Tibetan Nuns Project

The Tibetan Nuns Project is a nonprofit organization established to support Buddhist female monastics from Tibetan Buddhist traditions who live in India. Its work combines humanitarian assistance, education, religious development, and long-term support for nunneries. The organization serves nuns from several Tibetan Buddhist lineages, including Gelug, Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya communities, rather than representing only one school. The project emerged in response to the arrival of large numbers of Tibetan Buddhist nuns in India during the late 1980s and 1990s. Many had left Tibet under difficult and dangerous circumstances and reached refugee communities with little money, few possessions, limited literacy, and significant physical or emotional hardship. The organization’s roots are associated with the Department of Religion and Culture of the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Women’s Association. Its broad purpose has been to improve the living conditions, educational opportunities, and status of ordained Tibetan women. TNP’s support extends beyond emergency relief. It provides basic care, accommodation-related assistance, schooling, literacy instruction, traditional Buddhist education, and practical skills needed for life in the modern world. The project also helps preserve and strengthen forms of Tibetan Buddhist learning historically available to monks but less accessible to women. Its educational model includes scriptural study, philosophy, language, ritual practice, community responsibilities, and preparation for advanced religious qualifications. The organization supports seven nunneries in northern India as well as some nuns living independently. Its most prominent institutional initiative is Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, described as the first institute specifically dedicated to higher education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns. The institution accepts nuns from different traditions and offers a long academic program designed to prepare graduates for advanced Buddhist scholarship and the Geshema degree, the female equivalent of the Geshe qualification. TNP also fully supports Shugsep Nunnery, a Nyingma institution whose lineage is connected with important female teachers in Tibetan Buddhism. Its academic program prepares nuns for advanced Nyingma study and teaching. Other supported institutions include Gaden Choeling Nunnery, the oldest nunnery in Dharamsala; Tilokpur Nunnery, a Kagyu institution offering scriptural, ritual, and foundational study; Sherab Choeling in Spiti Valley; and Sakya College for Nuns near Dehradun, which follows the Sakya tradition’s course of study. The Tibetan Nuns Project therefore functions less like a conventional consumer-facing brand than an international nonprofit and institutional support organization. Its public identity is associated with the welfare, empowerment, education, and religious advancement of Tibetan Buddhist nuns. Its work also contributes to the continuity of Tibetan Buddhist culture in exile by enabling women to become scholars, teachers, ritual specialists, administrators, and leaders within their communities.

Tibetan Buddhist nunneries have a long historical background. Convent communities were established in Tibet by at least the twelfth century, with traditions reaching further back into the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Before the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949, hundreds of nunneries reportedly existed across Tibet and housed tens of thousands of nuns. Their activities traditionally included reading, writing, scripture and prayer instruction, ritual services for lay communities, embroidery, sewing, and the rotating administrative and maintenance work required to operate a religious institution. The political and social upheaval following the Chinese takeover disrupted this institutional system. During the late 1980s and 1990s, many Tibetan Buddhist nuns left Tibet and traveled to refugee communities in India and Nepal. The journeys were often dangerous and arduous. Some nuns had experienced imprisonment or torture, while others arrived with serious physical and emotional difficulties. Many had no financial resources or personal possessions, and a substantial proportion had received little or no formal education. Against this background, the Tibetan Nuns Project was established in the mid-1980s under the auspices of the Department of Religion and Culture associated with the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Women’s Association. Its initial purpose was to assist refugee nuns from Tibet, while also addressing the wider educational and social position of ordained Tibetan women. The organization’s responsibilities developed around two connected priorities: meeting immediate welfare needs and creating lasting opportunities for religious and secular education. By 1996, the project was responsible for approximately 400 nuns in Dharamsala, with the population expected to grow as additional nuns arrived from Tibet, Ladakh, and other parts of India. The organization subsequently developed a network of support for seven nunneries in northern India, together with assistance for some nuns living outside formal institutions. Its approach has involved both direct care and investment in the physical and educational infrastructure of nunneries. Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute became the project’s most significant educational development. Built and fully supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project, it was created specifically to provide advanced education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns and to welcome students from different Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Its extended program combines Buddhist philosophy, traditional learning, and preparation for advanced scholarly recognition. Graduates are intended to become eligible for the Geshema degree, the women’s equivalent of the Geshe degree and an important marker of advanced training in Tibetan Buddhist studies. The project also fully supports Shugsep Nunnery, a Nyingma institution re-established in India. Shugsep preserves a lineage associated with prominent female teachers and provides a long course of study leading to advanced qualifications in the Nyingma tradition. Other institutions supported by TNP reflect the diversity of Tibetan Buddhism. Gaden Choeling Nunnery represents the Gelug tradition and is identified as Dharamsala’s oldest nunnery. Tilokpur Nunnery, also known as Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling, provides Kagyu scriptural and ritual education alongside a basic study program. Sherab Choeling in Spiti Valley offers an intensive course for resident nuns in a region where advanced opportunities for women’s monastic education had been limited. Sakya College for Nuns near Dehradun provides the Sakya tradition’s full course of study. Through these institutions, the Tibetan Nuns Project has helped expand the role of Tibetan Buddhist nuns beyond traditional ritual and domestic responsibilities. Its programs support literacy, philosophical study, religious qualifications, community administration, and the preparation of women to teach other monastics. The organization’s continuing identity is therefore grounded in the intersection of refugee support, women’s religious education, cultural preservation, and the strengthening of Tibetan Buddhist communities in exile.

