Survey of Nunneries in Zangskar (2001)

Introduction

The Ladakh Nuns Association (LNA) organized a survey of eight nunneries in Zangskar. Three people traveled in the LNA jeep to Zangskar, from June 2 to 13, 2001: Sra. Tenzin Youdon from LNA; Jill Jameson, a volunteer with LNA; and Sra. Tenzin Lhadron, who is originally from Zangskar and has been studying at Jamyong Choling Nunnery in Dharamsala for the last 12 years. The following is the information that they gathered.

Zangskar is in a mountain range south of Ladakh. It is still an isolated place, cut off by snow for seven to eight months of the year, but the ancient cycle of rituals to mark the seasons, moon cycles, and events in the religious calendar continues. Winters are harsh, with temperatures falling below 30 degrees C. The snow is often deep, and has to be daily swept off the roof tops. There are still few cars or motorized transport, and the only phones are found at military or security posts. Many of the traditional livelihood practices and basic self-reliance continue. Crops are cultivated and animals taken to higher slopes in summer. The growing season is limited to three months of the year, with barley and peas as the main crops. Animals such as yak, sheep, and goats are provide transport, milk, meat, and clothing. In most villages, women spin the wool, men weave, and the cloth is sewn into clothes. Winter is a time for retreats, teachings, and festivals for both monastics and laypeople.

Zangskar is experiencing changes as a result of outside influences. The closing of the border with Tibet and the poverty of the region make it difficult to maintain the unique spiritual and cultural heritage of Zangskar. The monasteries for monks are in a slightly better position than the monasteries for nuns, because the village people are more likely to support monks. From 1999 to 2001, there was very little snowfall and, consequently, a serious shortage of water. In some of the nunneries, water supplies were often limited to a small trickle flowing through the pipe.

Historically monasteries have been well-endowed. The situation in most of the nunneries is one of great need. Prior to 1988, the nuns of Zangskar were mostly working in their family’s homes, where they cooked, cleaned and looked after the children and animals. They practiced meditation only in the winter months when their families provided tsampa for retreats. This survey is a brief attempt to document the current situation of the nunneries, and, through discussion with the nuns, explore their needs and vision.

Survey Summary

The survey in Zangskar by the Ladakh Nuns Association in June 2001 covered eight nunneries. Overall, there have been significant improvements for some nuns of Zangskar in recent years, but their needs are still great and the nuns have a strong yearning to deepen their study of the Dharma.

Prior to 1988, most of the nuns of Zangskar worked in their families’ homes or in their fields, with practice restricted to the winter retreat. Since then, three of the nunneries (Zangla, Pischu and Karsha) have received financial support from outside the region to provide food, robes, Dharma texts, and the construction of rooms. This support has given some nuns an opportunity they greatly appreciate: to live in a nunnery and have more time to study and practice the Dharma.

In the eight nunneries visited by LNA, two-thirds of the nuns were under 30 years of age. Out of a total of 82 nuns and 12 young novices, 45 were under 30 years and 27 over 50. Still, the nuns expressed great concern about a declining interest in ordination among young women and girls. The main explanation for this perceive declining interest was that the nunneries are rarely able to offer education or opportunities to study the teachings.

Although over the last 15 years there have been schools in Zangskar, and these days most parents want an education for their children, virtually none of the nuns had been to school. The medium of instruction in the schools is mostly in Urdu, so Zangskari children are forgetting their own language. All the nuns had leant the Ladakhi script and could read the Dharma texts.

Two of the eight nunneries (Karsha and Skyagum) had a resident lama, and there were regular teachings at Tungri nunnery. Most of the nuns had received only occasional teachings. Only Zangla nunnery offered a study program through the CIBS (Central Institute of Buddhist Studies). Most of the nunneries made strong requests for a study program with classes in Hindi, English, Ladakhi, math, and Buddhist philosophy, such as offered by CIBS.

Many of the nuns worked in the fields of their families over the summer months when there was no support for food, and thus had less time for the study and practice of the Dharma. In a few of the newer nunneries, where most nuns were young, many were working as manual laborers during the summer to pay for the construction of their monasteries. The nuns have planted small plantations of trees around all the nunneries, but some were being abandoned due to water shortages over the last two years.

Because of limited access to the teachings, there seemed to be a general lack of confidence among the nuns. They felt they lacked the knowledge needed to give even basic teachings to their families and communities. All the monasteries had close connections with their nearby villages and some had active community assistance in repair work at their monasteries and other projects. The local community came to make offerings and sponsor pujas on auspicious days, or requested the nuns to read religious texts for them.

The vision and hopes for the future of the nuns of Zangskar was seen mainly in terms of a longing for the teachings and the need to attract younger nuns. The two hopes were connected; if there were more young nuns, they felt they had a stronger chance of attracting a teacher, which would enrich the nunnery; if there were a teacher and a study program, that would also attract more young nuns. However, funds are necessary for this vision to be achieved. Funds are needed to build facilities (rooms for teachers, classrooms, and living quarters), as well as to purchase thankas, Dharma texts, and other religious items.

