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Inauguration of Retreat Huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

On November 10 2014, the eight new retreat huts built at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala, India were inaugurated. The nuns sent the following photos of the special occasion.

Inauguration retreat huts Dolma Ling 2014

Nuns and monks holding white ceremonial khataks during the inauguration of the retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, November 10th 2014. Photo: Tibetan Nuns Project

The construction of the huts was completed thanks to the generous support of Tibetan Nuns Project donors and to the hard work of the nuns themselves who helped to build, furnish and landscape the huts.

Retreats are a core part of Buddhist practice and these huts will allow the nuns to develop their own insight and knowledge in complete privacy. This is the first time that retreat facilities have been available at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to over 230 nuns.

Each hut consists of a simple room with a bathroom and kitchen area. They are each furnished with a bed, a storage cupboard, a table, a prostration board, provisions for the small kitchen area and supplies for the small bathroom. One solar panel per hut provides light, power and warm water so that the huts are sustainable and ecologically sound.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns building the retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

Tibetan Buddhist nuns building the retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

The Tibetan Nuns Project would like to thank the following supporters for their acts of acts of kindness and generosity in helping the nuns with the construction and completion of the huts: Anne, Arline, Barbara, Bob, Brett, Carmela, Catherine, Chan, Charles, Chris, Cindy, Daina, Darlene, Deborah, DeeAnn, Diane, Elizabeth, Frederick, Freya, Garner, George, Jean, Jennifer, Jill, Joan, Joe and Beth, Judith, Judyth, Julia, Julie, Katherine, Kim, Laura, Lavinia, Leah, Linda Lee, Linwood, Lynn, Martha, Mary, Nancy, Oliver, Patricia, Pauline, Philippa, Raymond, Richard, Rick, Sandra, Scott, Shirley, Stephanie, Susanna, Takashi, Ted, Thomas, Timberly, Toni, Virginia, Wilbur, and Zuzana.

A Message from the Directors of the Tibetan Nuns Project

5 Tibetan Buddhist nuns hold a thank you sign in Tibetan and EnglishThank you for being a supporter of the Tibetan Nuns Project.

You are part of a community of compassionate people who care deeply about providing equal access to education for ordained Buddhist women, about the Dharma, and about preserving Tibet’s unique culture.

We wanted to share with you some of our achievements this year that you’ve helped make possible:

  • 23 nuns reached an historic milestone when they sat the first part of the Geshema exam in May, like a PhD in Tibetan Buddhism;
  • 8 retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery have been built and furnished. Now, for the first time, the nuns of Dolma Ling can go on retreat;
  • Over 400 nuns from 8 nunneries in India and Nepal have participated in the month-long Jang Gonchoe debate session in October, a special step in their learning;
  • Over 700 nuns living in exile have been provided with food, shelter, education and health care.

We still need your help urgently.

Within Tibet the situation is truly dire. There is no real freedom for the nuns there to practice their religion. They, like their sisters in India, wish nothing more than to live, study, practice, and teach in accordance with their spiritual beliefs. With your help we can ensure the survival of Tibet’s religion and culture and we can offer refuge to those who have escaped and help heal their trauma.

Inflation and rising food prices in India are stressing all of the nunneries. With hundreds of mouths to feed each day, you can imagine the effect of skyrocketing food and fuel prices. Sponsorship dollars were only meeting about 2/3rd of the daily needs of the nuns so we did a big sponsorship push this summer. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who signed up as a sponsor, who renewed a past sponsorship, or who generously agreed to increase their sponsorship contribution.

HERE ARE 7 WAYS YOU CAN HELP THE NUNS:

1. SPONSOR A NUN
For $1 a day you can sponsor a nun and help provide her with food, shelter, education and health care. 100% of the funds go directly to India and you will receive updates about the impact of your gifts.

2. MAKE A SINGLE DONATION
We have a number of current projects where you can direct your gifts or you can make an undesignated gift and we will direct the funds where they are needed most.

3. LEAVE A LEGACY OF COMPASSION
By including a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project, you will be leaving a legacy of compassion that will have a ripple effect for generations to come.

4. GIVE A GIFT IN HONOR OF SOMEONE
Celebrate a loved one this holiday season, thank a spiritual teacher, or honor the memory of someone with a gift. When you make a tribute gift, we can send a beautiful card to the person being honored.

5. BUY TNP PRODUCTS
We always have a range of products available through our online shop or by calling the office. Our products include the 2014 Calendar, malas, prayer flags, TNP sweatshirts, and much more. Many of the products are made by the nuns to generate income for the nunneries.

6. DEDICATE PRAYERS
Through our online shop you can request that the nuns say prayers or perform special pujas for you or for someone dear to you who may need spiritual help.

7. DO YOUR OWN THING!
Explore your own creative idea for helping the nuns. Every little bit helps. Whether it’s hosting a house party using our kit or coming up with your own idea, like New York artist Miya Ando who created a series of glowing “Prayer Flag” paintings and auctioned them off raising over $4,000 to help with the nuns Media Center and Café at Dolma Ling.

We’re going to give the last word to one of our supporters who wrote to tell us why the Tibetan Nuns Project was important to her:

“Each aspect you are addressing is important not just to these women, but to women, refugees, Buddhists and non-Buddhist religious women EVERYWHERE. This is a model for the future for any group of displaced, religiously persecuted, and in-need-of-support-to-sustain-themselves group. I applaud the efforts of your organization very highly.”
Linda Anne, Idyllwild CA

With our deepest thanks for your compassion and generosity,

 

Rinchen Khando Choegyal, Director
Elizabeth Napper, Co-Director

Report on the completion of retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

3 Tibetan Buddhist nuns in front of retreat hutsAt the end of October 2013, thanks to the generous support of Tibetan Nuns Project donors and to the hard work of the nuns themselves, the construction, furnishing and landscaping of 8 permanent retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala, India was completed.

Retreats are a core part of Buddhist practice and these huts will allow the nuns to develop their own insight and knowledge in complete privacy. This is the first time that retreat facilities have been available at Dolma Ling Nunnery, home to about 250 nuns.

Tibetan nun helping to landscape retreat huts

The nuns plant bamboo near the retreat huts.

Each hut consists of a simple room with a bathroom and kitchen area. They are each furnished with a bed, a storage cupboard, a table, a prostration board, provisions for the small kitchen area and supplies for the small bathroom. One solar panel per hut provides light, power and warm water so that the huts are sustainable and ecologically sound. Continue reading

Help complete the 8 Buddhist retreat huts

The Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in India need help to complete their 8 retreat huts, serving over 200 Tibetan nuns from all lineages.

Retreats are a core part of the nuns’ Buddhist practice. These huts will give the nuns the opportunity to develop their own insight and knowledge in a space built to ensure complete privacy. Each hut consists of a simple room with a bathroom and pantry area.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns building the retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery

Nuns carry heavy loads to build the 8 retreat huts at Dolma Ling Nunnery in India

Continue reading