Background  Information

        In the last years of the 1980's a river of over two hundred Tibetan Buddhist nuns began to flow into the exiled Tibetan communities of India and Nepal. Most of them started their lives as farm girls, spending days full with the work of growing barley and wheat, tending yak and sheep, and caring for younger children. All of them, however, stopped and stepped aside. Leaving behind hopes for marriage and motherhood they chose a life of celibacy, study, and religious devotion.
        The nuns in Tibet set themselves upon a difficult, sometimes harsh path. Only a handful of nunneries have been rebuilt after the destruction from the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the years of the 'Cultural Revolution'. Nuns must often live and practice independently, without the support and nurture of a religious community and without access to teachers. Those who have joined nunneries find themselves cleaning up debris and rebuilding temples and rooms. They are left with little time for religious ritual or study. Nuns also find themselves embroiled in a confrontation between Tibetan cultural and religious practice, and antagonistic Chinese imperialism. Chinese officers assigned to each nunnery impose political education sessions. Political informers create a climate of fear and hostility. Often, the nuns cannot travel on pilgrimage, attend teachings, or even decide daily schedules without Chinese permission. A nun's life is necessarily a statement of opposition to Chinese occupation and control, while it is also an affirmation of Tibetan culture. Ideals of compassion and sacrifice, combined with a belief in the right to practice Buddhism freely and fully, create a tremendous will to free Tibet from China. For these women, religious freedom means Tibetan freedom. Demonstrations are born of frustration and indignation. Far from the grand scale of Tienanmen Square, they are often small gestures of defiance. A nun will step onto a box in the central marketplace of Lhasa and pull out a Tibetan flag from her robes; a small group will go into the city at night and put up posters they have written in hiding, or begin shouting slogans while circling the Jo Khang temple.
        The nuns describe success in terms of how many times they make it around the Jo Khang before being arrested, because arrest is almost inevitable. They know what awaits them. Such knowledge transforms small, and seemingly futile, gestures into acts of profound courage. Imprisonment lasts for a few months to as much as three years. It means torture, repeated interrogation, humiliation, and deprivation. Interrogators inevitably ask for the names of leaders, but few nuns talk, not only because of their commitment and strength, but because there are no leaders. It is a movement without organization, a spontaneity fired by desperation. After imprisonment and expulsion from the nunneries, nuns often remain under house arrest. They are forbidden to join in community events and are fined for any external sign of religious practice. Denied ration cards and the permits necessary to earn a living, they become burdens on their families and are isolated from the rest of the community. Many decide to come to India, drawn to the protection and hope of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan community in exile.

Return to Main page  |  Specific Projects  |  The Nuns  |  Donations & Sponsorships

All material copyright © The Tibetan Nuns Project.