Some young nuns from Zangskar have been studying in Dharamsala, Mundgod, and Bhutan, and these nuns are being requested to return to Zangskar to teach the younger nuns when they complete their studies. Ways to support some of these nuns to return to Zangskar to give teachings and encouragement were also discussed.

Padum Nunnery

There is no name yet for this nunnery, but about 10 years ago five nuns built a small temple near the Padum palace, on the top of a hill of boulders, overlooking the town of Padum stretching below. The wide, mostly cultivated valley is a brilliant green, with new young crops of barley and peas, and individual houses dotted around. Earlier, the population of Padum and surrounding areas had been entirely Buddhist, but a majority of the population is Muslim. The valley is nestled in and protected by the massive snow-covered mountains.

The nuns visit the villages to collect funds and are trying to construct a small assembly hall and kitchen. The nuns did not gather for pujas the day we visited; usually they gather to perform these twice a month, or whenever laypeople sponsor pujas, which they also attend. We talked to Sra. Tsering Dolma at her small home in the precincts of Stackri Mo Monastery. She had taught Sra. Tenzin Lhadron, one of the nuns helping us with the survey, how to read Buddhist texts when she was about 12 years old.

Sra. Tsering Dolma is 61 years old and has been a nun since she was 25. The other four nuns were over 50. Three of them live in Padum, one lives in Shila, an hours walk away, and one lives in Shagun, three hours walk away. None of these nuns felt they were the poorest in the community. None of the nuns had ever been to school, but they had learned how to read the texts at nearby monasteries or from their families. Sra. Tsering Dolma received training from monks in making butter sculpture and how to play the ritual instruments.

The nuns, although not living in a nunnery, have their own daily schedule at home. Tsering Dolma, for example, has already completed the preliminary practices (ngondro) three times. She rises between 4 to 5 am to meditate and recite her prayers, and later prepares tea and milks the cow. During the summer days, she works in her vegetable garden and small field. In the evening, she performs chö (a tantric practice), with meditation, recitation, and chanting. The other nuns have a similar day, but do not include chö practice. Although no one is living at their small gonpa as shrine keeper, Tsering Dolma goes daily to light the butter lamps.

Tsering Dolma has received teachings from different lamas who visited Zangskar and has been to Bodh Gaya for teachings and received Kalachakara initiation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She said that to receive the teachings and empowerment makes practices more powerful. Otherwise, it is like making sand into a ball and squeezing it. Just as you cannot receive any oil from sand, you need a teacher and proper initiations for practice.

In the future, laypeople have talked of extending the buildings for the benefit of their daughters, but there has been no action as yet. The main contact with the local community is when individuals sponsor pujas. Tsering Dolma’s hope for the future is that Zangskari nuns now studying in Dharamsala and Bhutan will come back and do something for young nuns. The older nuns in Padum know how to do the practices, but lacking the opportunity, do not know how to write. When asked why there were not more younger nuns, she said that young nuns prefer to go somewhere else to study, but will benefit the monastery if they return to teach.
Changchub Choling Buddhist Monastery for Women, Zangla

Zangla village is located on a narrow track beside the wide river bed of the Zangskar river, with high snow-covered mountains either side. On the way, we passed Stonde Gonpa, an impressive monk’s gonpa, located high on a rock face. Just before reaching Zangla village, there was a water channel across the road, so we had to walk for about 30 minutes to reach the nunnery. It is located at the far end of the village, somewhat separate and higher up. There was a large chorten (reliquary) at the entrance, and a range of buildings separated by neat paths and flower beds. Many trees have been planted and there was a greenhouse with an abundant supply of vegetables. There was a cow, a calf, and several dogs in residence.

Bhiksuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo has provided financial support since 1989 for building a classroom, supporting a teacher, and prooviding food for all the nuns. Munshi Tsering, a teacher in the village, helps manage the funds and keeps the accounts for the nunnery.

There are 18 nuns living in the nunnery and 15 novices who live at home, but come during the day. Our meeting with the nuns was held soon after our arrival, since a nyungne (fasting ritual) was to be held the following day. Of the 18 nuns living in the nunnery, six are under 30 and three are over 50. The youngest nun is 12 years old and the oldest is 78. Later, we learned something about the youngest nun, who offered to carry a bag for us. When we asked about her family, she said that her mother had died, she had three younger sisters and brothers, and her elder sister was disabled and unable to work. She lived at home, but came daily to the nunnery for studies.

Most of the nuns had been nuns since their teens. For most, the decision to become a nun was their own, while for some, it had been their parents’. None of the nuns came from the very poorest families. Most had not been to school, but had learnt Ladakhi from their fathers, lamas, or neighbours. Some of the younger nuns had studied up to grade 4, 6, or 8. One nun, Lobsang Ngedron, received health training at Sonam Norbu Memorial Hospital in Leh for one year and provides basic health care for the nuns. None of the nuns had been trained as an amchi (traditional medical practitioner), but there was one in the village.

The nunnery has an impressive range of buildings, including a gonpa, a library, a classroom, and adequate sleeping accommodation for the nuns. Each nun had two small rooms. When the novices are ordained, they hope that their families will support the building of living quarters for them. Decisions are discussed by all the nuns regarding religious services (pujas). Work around the monastery is managed by two storekeepers (nerpa).

