Buddhist nuns of Shugsep Nunnery and Institute in Dharamsala, northern India, have welcomed the completion of a new dedicated retreat center, with eight senior nuns already undertaking retreats in the facility. The center is the first purpose-built space in the nunnery’s history in exile dedicated to supporting long-term retreat within the community.
The retreat center was built and furnished through the support of donors as part of a project launched in 2022 and completed this year. Nunnery leaders said the facility provided an onsite progression from study to retreat and teaching while serving as an source of inspiration for younger generations of nuns.
“We are delighted to report that the retreat center at Shugsep Nunnery and Institute is built and fully furnished thanks to generous donors,” the Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP) shared.
“The Shugsep Retreat Center is an important place that supports nuns in deep spiritual learning and long retreats. It follows the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and offers a peaceful space for meditation, rituals, and personal spiritual growth.”
Affiliated with the Nyingma tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, Shugsep Nunnery and Institute traces its Buddhist heritage and practices directly to Tibet and some of Tibet’s most influential female Vajrayana practitioners. In the 20th century, the original Shugsep Nunnery was home to the celebrated female master Shugsep Jetsun Rinpoche (1852–1953), one of the most illustrious female practitioners in Tibetan history and a recognized incarnation of the revered tantric yogini Machig Labdron (1055–1149).
Although the original Shugsep Nunnery in Tibet was destroyed in 1959 and the resident nuns forced to leave, the nunnery was re-established in India and officially inaugurated in December 2010. Along with Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Shugsep Nunnery and Institute was built and is completely supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project. Shugsep is now home to about 100 nuns, who have the opportunity to participate in a nine-year academic program of Buddhist philosophy, debate, Tibetan language and English.
“The Shugsep nuns story is one of perseverance, dedication, and hope,” the TNP related. “Many Shugsep nuns escaped from Tibet with nothing, not knowing how to read and write, traumatized in the prisons, beaten by the prison guards, and with many health problems.”
With the completion of the new center, eight nuns began their retreat on 30 March, following an initial ceremony led by Rinpoche Jigme Namgyal from Tso Pema at Rewalsar. He also conducted the first three days of basic teachings on retreat practice for the eight nuns.
Each of the nuns—who include six newly enthroned khenmos and two lopenmas who are trained teachers and practitioners—has previous retreat experience, so are prepared to undertake long and intensive practice.
“Before entering retreat, one of the khenmos spoke about her happiness and readiness to begin. She said that, as a retreat continues, she feels more happiness, inner peace, and mental clarity,” the TNP related. “As the mind settles and distractions fade, practitioners feel a deeper sense of contentment through simplicity, discipline, and steady awareness. She also said that practicing retreat helps turn intellectual understanding into direct experience, giving her and the other nuns the focused, disciplined time needed to truly absorb and apply what they’ve learned. Thus, the retreat is not merely an academic or ritual engagement, but a deeply experiential process aimed at transforming the practitioner’s mind at its core.”
The Tibetan Nuns Project provides education and humanitarian aid to refugee nuns from Tibet and Himalayan regions of India. Established under the auspices of the Tibetan Women’s Association and the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration, the TNP supports hundreds of nuns from all Tibetan Buddhist lineages and seven nunneries. Many of the nuns are refugees from Tibet, but the organization also reaches out to the Himalayan border areas of India, where women and girls have little access to formal education and religious training.
The new retreat center has accommodation for up to eight nuns at a time—with each of the eight self-contained rooms designed to meet their practical and spiritual needs, from personal washroom facilities to space for study and prostrations.
The building also includes a communal prayer hall where nuns in retreat can gather for teachings, group prayer, and to receive guidance from visiting teachers, and a shared kitchen/dining room where the nuns can warm food provided by the nunnery kitchen and make their own light meals and tea.
“By closing the door to the external world, practitioners gain uninterrupted time and space for focused practice. This dedicated time allows practitioners to explore deeper spiritual development,” emphasized the khenpo who is in charge of the nunnery.
“Retreat is not only for personal benefit. The wisdom and compassion deepened in solitude naturally flow outward, allowing practitioners to support and inspire others more meaningfully on their own spiritual path.
“We are truly fortunate and deeply grateful to have established a well-equipped retreat center within our nunnery, a milestone that marks a significant and long-awaited development for our community. This is not merely a new building; it is a sacred space dedicated to inner transformation and the deepening of spiritual practice.”
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Tibetan Nuns Project
Shugsep (Tibetan Nuns Project)
Sponsor a Nun (Tibetan Nuns Project)
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