Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery
In 2000, Tenzin Palmo opened the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery. For years her root guru, the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche, had urged her to take on a monastery of her own. He died before the doors opened, but one of his reincarnations now acts as the nunnery's Spiritual Director. The 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche is the one who chose the name Dongyu Gatsal Ling, which translates as "Garden of the Authentic Lineage."
The aims laid out for the place are fairly concrete. It offers a program built around study, meditation and service, and it trains nuns to thread Dharma principles through the ordinary routine of daily life and work. A life anchored in monastic vows and shared harmony sits at the center, with the longer hope of bringing back bhikshuni, the higher monastic ordination. There is also the goal of reviving the Togdenma, the yogini tradition of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage, and preparing some of the nuns to teach meditation or go on to become teachers and professors after higher philosophical study.
The start was modest. One small room inside Tashi Jong, the Rinpoche's founding community, was where it all began. Young nuns began showing up within the first year to help Palmo's idea take root. At first there were fewer than twenty-one of them, learning philosophy along with Tibetan and English. Later they shifted into an old mud brick building, which freed the Khampagar Monastery to restart the college the nuns had been occupying.
A trust connected to the nunnery bought seven acres, and construction on a proper building could finally go ahead. The nuns moved in during 2005. The site keeps expanding and is expected to house more than a hundred nuns eventually. It currently holds two dormitories, a study center, a small clinic and a retreat center, alongside a few other structures. A traditional Tibetan temple went up after the 2007 monsoon; its murals, pillars and paintings were still being added as the work continued.
Roughly seventy-five nuns now live there. Most arrive from Nepal, Lahaul and Darjeeling. Each one is ordained by the 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche, with novice ordination following a year after arrival in the presence of senior monks. Some enter as young as twelve, often with barely any schooling behind them.
Once admitted, a nun begins a six-year program. The first year leans heavily on Tibetan language, since everything else depends on it. Khenpo Ngawang handles the Buddhist philosophy, assisted by two senior nuns, and the students argue the material out through debate to sharpen their understanding. English gets taught as well, so the nuns can manage beyond the walls of the grounds. There are ritual courses and a two-month retreat built into the schedule. When the six years are finished, a nun may go into long retreat the way Palmo herself once did. Five have already undertaken strict retreats lasting two years or more.
Finishing a long retreat makes a nun eligible for Togdenma training. The Togdenma are "realized ones" who take the ascetic road. Yogis of both sexes have chosen this life out of compassion, hoping to reach enlightenment quickly. The tradition nearly vanished during the Cultural Revolution, which set out to erase Tibetan Buddhism. It once counted several accomplished nuns among its ranks, and the women at DGL are now working to bring that training back to life. Four of them have passed four years of strict retreat already. Palmo's push to restore these practices has strong backing from the male lamas of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage.
Palmo was not ready for a project like this when she first became a nun. Her root guru had asked her more than once to lead a monastery before his death, and each time she knew she wasn't prepared. That changed after her long cave retreat. She emerged ready to face the hard work of building a community, and with senior monks behind her she started raising funds. The book written about her life carried the idea further and drew in more support.
The nunnery continues to grow quickly, sustained by the spiritual encouragement of the surrounding monastic community. Volunteers travel from all over the world to help build out what Palmo imagined: a place for realized nuns. She still hopes to return to retreat someday, yet for now she stays at the helm of DGL's growth, telling women they can reach for whatever they set their minds to. - Kate Mattes