Four Zangla nuns studied in Jamyung Choling Institute for Buddhist Women in Dharamsala for one year in 1988. With this inspiration, they wanted to establish a similar community for nuns in Zangla, and so they invited Geshe Tenpa Lhundrup, a monk from Tibet, to teach them. Geshe-la died in 2000 and in appreciation of his teachings, they are seeking another teacher.

The nuns’ daily schedule involves rising at 4 to 5 am, and doing individual prayers, meditation, and chanting for about an hour and a half. After breakfast, the nuns are free to do a range of activities. Since their teacher died last year, the older nuns read Dharma texts in their rooms. Geshe Tenpa Lhundrup had given them daily teachings in Tibetan language, handwriting, grammar, and literature, as well as Buddhist texts, logic, philosophy, and psychology. The texts taught by Geshe-le included the Graded Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim), Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita), and Middle Way philosophy (Madhyamika). In addition, the nuns have studied English and mathematics when volunteers have been available to teach them.

The younger nuns and novices from the village study with a monk from Upti, following the CIBS curriculum of Hindi, English, Ladakhi, and math. These classes commenced last year and are held from 10 to12 am and 1 to3 pm. At the school, the medium of instruction is Urdu, severely disadvantaging the nuns. At midday, the nuns perform puja for an hour, followed by lunch together. In the evening they chant Tara puja for an hour and then prepare their own meals individually.

Exercise is gained through gardening and planting trees, as well as walking in the area. Health problems were mainly headaches and colds in winter. Due to the harsh winter and high altitude, only a few vegetables can be grown during the summer, such as radishes, potatoes, and natural greens collected from the fields. These are eaten with rice, lentils, and chapattis. In autumn, summer, and spring some greenhouse vegetables can be harvested. While we were at the nunnery, meals consisted mostly of tsampa soup or porridge, with a little dried yak cheese, and no vegetables.

The origins of the nunnery are quite ancient and the older nuns have lived there since they became nuns. All the nuns appreciate living in the nunnery, as this gives them more time for their practice and pujas. There is no philosophy teacher now and the nuns have asked Karma Lekshe Tsomo to help them find another one. Having a philosophy teacher is seen as a very important means to gain meritorious imprints for future lives, as enlightenment is regarded as a distant goal.

There seems to be limited contact with the community, though laypeople from the village visit the nunnery occasionally. The nuns are asked to read texts for people in the village and are able to give informal teachings, though formal teachings are not requested. When someone dies, the nuns go to their house to perform pujas and prayers.

Almost all of the nuns, along with Geshe Tenpa Lhundrup, attended the Sakyadita conference organized by Bhiksuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo in Leh in 1995. Two of the nuns attended the Vinaya training in Karsha in 1996 organized by Sra. Tenzin Palmo.

Asked about their hopes for the future, the nuns expressed the hope that more young nuns will join the nunnery. They felt that this would help them obtain a new teacher, and enrich the nunnery. The nuns felt that it was generally due to the changes in society that not so many young girls were not becoming nuns. This is a decadent time and young people do not seem as open to the teachings.

We mentioned His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s comments that monks and nuns in the future will need to be more involved in the community and asked what sort of training might be useful. The nuns felt that general education was the most important, as well as training to help them become more confident.
While we talked with Jamba Chodron in her room, she was polishing her copper water bowls and making wicks for butter lamps. During all our meetings with the nuns, we were delighted by Jampa’s sense of humor. We were also struck by her strong energy when we met her out in the fields.

Jampa was born in Zangla village 67 years ago, and had nine brothers and sisters. She became a nun at 11 years old, at a time when there were 10 nuns. After ten years, there were another 10 nuns, but never more than 20, due to the lack of adequate accommodations. When she first came to the nunnery, there were no trees, classroom, or gonpa, which was built just seven years ago. Back then, the nuns lacked Dharma texts and statues, and the living accommodations were much more simple. Now each nun has two small room, including a kitchen and bedroom. Before becoming a nun, Jampa had worked with her parents, caring for the goats, sheep, and cows.

For Jampa, the most significant thing is her practice as a nun. The most significant practice for her is the offering puja, Lama Chöpa, which expresses guru devotion and is a daily Gelukpa practice. Combined with the visualization of Tara, no other practice is needed.

Jampa was using Tibetan traditional remedies to cure her cold and cough. After our interview, Jampa was going to a spring by the Zangskar river to bathe, and to collect water and mud at the bottom of the spring, which is considered beneficial for colds, pain in the bones, and other ailments. The mud could later be heated, like purified butter, and applied to pressure points, using cotton or wool. Another remedy is to heat dried finely ground cow dung in a cloth and apply it to pressure points. There were two amchis living in Zangla village, but now there is only one, and most of the nuns go to Jampa instead.

Namgyal Choling Nunnery, Pishu

It was a short drive to the footbridge over the Zangskar River, and almost an hour’s walk across a gentle, stony slope to reach the nunnery. Pishu village, consisting of 25 families with about 200 people, was nearby and situated slightly lower than the nunnery. We were welcomed very warmly, despite the day-long Monlam puja that was in progress.