• 1996

  Support for approximately 400 nuns in Dharamsala

  [1]Tibetan Nuns Projecten.wikipedia.org

  The project was reported to be responsible for about 400 nuns in Dharamsala, with further arrivals from Tibet, Ladakh, and elsewhere in India.

• 1949

  Disruption following the Chinese invasion of Tibet

  [1]Tibetan Nuns Projecten.wikipedia.org

  The invasion and subsequent repression disrupted Tibetan religious institutions and contributed to the later displacement of many Tibetan Buddhist nuns.

• Historical foundations of Tibetan Buddhist nunneries

  [1]Tibetan Nuns Projecten.wikipedia.org

  Tibetan Buddhist nunneries had established traditions by at least the twelfth century, with earlier roots, and provided religious instruction, ritual services, crafts, and community administration.

• Tibetan Nuns Project established

  [1]Tibetan Nuns Projecten.wikipedia.org

  The project was established in the mid-1980s under the auspices of the Department of Religion and Culture associated with the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Women’s Association.

• Development of Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

  [1]Tibetan Nuns Projecten.wikipedia.org

  TNP built and fully supported Dolma Ling as an institute dedicated specifically to higher education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns from multiple traditions.

A nonprofit support and education organization focused on the welfare, empowerment, preservation of learning, and advancement of Tibetan Buddhist nuns in exile.

• Higher monastic education

  Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute

  Dolma Ling is the Tibetan Nuns Project’s principal higher-education institution for Buddhist nuns. It is open to nuns from different Tibetan Buddhist traditions and provides an extended program in Buddhist philosophy, scripture, language, and religious practice. The course is designed to prepare graduates for advanced scholarly standing and eligibility for the Geshema degree, the female equivalent of the Geshe qualification.

• Nyingma monastic education

  Shugsep Nunnery

  Shugsep Nunnery is a Nyingma institution re-established in India and fully supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project. It preserves a lineage associated with prominent female teachers and offers a multi-year academic program. Graduates may receive advanced Nyingma qualifications and continue toward higher-level research and teaching roles.

• Gelug monastic education

  Gaden Choeling Nunnery

  Gaden Choeling is a Gelug institution identified as the oldest nunnery in Dharamsala. It is part of the network of northern Indian nunneries supported by the Tibetan Nuns Project and contributes to the continuation of Gelug religious study and practice among Tibetan Buddhist women.

• Kagyu monastic education

  Tilokpur Nunnery

  Also known as Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling, Tilokpur Nunnery is a Kagyu institution offering scriptural and ritual training together with a foundational study program. It provides a setting in which nuns can combine religious practice with structured education and community responsibilities.

• Regional monastic education

  Sherab Choeling

  Sherab Choeling is located in the Spiti Valley and has resident nuns undertaking a rigorous course of study. The institution represents an important educational opportunity for women in the region and is described as an early program of its kind for Spiti’s Buddhist nuns.

• Sakya monastic education

  Sakya College for Nuns

  Sakya College for Nuns, located near Dehradun, provides the full course of study followed by monks at Sakya College. Its inclusion in the TNP-supported network extends advanced institutional education to women within the Sakya tradition.

1. 1Tibetan Nuns Projecten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Tibetan Nuns Project official websitetnp.org