The Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP), a US-registered charity based in Seattle and in the Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India, announced that two of the nunneries it supports—Shugsep Nunnery and Institute and Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute of Buddhist Dialectics—held their annual graduation ceremonies earlier in April.
Shugsep Nunnery held its annual graduation ceremony on 5 April to recognize the academic achievements of the resident nuns. Dolma Ling Nunnery’s ceremony was held on 9 April to honor the top achievers of the 2024 final examinations,* the TNP said in an announcement shared with BDG.
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.
Chief guest for the Shugsep graduation ceremony was Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, speaker for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government-in-exile, who attended along with the TNP’s founding director and special advisor, Kasur Rinchen Khandro.
Khenpo Sonam presented certificates to fourth-, seventh-, and ninth-year student nuns. The achievements of first-year philosophical college students, first-year and fourth-year students, primary school students, and those who attained distinction for root-text memorization were also recognized.
Also attending were the secretary of the CTA’s Department of Religion and Culture, Dhondul Dorjee, and the TNP’s director in India, Nangsa Choedon.
Addressing the nuns, Khenpo Sonam underscored the deep commitments to study and practice expected of Buddhist monastics, including adherence to monastic vows, dedication to academic pursuits, and meditation. He emphasized: “If you remain unchanged year after year, your study, contemplation, and meditation are inadequate.”
Citing the Bodhicharyavatara, Shantideva’s text on the development of bodhicitta, Khenpo Sonam observed: “There is nothing that does not become easier through familiarization.” He concluded by calling for harmony among all monastics present, again quoting the Bodhicharyavatara: “May the sangha always be in harmony, and may the purposes of the sangha be fulfilled.”
The award ceremony for the Buddhist nuns of Dolma Ling was led by Kabjye Yongzin Ling Choktrul Rinpoche as chief guest. The CTA’s Dhondul Dorjee and the secretary of the CTA’s Department of Education, Jigme Namgyal, were also in attendance as special guests, alongside the TNP’s Kasur Rinchen Khando and Nangsa Choedon.
During the occasion, the nunnery’s principal spoke on the history and educational activities of Dolma Ling, then the special guests presented awards of academic excellence to the top-performing students.
Inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2005, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute of Buddhist Dialectics is located in Kangra Valley near Dharamsala in northern India. This non-sectarian nunnery was the first institute dedicated to higher Buddhist education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns from all traditions, and is fully funded by the TNP.
Some 270 nuns are fully engaged in study, practice, and nunnery work at Dolma Ling, as well as organizing self-sufficiency projects, such as tofu-making and producing handicrafts. In 2013, 10 of the Dolma Ling nuns made history when they took part in the first-year geshema examinations.**
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. Sponsor a nun.
* Tibetan Nuns Project Announces Results of the 2024 Geshema Exams for Buddhist Nuns (BDG)
** Dalai Lama Awards Historic Geshema Degrees to 20 Nuns and Twenty Tibetan Nuns Make History by Passing Geshema Degree (BDG) and Tibetan Nuns Project Announces New Record for Buddhist Nuns Taking Geshema Examinations this Year (BDG)
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Tibetan Nuns Project
Shugsep (Tibetan Nuns Project)
Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute (Tibetan Nuns Project)
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