Many people from the village were present. The youth group was building a stupa, eight senior men were reading a text in the courtyard in front of the gonpa, laywomen were preparing the meals, and some laywomen and men were weeding the vegetable garden, planting vegetables and collecting natural greens to go in the soup. The Women’s Alliance is active in Pishu village, and one of its members, Nima Buti, was leading the outside work that day. We sat in the gonpa during the puja, until an appropriate time came to involve the nuns in our survey. We were impressed by the musical skills of the nuns in their use of the trumpets, horns, symbols and drums.

The nunnery has received a certain amount of support from Bhiksuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo since 1993. This support has been in the form of many volumes of the classical texts, robes for the nuns, the building of a guesthouse with classroom, and the provision of food for the winter so that the nuns can do retreat.

There are eleven nuns in residence, two of whom are under 30 and five over 50. The oldest is 84 years and the youngest is 25. All became nuns in their teens, parents and older nuns advising them that they would be happy with this decision. All the nuns are living in the nunnery and each has her own individual rooms. They indicated that before becoming nuns they were all very poor, because the nearby village is poor and does not have a good water supply. None of the nuns has been to school, but all had learnt Ladakhi from their fathers or from those who could read. The nuns have received periodic teachings from visiting lamas, but none has undertaken higher studies.

The nunnery buildings consist of a gonpa, a recently constructed guesthouse with classroom, and individual accommodations for all nuns. Their accommodations include a small room for winter situated below one which is used in summer. Although there is no library, the nuns have many classical texts. They would like to build a library on top of the new classroom.

The nuns’ day starts around 6 am. After washing and cleaning, they perform their morning prayers individually for one and a half to two hours. Prayers are shortened when they are invited to the village to read texts. Breakfast is cooked individually when there are no communal pujas or prayers.

In summer, the younger nuns engage in a range of activities, including trips to the mountains to collect cow dung and wood, reading texts, and sometimes, when asked by their families to help, work in the fields. Because they depend on their families for food and support, they feel obliged to help out. Both lunch and evening soup are cooked individually. If the nuns are present at the nunnery in the afternoon, prayers are recited. In the evening, Tara puja and other prayers are recited.

The ceremonies held during the year include bi-monthly pujas on the 10th and 25th days of the lunar calendar, a winter puja held in the first lunar month, one in the fourth month, 17 days of Monlam prayers, and a 3-day fasting puja in the fifth month.

The nuns agree that staying in the nunnery makes practice easier; if they stayed in the village, there would be more work and it would be more difficult to practice. The nuns occasionally receive teachings from lamas from Karsha Monastery, when the monks have time. In the last two months, lamas have come on two occasions, giving one-day teachinga on Lamrim and Guru Puja. Obstacles are regarded as being both inner and outer (such as hearing problems), and are regarded as greater for younger nuns, who are more likely to disrobe than older nuns.

The nuns organize themselves by selecting two nuns every three years take responsibility for organizing the pujas. All of the nuns gather together periodically to discuss the accounts, which are managed by an accountant from the village.

There is strong cooperation between the nunnery and the village. The Women’s Alliance has been assisting the nunnery over the last three months. After talking together to see what work was needed, they drew up a program that includes repairs to the stupas, plans for laywomen and nuns to read texts on auspicious days, and preparation of food by the Women’s Alliance. When buildings need repairing, families from the village often bring a pile of wood and other materials for helping with this work.

Nuns visit people’s homes in the village, and sometimes villagers visit the nunnery. Twice a year, the nuns take the texts to the village to read, which is seen as bestowing blessings. The older nuns give teachings and Dharma-related advice. All of the nuns go for alms in the village at harvest time and visit nomadic areas to collect butter. When someone dies in the village, the family requests the nuns to perform pujas. As they expressed it, the nuns very much depend on the villagers, but the village also needs to bring them young nuns.

The only recent training involved two nuns who attended the Vinaya training at Karsha Monastery.

Their biggest hopes are for younger nuns to join the nunnery and for study programs, but there are many obstacles. They felt that girls would only be encouraged to become nuns if their parents encouraged them to learn to read Dharma texts from the nuns. Most parents these days send their children to school, but the medium of instruction is Urdu, so the children are forgetting their own language. The nuns also commented that, in the past, people came more frequently to study texts at the nunnery. They felt that, if only they had a resident teacher, more people might be interested in Dharma study. We explored whether LNA or INEB might be able to work with the nuns to present Dharma to young people in a more accessible way. The basic problem seems to be for nuns, who have not been to school, to connect with young people, who have been.

Khachoe Drubling Nunnery (Jujik Shel), Karsha

About 15 minutes drive from Padum, a motorable bridge now leads to both Karsha Monastery and Nunnery. From the village just below, we walked up on rocks in a wide, shallow streambed, then followed a steep, narrow ascent to the nunnery, which is situated higher than the monastery and separated by a gully. We were welcomed into the resident (monk) teacher’s room with a small kitchen at one end, and waited to see how many nuns might be available to participate in our survey. Present were 17 nuns, the resident teacher, and a visiting monk from south India.

