De DFLN bouwde in 2004 een nonnenklooster voor oudere nonnen in Nyerma, vlakbij Thiksey.

Deze vrouwen hebben hun hele leven hard gewerkt en kunnen nu samen in een klooster van hun oude dag genieten. Voor enkele van hen zoeken we nog sponsoren.

Voor 200 euro per jaar kunt u een oudere non steunen en bijdragen aan haar levensonderhoud, medicijnen, bril, gehoorapparaten, looptoestellen, enz.

De inkomsten van het guesthouse bij het klooster, waar u kunt logeren tussen mei en oktober, zorgt voor een deel van het inkomen van het klooster.

START NYERMA NUNNERY

In 1995 a Dutch delegation was present at a conference for Buddhist women in Ladakh, organized by the worldwide organization of Sakyadhita, founded in the US. These conferences are every other year organized in countries where there are Buddhist nuns. At that conference a newly ordained nun, Dr. Tenzin Palmo, gave an eye-opening talk about the deplorable situation at that time of Ladakhi nuns following Tibetan Buddhism. Then a woman from the Netherlands, present at the conference, got involved with the problems of the Ladakhi Nuns. She kept coming back time after time and realized that one person could not accomplish a necessary change for nuns in Ladakh. Then Dr. Palmo suggested that building a home for the older Ladakhi nuns would be a start for a new foundation.

DFLN

As a result of this suggestion: in 2003 the Dutch Foundation for Ladakhi Nuns (DFLN) was founded, with the goal: better housing for older nuns and better education for all nuns in Ladakh at that time.

The first board of directors of the DFLN was in contact with the Rinpoche of the famous Thiksey Monastery, who owned a beautiful, sacred piece of land between the 1000-year-old Stupa’s in Nyerma. Here Rinchen Zangpo started the first Buddhist University of Ladakh a thousand years ago. The ruins are still there.

This Rinpoche took the deplorable situations of the older nuns in Thiksey at heart and donated this land for building a nunnery with 15 rooms, including a kitchen, a room for prayers and bathroom facilities. That was the first big project of the DFLN in Ladakh: financing the building of a nunnery for this group of older nuns.

Rinpoche

The Thiksey Kenpo Rinpoche still has close contact with the nunnery, he feels himself responsible for the nunnery. He gets informed by the abys, Venerable Padma Dechen, who gave up her teaching job in order to run the nunnery and the guesthouse properly. She puts a lot of efforts in making it comfortable for the nuns and during the summer for the guests. She improved the water heating, soft matrasses for (western) guests, the vegetable garden. She supervises the maintenance of the walls, painting buildings, etc. She also supervises the replacement of the old solar system, donated by various sponsors from the Netherlands, the US and other countries.

Guesthouse: Source of income

Since 2005 a group of older nuns, until then living in poor and dirty cowsheds or with their families, started a new community of nuns in this nunnery. They had a local woman cooking for them, they started growing their own vegetables in their garden.

In 2006 the DFLN started the building of a guesthouse near the new nunnery, paid for by a Dutch NGO, Cordaid. This project was meant to give the nuns a chance to become self-supporting in the future. After finishing the guesthouse (with 6 rooms), guests discovered the quiet and special location of this guesthouse. Gradually the nuns generated a part of their own livelihood, partly by renting out the rooms, partly because of generous donations from the guests. The nuns are welcoming guests, they can always visit them in their rooms, they regularly make momo’s (special Tibetan dish) for the guests, visitors are welcome to their daily prayers in the now beautifully decorated temple.

Dalai Lama

In 2016 the Dali Lama visited the nunnery and he was very happy to see the progress for the nuns. For this special occasion the local government renewed the entire entrance road to this nunnery, which now makes it easier for guests and nuns to get to the nunnery or the guesthouse.

Lucky for the nuns, all neighbours are very sympathetic with the nuns. They help with cooking, decorating the temple for special events.

For a while young nuns lived with the older ones, but when it appeared that getting a higher education close by was a bit hard, the nuns moved to a higher school of learning for Tibetan Buddhist nuns in Dharamsala.

Future

Although the DFLN has a goal for nunneries with a large number of young nuns, who will finish their higher studies and become independent in the long run, the fact that in Nyerma all nuns are older makes it impossible for them to become completely self-supporting for food and health care. That is why it is important for sponsors to keep helping out in the near future. If you are willing to give this special group of nuns any support, please send them a donation.

Information:

Padma Dechen

Chattnyanling nunnery

Nyerma, Thiksey

Telephone: (whatsapp): 0091 941 9372668

Email address: dechenla@ymail.com

Bank Account in Ladakh: Padma Dechen D/O T.NURBOO 113659042 / SBIN0006937

Bank Account DFLN Netherlands: NL60 TRIO 0390 100560 IBAN:

When you use Dutch account, please mention: For Nyerma nunnery

www.ladakhununs.com