace the nunnery’s old pick-up truck which had broken down. It was so old that there were no longer parts readily available and the brakes did not work. Shugsep Nunnery will now have a new, 4-seat pick-up truck with plenty of space to transport groceries and vegetables from the market, as well as other heavy materials. It will also be used to take nuns to hospital in case of medical emergencies.
FULLY FUNDED!

Kitchen Extension for Dolma Ling Nunnery

Thanks to our generous supporters, especially Kent and Marsha in Charlottesville, the Saint Paul Foundation and Lisa in California, work is well underway for the new kitchen extension for Dolma Ling Nunnery. The number of nuns and staff that must be fed daily at the nunnery has more than tripled since the kitchen was first built in 1993. The extension will increase the size of the kitchen by 750 square feet and will also allow the nuns to move the solar panels and water tanks to its flat roof, thereby solving leaks and maintenance issues. We look forward to sharing more news and photos of the kitchen extension soon.
FULLY FUNDED!

Bike for India Office

This is a new item on our 2015 Wish List. Our headquarters is located at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in the foothills of the Himalayas about 10 miles on hilly roads from the main town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. It’s a challenge to get from A to B and the office is facing transportation problems. We would very much appreciate donations to help us purchase a simple, low-cost Indian-made motorcycle that would enable the Tibetan Nuns Project staff to accomplish their many official tasks.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: US $1,420

Truck for Dolma Ling

Dolma Ling Nunnery is home to over 230 nuns and the nunnery needs a small, multi-purpose pickup truck to manage their daily tasks. The nuns must travel often for supplies and hiring or renting private cars or taxis for these regular shopping errands is expensive and impractical. The nuns will use the pickup to get food and vegetables from the market, to transport supplies for their many self-sufficiency projects and for various heavy-load materials. This kind of vehicle is more useful and safer than a normal rented car. Without a proper pickup truck with ample space and weight in the back, the steep hills of the area are dangerous and difficult.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: US $10,500

Funds for Teachers’ Salaries

Each year the Tibetan Nuns Project seeks to fund 15 teachers at different nunneries. The cost of one teacher’s salary ranges from $1500 to $5000 per year, depending on the location of the nunnery in India and the skills of the teacher. Our special thanks to Janice in Menlo Park for her support of teachers’ salaries.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: US $2,844
Donate to Teachers’ Salaries Fund

Nunnery Maintenance and Renovations

Since the Tibetan Nuns Project was founded in 1987, we have established two important nunneries in India, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute and Shugsep Nunnery and Institute, both of which will have major anniversaries this year — 10 years and 5 years respectively. Maintenance and upkeep of the nunneries is critical in the demanding climate of northern India. By keeping buildings in good condition we can help avoid costly repairs in future. Our maintenance fund will help pay for things such as painting which must be done every 3 to 5 years and roof repairs.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: $10,340
Donate to the Maintenance Fund

Inter-Nunnery Debate Scholarships

This September marks the 20th anniversary of the annual inter-nunnery debate, the Jang Gonchoe. Until 1995, the Jang Gonchoe was only open to monks. Now the inter-nunnery debate provides a very important learning opportunity for the nuns and helps them to prepare for higher degrees and leadership roles.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: $14,190
Provide scholarships to the Jang Gonchoe

Jang Gonchoe Endowment

Last year we created a special endowment to support the annual inter-nunnery debate, the Jang Gonchoe, in perpetuity. We received an initial gift of $35,000 from a nun living in France. A gift to the Jang Gonchoe Endowment Fund will help to preserve the Tibetan culture and open up a centuries-old tradition to the nuns, enabling and empowering them to become great teachers in their own right. The benefit of this is inestimable and will be an enduring legacy for generations to come.
AMOUNT STILL NEEDED: $238,000
Donate to the Jang Gonchoe Endowment

Sponsors for Individual Nuns

Thank you to all our new and existing sponsors! Sponsorship remains the heart of our work. We still need many more sponsors. If you’re already a sponsor, perhaps you would consider increasing the amount you are giving or supporting an additional nun. If you are not yet a sponsor, would you consider becoming one today? The cost for sponsorship is US $30 a month. Another option is to gather a group of friends, family, colleagues or sangha members and sponsor a nun together. Click here for sponsorship.

Monthly Donors

It is now possible to make recurring gifts through our website using your credit card or direct debit. Even a modest gift of $5 or $10 a month would help educate, feed, clothe and provide health care for the nuns in India.
Become a regular donor

Creating Legacies

A special way that you can help generations of future nuns is by including a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project. If enough of our committed supporters are able to make these very special gifts then the nuns and nunneries will be able to thrive and grow well into the future, even in the uncertain situation of living as refugees in a foreign land. As one donor has said, “A donation to this cause benefits beyond helping just the nuns… it benefits the Tibetan culture, it benefits refugees from Tibet, it benefits education for women, it benefits the Buddhist religion and community and all of this spreads like a ripple of compassion for others beyond that community. This is not charity; it is an investment in humanity.” To learn how you can leave a legacy of compassion please email info@tnp.org or call us at 206-652-8901.