All the nuns have been nuns since their teens and most said it was their own decision to become a nun. Of the 22 nuns living at the nunnery, half are under 30 and six are over 50. The youngest nun is 6 years and the oldest is 77. Another nun of 76 years was unwell, but we met this remarkable nun later in her room, where she was being looked after by a younger nun. She is one of the original five nuns who founded the nunnery and the only one still alive. When the nunnery was founded, there was only a very old shrine and no other buildings. The first nuns walked to many villages requesting support. This nun became a nun at age 10, and began to build the nunnery ten years later. Kim Gutschow has written extensively about this nunnery.

The shrine room, which was originally used as the gonpa, is said to be at least 1,000 years old. It is small and cave-like, with old paintings on the walls and many butter lamps on the altar. There is a very tall statue of Avalokitesvara behind the main altar. In this shrine room, we found laywomen doing a fasting retreat (nyungne). At lunchtime, some rested on the rocks around the shrine room or circumambulating the temple.
The buildings at Karsha nunnery include an assembly hall for prayers, a shrine room, a kitchen, and living accommodations. Summer accommodations above and winter rooms below are shared by two nuns. Most had two rooms, one for sleeping and cooking, and another used as a shrine room. There was no classroom, and classes were held in the teacher’s room in summer. The nuns plan to build more accommodation for younger nuns.

Both Bhiksuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo and the Ganden Relief Fund have provided funds for the nunnery since 1991, with support for food, teacher’s salary, robes, texts, and the training of one nun to study basic health care in Leh for a year.

The nuns get up each day at 6 am in winter and 5 am in summer, and do puja in their rooms for about at least an hour. After breakfast and washing, they study Buddhist philosophy with Geshe Rinchen Gyaltsen for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Lunch is taken together in the summer months and individually in the winter. In summer, all the nuns gather for puja from 5 to10 pm, but winters are too cold.

In summer, regular exercise is gained through walking in the mountains to collect cow dung. In winter, snow has to be regularly shoveled from roof tops and water has to be carried up the hill.

The benefit for the nuns of living in the nunnery is not having to work on their families’ land, which allows more time for practice. The nuns still assist their families a little when needed. They feel that it is more important that they are now able to do pujas to benefit their families and all living beings.

Only one nun had studied up to 4th grade; the rest had not been to school. The nuns had learned Ladakhi from their parents or others. There were no studies organized through the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies in Leh. The nuns have been receiving teachings from Rinchen Gyalson since 1996. Before that they received many years of teachings from a senior scholar of Karsha Monastery, Kachen Ngawang Tharpa.

The nuns seemed reluctant to explain what teachings they are receiving, maybe due to shyness in front on their teacher. Eventually, the older nuns explained that they were studying logic in the mornings and debating in the afternoons. The younger nuns had commenced classes quite recently, so had undertaken little study as yet. When asked whether the study of debating had increased their knowledge and confidence, they said that their studies contribute a little in these directions. One nun (aged 42) considered that she was really too old to learn much.

Decisions regarding the nunnery are made when all the nuns and the teacher meet together. Families visit the nunnery on auspicious occasions like the 15th day of the lunar month (full moon) and may ask the nuns to do pujas for them. Nuns sometimes visit their families on Sundays. Most nuns are from Karsha village, but some are from nearby villages. If people ask the nuns for teachings, they are ready to give them, but usually they are not asked. Geshe-la is giving the nuns basic teachings on refuge and the Four Noble Truths, and is encouraging them to teach. He is also teaching them Tibetan language using textbooks published in Dharamsala. The only training program attended was the Western health care training one nun received for a year in Leh.
The nuns’ hopes are for further education. They feel that if they are able to provide better facilities for teachers and had more support, they would have greater access to education. They would particularly like to have a teacher from the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, as has been sent to the monks of Karsha Monastery nearby, to extend the range and depth of their studies. We asked whether the teacher who is teaching the monks might be able to give classes at the nunnery, but were told that the teacher already had to teach many classes at the monks’ monastery and therefore had no time for the nunnery.

Dorje Dzong Nunnery, Dorje Dzong

This nunnery was on the same side of the Zangskar River as Karsha, a three-quarters of an hour drive away. We climbed up and up a steep winding road, with the nearest village 30 minutes walk away. The nunnery buildings seemed to emerge from the stony ground, with little in the way of trees or grasses. Water this year was particularly scarce – a dribble from a pipe five minutes’ walk from the main buildings. Even in summer, the harsh wind and biting cold made one wash as quickly as possible.

The day we arrived (the 15th day of the month, full moon) there was a fast puja being offered, sponsored by some people from the village. The next day there was a long-life puja performed by four monks from Karsha and the nuns, which was attended by people from the village. Ten of the 13 nuns were at our meeting.

There are 13 nuns living at Dorje Dzong nunnery, ten of them under 30 years and two over 50. The youngest nun is 16 and the oldest is 69. All had been nuns since their teens, and all said their parents had advised them to become nuns. None of the nuns had attended school, but all had learned Ladakhi from their parents or relatives.

The nunnery has a gonpa and accommodation for all the nuns, but no classroom or library. Some share accommodations, but most have individual rooms with a room downstairs for winter and room upstairs for summer. The rooms are small and simple, built from stones collected nearby, with the support from the nuns’ families. The doors leading into the rooms are narrow and low, to minimize heat loss in winter, and each room has a traditional toilet (later used for compost), constructed inside. There were no plans for further building.

