Someday soon, a friend of mine will become a nun. Meanwhile, in the last year, one monk friend disrobed, another nun friend also disrobed, and a certain nun who I never met not only disrobed but composed and publicized a scathing letter about what she thinks is wrong with the whole system of monasticism and… Continue reading Why do people quit?
While posting photos is something I intend to continue with, I thought I had better write a little something. Back in December I managed to get through yet another year’s final exams. It was, as always, a huge challenge and probably my most productive time of year. My subjects this year were: Key to the… Continue reading Study, practice, and my eighth year.
Here is something that I’ve been thinking about lately: There are no other international students studying in our shedra program. (shedra, for those of you just tuning in, is what we call our college of Buddhist philosophy) Usually, every year or so, I get a query about studying here at Namdroling. Not this year. Nonetheless,… Continue reading Westerners in shedra – where are you guys?
I’ve been neglecting to blog to a few months. I imagine thirty or forty people actually read this thing on a regular basis, so if any of you have been hoping for a fresh post, here it is. I wish I had more comments on my blog. I do. But when I read other blogs… Continue reading On blogs and books
It was ten years ago today that I took robes and shaved my head. My relationship with ordination has changed and developed over the years. Back then, I was 21 and just wanted to be ordained and learn Tibetan. I thought I would stay at Namdroling for 2 or 3 years, then head back to… Continue reading Ten years in robes
People seem to have a vast array of projections about monks and nuns. For Westerners these are largely carry-overs from their image of Christian monastics and other clergy. We also seem to take references from Hollywood’s vision of peaceful Zen monasteries or even the Shaolin monks in our projection of what monasticism means. This is… Continue reading Considering Ordination Part 2
From time to time I receive letters from people who are considering monastic ordination in the Buddhist tradition. At the moment there are two young women in my home town who are looking in that direction. With them in mind I’ll offer some tips and thoughts. Dear Friend, Thank you for your letter. I am… Continue reading Consdering Ordination Part 1
I’m on holiday at my family’s home in Canada. I’d like to look at some of the differences between my life here and back in India. Weather: I’m so cold here in Canada! I can’t stop saying ‘a-choo‘ which is ‘brrrrr‘ in Tibetan. It is only -15C at the moment, but could go down to… Continue reading India vs. Canada
Here’s a photos of all the nuns in shedra together with our teachers. We finished our classes on November 1st. Now we have a month to study and then it will be time for our comprehensive final exams.If this blog has any avid readers (other than my mother, of course, “Hi Mom!”) I apologize for… Continue reading Another year ends…
http://youtube.com/v/FDSAAlrqAHM I visited the West after my exams in January and had the chance to discuss Buddhism with several people. I think this video by the Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche sums up some essential points nicely.
For hundreds of years, higher education in Buddhist philosophy has been taught and received mostly by men. There have been a few female teachers, great meditators, such as Shugseb Jetsun, and incarnations of the Buddhas, such as Yeshe Tsogyal. No doubt there have been many great female meditators, who have quietly received the teachings, attained… Continue reading Female Teachers
I’ve finished one of my five exams (Madyamakavatara- it went pretty well!), and I’ve got the second one tomorrow.What’s it like? At 7:15 am we enter the main temple. All the students from year one to nine write their respective exams at the same time. We bring clipboards, pens and correction fluid. We sit on… Continue reading Exams… Part 2, the revenge!
Classes ended a few weeks ago and now it is study time. We get 24 days to study what we have learned this year, then we will write five comprehensive exams. This study period is one of my favorite times of year. I feel like I really get into the texts. During the school year,… Continue reading Study and exams…
Our community at Namdroling is composed of a monastery with at least 3000 monks and a nunnery with just over 500 nuns. Both the monastery and nunnery have three main parts: primary school (lobtra), ritual arts college (dratsang), and philosophical college (shedra). The monastery also has a three year retreat center (drubdra) and the nunnery… Continue reading What happens in a Tibetan monastery?
I was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. I attended Greystone Heights Elementary School and Walter Murray High School. In my last year of high school I encountered Buddhism when my father invited me to see a performance by some Tibetan lamas. I found the performance interesting and it started me reading books about Buddhism. I… Continue reading What led you to become a Buddhist nun?
I’ve been a Buddhist nun for five years. I receive all sorts of questions about my life, so I’d like to post the answers here. As well, before I became a nun I cherished any sort of information about the monastic life, particularly the accounts of Western monastics, but it was very hard to come… Continue reading Intro
damchoe's nun sense 