Thank you for your kindness, compassion and dedication to the nuns!

Breaking News: Third Round Geshema Exam Results Are In

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The much-anticipated Geshema Exam results have just arrived. The results have been sent to the respective nunneries and have been announced to all the nuns.

The third round of Geshema Examinations took place from May 1-12, 2015 at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod in southern India. 37 Tibetan nuns took part in this round of examinations split as: Continue reading →

Tibetan nuns celebrate His Holiness’s 80th birthday

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday on July 6th was celebrated by Tibetans all over the world with great excitement and prayers for his good health and long life.

Nuns offering prayer scarves to portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

At Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to over 230 nuns, the day started at 6 am with everyone — the nuns, teachers and all the staff — seated in the prayer hall at 6 for tsok and offerings of khataks (prayer scarves) to His Holiness.

At 7 am they had sangsol (incense offering) after which breakfast was served in the nuns’ dining hall.

After this everyone enjoyed the morning playing outdoor games such as a relay race, a tug-of-war between different groups of nuns, staff, and teachers, a game musical chairs, a sack race and other competitions and games such as the bursting of a balloon tied on another person’s ankle.

For lunch a beautiful vegetarian meal was served. This was then followed by a open quiz competition in philosophy, general knowledge, English and Tibetan. The person with the correct answer was given a surprise gift.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns playing musical chairs as part of the day of celebration for His Holiness’s birthday.

All around the courtyard area we could see nuns and staff enjoying games such as badminton, cricket, and football.

Judging the annual flower competition on July 2nd, Universal Prayer Day

Dinner which was served at 7pm and the winner of the annual flower competition, held on July 2nd, was called and given her prize. On July 2nd, Universal Prayer Day, the old debate courtyard at the nunnery was filled with beautiful potted flowers placed in-front of portraits of His Holiness. Scoring for the competition was done by the teachers.

After dinner everyone gathered together and the nuns showcased little dramas that they had prepared for the occasion and then the floor was open to anyone to show their talent.

flower competition by Buddhist nuns

New tofu machine up and running at Dolma Ling Nunnery

Nuns making Tibetan momos with video

Generous gift enables Tibetan nuns to open café

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We have good news from Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India.

Thanks to the generosity and support of donors, in particular one very special donor from Santa Monica, California, the Tibetan Nuns Project and the nunnery have been able to complete the construction and furnishing of a small café to be operated as an income-generating enterprise by the nunnery.

Inside the new nuns’ cafe at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

The nuns are delighted. This café fulfills a long-time wish of the nuns.

In April 2015 the nuns opened the new café and is fully operated by the nuns. The surrounding area will be carefully landscaped to enable people to sit out in the sunshine.

Entrance to the new cafe

Of all the various income-generating programs introduced at Dolma Ling Nunnery, the nuns most enjoy cooking and preparing food. Over many years, the nuns frequently requested help to establish a small café or restaurant. In the past, they had run a successful little restaurant out of their storeroom, but it was an inadequate space without proper hygienic facilities and was therefore not viable in the long term. That room was then turned into a thriving little shop selling goods made by the nuns and small, essential items for the nuns and people in the surrounding community.

In late 2013, the Tibetan Nuns Project put out a call for support for the café kitchen and equipment and in 2014, Julia from Santa Monica came forward and expressed her deep wish to help the nuns in this way.

The nuns want to have a little café for many reasons. One of them is that local children and visitors were buying packaged chips and other snacks from the nuns’ shop. These snacks were not good for their health or for the environment because the packaging created a great deal of non-biodegradable waste. The nuns were keen to greatly reduce the use of packaged snacks and to replace them with wholesome food cooked with care by the nuns themselves.

Being able to serve fresh, nutritious food and avoid packaging and garbage was an important wish of the nuns.

Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute is a non-sectarian Tibetan Buddhist nunnery that was inaugurated in 2005 and is now home to over 230 nuns. The nunnery has various income-generating projects, such as the new café, the annual Tibetan Nuns Project calendar, the making and sale of tofu, and the sale of products made by the nuns through both their own little shop and the Tibetan Nuns Project online store.

Customers dining at the new cafe run by the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery.

Tibetan freedom bracelets

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Tibetan freedom bracelets have been a popular item in the Tibetan Nuns Project online store for many years.

Freedom or rangzen bracelets were first made by Tibetan political prisoners near Lhasa. In prison, they were woven from white and black yak hair or from whatever bits of thread were available. Their pattern of “nine eyes” has a deep historical significance. The design is based on the traditional slingshot used by Tibetan shepherds and nomads to protect their herds from wolves.