The nuns arise at 5 am in winter, but a little later in summer, because they have to work in the fields. Morning prayers last for about an hour, followed by breakfast, which the nuns prepare and eat on their own. Prayers are offered in the evening for around one and a half hours in their own rooms.

During the 4 months of summer, the nuns usually work 2 to 3 days a week for eight hours a day helping their families with agricultural work. On other days, there is wood and dung to be collected from higher up the mountains. An American volunteer is seeking funds to support the nuns with food over the one-month winter retreat; otherwise the nuns need to work longer hours over summer. On work days, the nuns return to the nunnery around 6 or 7 pm; if they work later, they may stay overnight with their families.

Because there is no teacher, the nuns are not studying the Dharma texts, but all are most eager to study, especially the younger nuns. If a resident teacher is not available just now, they would be happy to have a student teacher, such as a nun currently studying in Dharamsala, for whatever time they might be available to teach them. They have not approached Karsha Monastery, which could mainly offer teachings on ritual, as they want to study Buddhist philosophy, English, and Hindi. They have sent an application to the CIBS, but so far have not received a reply.

The nuns saw living in the nunnery as a benefit both for others and themselves, because it allows more time for practice. The oldest nun, who had been in the nunnery for about 55 years, said the daily practice had not changed much over the years. The practice includes the fasting ritual and Monlam in winter for a month. They have now added a long-life prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to their recitation of memorized texts; otherwise their prayers have remained the same. Repairs to the assembly hall have been made and the new younger nuns have built their own rooms. The only teachings they receive are when they invite a lama from Karsha monastery to give teachings and initiation for a long life puja once a year.

The nuns meet together as a community whenever there are issues that affect them all, such as the need for repairs to the assembly hall. People from the village visit three to four times a year, for Monlam and fasting pujas. Because they have not received teachings, they lack the confidence needed to give teachings to their families and the community. The only training any of the nuns have attended is the one week of Vinaya training, which three nuns attended.

The nuns expressed a concern that if more young girls enter the nunnery, they will have nothing to offer them. They felt that developing a study program is a priority and would attract younger girls to become nuns, as would a resident teacher. Five nuns from the nunnery left to study in Dharamsala 15 years ago. Initially at Ganden Choling Nunnery these nuns only did rituals, but during the last ten years, they have also been studying philosophy. The nuns in residence have asked whether these nuns will return to Dorje Dzong, because they did not have adequate funds to support them, but they very much hope that some of these nuns will return. We learned that Ngari Rinpoche, a brother of H.H. the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, had visited their nunnery once. Sra. Tenzin Lhadron, a student at Jamyang Choling in Dharamsala, will talk with the Dorje Dzong nuns now in Dharamsala and with Ngari Rinpoche to explore future possibilities.

Sra. Lobzang Wangmo is now 27 and became a nun when she was 15. Her family, consisting of parents and three siblings, live in the nearby village, and she helps them with the cultivation of barley, wheat, and peas. The family has five dzomos and three to four goats. Water has become a major problem over the last two years, with inadequate falls of snow. In summer, Lobzang Wangmo works with her family and in winter she reads Dharma texts. When asked what might help to deepen her practice of the Dharma, she could not say, because she felt she had no understanding of the Dharma. She would welcome guidance, however, as this would be a great benefit both in this life and the next.

Tungri Nunnery, Tungri

It took us three quarters of an hour to drive from Dorje Dzong Nunnery to reach Tungri Nunnery, which is about a half-hour drive from Padum. The road to Tungri village branches off from the main road, by the bridge over the river on the road from Padum. Tungri village comprises 36 families with a total of 400 people. Nearby are Shunling and Trahen villages.

A large group of women were involved in a Women’s Alliance environmental cleanup in Tungri village as we arrived. It was a 20-minute walk up to the nunnery, past the usual line of dogs. The nunnery was close to the high snow-covered mountains and a large village nestled by the wide mouth of a stream, with much greenery around. Forestry programs are being undertaken by the Forest Department of Kargil and the Desert Development Agency. A government department had installed a water pipe across to the nunnery, but the water had recently dried up, so the nuns could not grow vegetables and their trees were dying.

The gonpa was founded during the same period as the nearby Sani Kanihar palace. The paths around the nunnery had just been swept and the rooms were clean. We were welcomed into a room with a clay floor, on which a few mats had been placed for sitting. There were simple low tables on which the tea was served with the usual rounds of hot water, sweet milk tea, and salty butter tea served with tsampa (roasted barley flour).

Of the 11 nuns living in the nunnery, two are under 30 years and six are over 50, the youngest being 26 and the eldest, 80. None of the nuns has been to school, mostly because schools have only been established quite recently. There is now a school in Tungri up to the 8th grade, and the nuns said that most children in their families go to school. Education is regarded as important these days, and as many girls as boys attend school.

One nun, Sra. Tenzin Wangmo, is now in her second year of a five-year training to be an amchi. This training is held in Tungri village, with 20 students that were selected from 20 surrounding villages. The school was established by the teacher, Tseten Dorje, who has connections with France. Tenzin Wangmo’s father is also an amchi, but this year she has been unable to attend many classes because she has been given the duty of shrine keeper. We asked if other nuns could share her work, but the older nuns didn’t seem to think this was a possibility.

