Here’s the latest news and photos from some Tibetan Buddhist nunneries in India during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. Last week we posted this update from India and about the Seattle office.
Unfortunately, now we only have detailed reports from two of the seven nunneries supported by Tibetan Nuns Project donors, Dolma Ling and Shugsep. We will do our best to give you updates via our blog and Facebook page as other news comes in.
Some good news during the crisis. The nuns were delighted with this beautiful addition to Dolma Ling’s small herd of dairy cows. The day-old female calf brought joy and we hope it sparks joy for you too.
Update from Dolma Ling
The nunnery has been closed to visitors since the first week of February when the nuns shut the gates and monitored anyone who came in or out.
Since the all-India lockdown began on March 25, the nunnery closure has been even stricter. The nuns at the front gate are armed with a spray can of disinfectant which they spray on people and goods entering the nunnery grounds.
A late evening view of the debate courtyard at Dolma Ling. A few nuns were out memorizing texts. Some nuns were doing kora (walking and circumambulating the nunnery) while many prefer to stay in their rooms or walk up and down the housing block verandas.
Things are running pretty smoothly at the nunnery. The projects funded by donors, such as the tofu-making facility, the expanded kitchen and storeroom, and the new cowshed are helping the nuns to cope during this crisis.
A photo of the tofu-making facility taken in 2013 by Brian Harris. The nuns are making tofu weekly and that is helping the nunnery to be more self-sufficient during the Covid-19 lockdown in India.
In theory, people are allowed to go shopping between 8 and 11 in the morning, but the nuns and staff are barred from leaving, so the traffic in and out of the nunnery is extremely limited, with the result that they all feel relatively safe.
After the first few days, the nuns made an arrangement for a jeep to supply vegetables and other goods and to offload them outside the gate where they were sprayed and then left for some time in the sun before the nuns carried them in.
The nuns were also able to get special permission to take the Dolma Ling jeep to get the essentials such as cylinders of cooking gas and vegetables. They also went to the Tibetan settlement of Bir to buy tsampa (roasted barley flour), which is a staple food for the nuns.
This photo, taken in 2017, shows part of the vegetable storage area constructed to keep animals out and hold a lot of supplies. It takes a lot of vegetables to feed over 240 nuns! With the Covid-19 pandemic, the nuns are trying to purchase vegetables with a long shelf-life.
The nuns serve the food from the veranda and everyone goes to their own spot to eat it. After their meal, the nuns walk around a bit as usual before returning to their rooms.
Communal meals in the dining hall are a thing of the past. The nuns use their own dishes to collect food from the courtyard and they eat on their own.
Tofu making is in full swing and there is the milk from the dairy cows and greens from the kitchen garden. Water and electricity are in quite good supply these days and the air is wonderfully fresh without the normal traffic pollution!
A Tibetan Buddhist nun at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute practices social distancing from the 240 other nuns, eating her meal alone.
On bright sunny days, nuns take the opportunity to wash their laundry and to clean their rooms. They are also cleaning the nunnery and gardening.
At Dolma Ling, all group activities such as classes, pujas, and eating together are being avoided. The nuns are doing their best to practice social distancing.
Some good news during the crisis is that this week a beautiful calf was born to one of the Dolma Ling dairy cows. The mother is highly protective of her beautiful female baby calf.
At the time of writing, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, the location of five of the seven nunneries we support, there were 3 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Tsering wrote, “In fact, we have no great alarms in this area at present with only 3 confirmed cases. It’s hard to know if this is a huge underestimate. Next week should show the truth of the situation. So the nuns and staff are all being careful!”
Update from Shugsep
At Shugsep, the nuns have been able to speak to suppliers and convince then to deliver vegetables, other rations, and cylinders of cooking gas to the nunnery instead of having to venture out during the curfew.
Between 50 to 60 nuns are in the nunnery right now. The Khenpo and around 25 senior nuns are in South India where they went prior to the lockdown to receive teachings.
The Shugsep nuns are not gathering together for pujas or meals. However, they are still going to classes which they feel is more practical because no one is coming into the nunnery from outside and everyone is staying in the nunnery.
The nuns have about three classes a day as well as Tibetan handwriting in the afternoon and ritual practice in the evening.
Tibetan butter lamps flicker through the night at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute as part of prayers to end Covid-19 and the suffering of all sentient beings.
The Department of Religion and Culture of the Tibetan government in exile has asked all of the monasteries and nunneries to say special prayers over the next ten days and then continuing onwards on a weekly basis to help alleviate this pandemic.