Traditional Tibetan sling

So the sling came to symbolize the conquering power of good over evil. Over time, the people of Tibet took up the idea so that even city dwellers owned slings as a sort of protective force. They were kept in a yang-gam, a small box that contained precious stones, gold, silver, and blessed objects. It was believed that owning a sling heightened your defensive power and would make you victorious.

Continue reading →

Tibetan Losar Prayers and Ceremonies in Dharamsala

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This is a guest post about Tibetan Losar celebrations at two Buddhist nunneries in India by Dominique Butet and with photos by Olivier Adam.

Last month, on 19 February 2015, my partner Olivier Adam and I participated in the ceremonies for Tibetan New Year or Losar at Geden Choeling Nunnery in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala in northern India.

In the very early morning, at 3:30 a.m., the 135 nuns of the nunnery were already sitting in the temple, beginning their Losar puja or prayers with great dedication.

We shared cups of traditional Tibetan salty butter tea with the nuns. Then two nuns brought the offering of tsampa (roasted barley flour) around to everyone so that we could celebrate the start of the new year by throwing tsampa into the air and wishing everyone “Losar Tashi Delek” (Happy New Year) with pure, joyful smiles.

Two nuns carry a chamar bo, an open, decorated box with one half filled with chamar, made of roasted barley flour or tsampa and the other half filled with roasted barley. People are invited to take a pinch of the chemar then offer a blessing with three waves of the hand in the air, then taking a nibble. Photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.

Inside the temple, the sound of the prayers grew to fill the entire space and the nuns’ voices were accompanied by bells and Tibetan hand drums (damaru). We were each served sweet rice with dry fruits, followed by a delicious tsampa soup served with all sorts of nuts and dates. Just as sweet tea was brought to the temple, we were also each given the authentic khapse, the deep-fried pastries served at Losar. They come in all sizes, but the ones we were given looked like two big open ears! (You can learn more about khapse by reading this Tibetan Nuns Project blog about these New Year’s cookies.) Continue reading →

Tibetan New Year Cookies or Khapse

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A special part of any Tibetan New Year or Losar celebration is the eating of khapse, deep fried Tibetan cookies. This blog post will give you a glimpse of Dolma Ling Nunnery in India and the some of the preparations by the nuns for Losar. In the days leading up to Losar, the Tibetan nuns, like Tibetan lay people all over the world, will be working hard to prepare large batches of these crispy cookies.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery in northern India making khapse for Tibetan New Year. Photo from the Tibetan Nuns Project 2014.

Khapse (or khapsay) means literally “mouth-eat” and they are a staple of Tibetan New Year’s celebrations everywhere. While these biscuits are made for other celebrations as well, such as weddings and religious events such as the enthronement of a lama, it’s at Tibetan New Year that they are ubiquitous.

Nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery making khapse for Tibetan New Year 2014

The dough for the khapse is usually made with flour, eggs, butter and sugar. It is then rolled out and made into different shapes and sizes. The most common shape is the small twisted rectangular pieces which are served to guests.

Tibetan khapse ready for frying. This shape is made by cutting the dough into a narrow rectangle and then making a slit in the middle. Then one side of the khapse is pulled through.

Larger and more elaborate shapes are made as well, including the so-called Donkey Ears or bhungue amcho (also known as khugo). These are large elongated hollow tubes of crispy pastry that are stacked up on the Losar altar as both a food offering and as a decoration. Strings of dried Tibetan cheese are draped over the top.

Stacks of a special type of khapse made by the nuns decorate the Losar altar at Dolma Ling Nunnery in northern India. Photo from the Tibetan Nuns Project 2014.

Traditionally, khapse would be deep fried in butter or mustard oil, but in exile the nuns use corn oil. The deep frying give the cookies their distinctive light brown or yellow color.

Inside the nunnery kitchen at Dolma Ling, the nuns fry large batches of khapse in big vats of hot oil.

You can make khapse at home. For a recipe for Tibetan khapse, visit our friends at YoWangdu Tibetan Culture. Happy Losar!

Daughters of Buddha Etsy campaign with photographs of nuns

Q: Why did you start this Etsy campaign ?

A: On August 2014, an exhibition of my photographs “Tibetan Nuns – Resistance and Compassion” opened at the Museum für Völkerkunde in Hamburg, Germany. During the exhibition the museum has been selling postcards and fine art prints of my images. I had the idea to expand this opportunity in an online store to get a bigger audience for these wonderful nuns and to bring wider support to Tibetan Nuns Project.

Olivier Adam and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Photo of French photographer Olivier Adam showing his exhibition “”Tibetan Nuns – Resistance and Compassion” to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in August 2014 in Hamburg. Photo courtesy of Manuel Bauer.

The exhibition was visited and blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his teachings in Hamburg in August and has now been extended until February 2015. It was such a precious moment in my life to have a few minutes with His Holiness Dalai Lama to explain this long-term project. Continue reading →