Th nunnery has a gonpa, which is in the same building as the kitchen and guest room. The guest room is used for prayers in winter, because it is warmer. There is no library or classroom. The previous year the nuns bought a set of the Kangyur texts (108 volumes) , but have no space to put them at present. Rooms for the nuns (downstairs for winter and upstairs for summer) are mostly individually occupied, though some are shared. There are no plans for further building.
The nuns meet together as a group to discuss specific issues or decisions to be made, such as the selection of a storekeeper, painting of the stupa, or repair of the assembly hall.

The nuns wake up at 5 am and have no fixed schedule. A couple of hours are spent cleaning their rooms and offering water bowls and prayers, followed by breakfast. In summer, the younger nuns collect wood and cow dung for winter supplies of fuel, and may help their families two to three days per month. Their families provide limited but adequate food support for the nuns. Grandchildren help carry water and collect wood for their families. The older nuns said they worked a lot when they were younger.

When there are pujas at the nunnery, the nuns eat together; otherwise they cook for themselves. When they return from work in the afternoon, after tea, they offer prayers for two to three hours, including refuge, Guru Puja, and reciting the Avalokiteshvara mantra – Om Mani Padme Hum. The nuns say that there are many benefits of living in the nunnery. They have leisure for Dharma practices and prayers, no physical hardships, and are able to benefit the villagers through their practice. They appreciate their freedom in the nunnery.

The nuns are fortunate to have a teacher, Tsering Wangyal, a lama from Karsha, living in the nunnery. Twice a month, he gives teachings on the Mahayana precepts, explaining the precepts, and discussing their benefits. He also has been giving teachings on ritual in summer and winter over the last seven years. He studied ritual at Karsha Monastery and is a retired chanting master. He was appointed to Tungri Nunnery to give teachings to the villagers and assist the nuns. The nuns have not received other teachings, although some of the older nuns had found it a most precious experience to visit Dharamsala to see H.H. the Dalai Lama. They have also seen him in Leh and Zangskar.

The nuns perform pujas on the 10th and 25th of each month and during Monlam for a month in winter. Kim Gutschow secured one month’s food support for the winter chanting period, but they are not sure whether this will continue. The nuns chant the Vajayogini and Guru Pujas on certain days of the month, perform the fasting ritual during the sixth month, and celebrate the Buddha’s first teaching for the villagers.

Many people from nearby villages visit the nunnery on the 10th and 25th days of the month to do prostrations and offer butter lamps. The nuns don’t feel confident enough to offer teachings, but they encourage the women and children to recite mantras.

The nuns were concerned about the future of the nunnery, as there have been very few new younger nuns entering. They felt that if they had a teacher to teach Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan language, English, etc., more young girls and women would be attracted to the life of a nun. We asked the lama whether there was anyone in the area who could teach philosophy, but he felt there were not enough students here to warrant a teacher, and said they lacked adequate facilities to hold teachings. We further inquired about the possibility of a shorter teaching for those who were interested, to be organized at one of the nunneries in the Zangskar valley. We learned that this had been tried the previous year at Karsha Nunnery, but accommodations had proved inadequate.

Manda Nunnery

The nunnery in Manda was only a short walk from the main road, about a 30 km. drive (one hour) from Padum. There are about 20 families living in Manda with a total of about 250 people. We talked with the nuns in a small room, after being offered tea and tsok (ritual offerings made tsampa) with curd, which had been offered by villagers that day, the last day of Monlam. There were also two men from the village at our meeting and many small boys pressed to the door. After some time, during which the men continued to answer for the nuns, we were able to encourage the men to leave until we had completed the survey.

There were five young nuns living in the nunnery, four of whom were under 30, the eldest being 31 and the youngest, 16. All had become nuns in their teens and it was their own decision. Three young girls between the ages of 8 and 12, soon to become nuns, were living at home with their families but coming daily to the nunnery to study Dharma texts. None of the nuns had been to school; although there is now a school in Manda, the novices only attended occasionally.

The nunnery, with a shrine room and shared accommodation in three rooms for the nuns, was only six years old. The gonpa is being constructed mostly by the nuns themselves; they work as manual labourers during the summer to be able to pay a builder to help them. There has not been much support from the village. The gonpa so far just has walls with window frames.

The nuns rise at 5 am, offer prayers to Avalokiteshvara, and perform the Lama Chöpa puja. Breakfast is mostly prepared and eaten individually, but occasionally together. From 10:30 am until midday, the nuns study Dharma texts and practice ngondro and Lama Chöpa. After lunch in winter, they sometime read texts to the villagers; in the autumn, they collect wood from the mountains; and in summer, they help their families and work as laborers. After their evening meal, the nuns chant mantras until about 11 pm. The nuns said that the benefit of living in the nunnery is that they are now able to have more time to study Dharma texts.

There is no resident teacher at Manda Nunnery and the nuns have received only occasional teachings. Five or six years ago, they received teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama near Sani for five days. They recently attended one day of teachings with a lama from Dharamsala at the nearby Skyagum nunnery. The nuns had received no other training.

The nuns regularly meet together to discuss plans for their nunnery and make decisions collectively. Contact with people from the village is occasional, such as at Monlam (held from the first to the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar month), when the villagers come to offer food and tea. The villagers also helped when stones were being collected for the construction of the gonpa.

The nuns hope to build a large monastery that will benefit the village and all living beings. When the main buildings have been completed, they would like to construct stupas and acquire thankas and Dharma texts. They also long to receive teachings, but because they do not have a teacher, could not be more specific about which teachings. However, they said they would appreciate the opportunity for other studies, such as the study of Hindi, English, etc., provided by the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies.

Phakmo Ling Nunnery, Skyagum

Skyagum village was a further 15 minutes by jeep or a 30-minute walk from Manda. The road climbed steadily and the valley narrowed, so that we were almost to the snow line. We walked up to the nunnery above the village along narrow paths winding between fields and small, fast-flowing streams. The landscape was almost treeless, but the nuns had planted some trees recently in front of the gonpa. We were welcomed by the nuns, a drummer, and a magnificent sunset. From the guest room, with its two walls of window, we looked out on shafts of brilliant pink and gold rays of sunlight touching the jagged snow covered mountains. Fire and snow in balance…

There was a lama from Karsha Monastery who had been posted to Skyagum village to assist the villagers and nuns in their practice. He had been there for three years and was due to be sent to another village. He was worried about leaving the nuns, because they were so interested in studying the texts. The lama was very supportive of the nuns and encouraged and assisted them in many ways, not only with learning texts, but also helping them to sew banners for the windows, etc.

There were ten nuns at our meeting, as well as the lama and two men from the village who had been assisting in the construction, who were now relaxing with some chang.

The twelve nuns living in the nunnery are similar in age; ten are under 30, the youngest being 20 and the eldest, 36. All had become nuns in their teens. They made this decision themselves, although some also acknowledged receiving advice from their parents. There were four young girls in the village around 12 years of age who were planning to become nuns when Rizong Rinpoche visited Zangskar in August 2001.

There has been a school in Skyagum for the last 15 years, which is attended by both boys and girls. Only two of the nuns had attended school; they said they attended classes only up to the second grade and had now forgotten most of what they learned.

The nunnery has an assembly hall, which opens out on to a glassed-in balcony or sitting area, and an adjoining kitchen. This will become a guest room once the new kitchen at the back of the gonpa is completed. The nuns have individual accommodations and most have two rooms, including a toilet. One nun (who has no parents) has only one room. There are plans to build a toilet for visitors and a store-room. There is a shrine room visited by the villagers on special puja days or other auspicious occasions, at which time they make offerings.

The nuns arise at 5 am in summer and at 6 am in winter. They perform pujas for about two and a half hours, which include offering water bowls and butter lamps, chanting, and praying. Breakfast is prepared and taken individually around 8 am. After breakfast in summer, all the nuns work in the fields, partly because their families cannot support them without this assistance. In autumn, the nuns collect wood and cow dung for fuel. Winter is the time for more intense practice. After the evening meal, the nuns study Dharma texts, sometimes until midnight.

The nuns appreciate living in the nunnery, as this provides them with the opportunity for practice in the mornings and evenings. They feel more physically relaxed here, they said, since at home their families are always busy. The nuns meet as a group with the lama to discuss such issues as building plans, pujas, and tree planting.

The nuns study the teachings for one to two hours each evening and during most days of winter. They are learning to recite Lama Chöpa, Monlam Namgye, and Lamgyi Namsum. They have been advised by their lama that once they have learned the texts, they can do the practices. They have received no other teachings. Puja days include the fifteen days of Monlam during the fourth month (in summer) and a range of auspicious days when villagers give food and make tsog offerings. On full moon days, there are fasting rituals and in the first lunar month the nuns perform a puja and fasting ritual in another village. The day we left was the day for villagers to circumambulate the gonpa carrying the Dharma texts.

Contact with the local community is especially close when deaths occur in families, and on certain puja days. Villagers tend not to come at the time of births, but when deaths occur, they ask the lama and nuns to visit their homes and perform pujas and prayers. They often ask the lama to visit their homes, but he suggests they come instead to the shrine room. Some villagers come three times a year to do pujas, but have not assisted with the building project. The nuns themselves assist the builder and carpenter, and cook for them. The nuns do not give teachings to people in the village, as they themselves have had limited teachings. Three of the nuns went to Karsha Monastery for the short Vinaya training, but did not understand much of the teachings.

The nuns would particularly like to have a teacher, which they think would especially benefit the younger nuns. The lama pointed to Sra. Tenzin Lhadron as a role model, since she had become a nun and was now working for the benefit of nuns in the region. The lama felt that, if the nuns had sponsors, they could build more rooms and support a teacher. Once the construction is complete, the nuns will not have to work so hard. There are still things they need for the shrine room, such as thankas. At this stage, the lama left our meeting, so that the nuns could freely express their hopes. The nuns said that, although they could read, they would very much like to be able to write as well. They would like to receive an application form for CIBS.

(Copyright © 2001 Sra. Tenzin Palmo, with Jill Jameson and Karma Lekshe Tsomo)