Being a Buddhist Nun is the title of an anthropological research conducted by Kim Gutschow. The book was published in 2004 by Harvard University Press. I happen to come across it whilst visiting Ladakh in 2014 to take part in the Kalachakra Initiation by HH Dalai Lama.
Dr Kim Gutschow spent over three years living with Ladakhi nuns and those nunneries are tucked away in a very remote area of the Indian Himalaya. I have been practicing Tibetan Buddhism for some years and was, when embarking on this journey to Ladakh, well informed about the monastic life of monks, but not about the life of nuns. Dr Gutschow’s book was a watershed moment for me and combined with meeting so many Buddhist nuns for the first time, I decided to embark on this (by then not-known) difficult journey to Zanskar.
Together with my partner and the rented Enfield, which we temporarily named Padmasambhava, we started in Leh the 400 km journey to Zanskar valley. It took us four days to reach Padam.
We encountered the most amazing landscape, outstanding natural beauty, though at the same time also an unvorgiving, challenging environment. Ladakh is a high altitude desert, bitingly cold in winter, blistering hot during the short summer.
In midst of this landscape, far away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, are the nunneries, nestled into the mountainous landscape. The nuns we met where the kindest spirited beings I happen to cross path with, despite the fact that their life is characterized by hardship. The nuns don’t have the same status as monks, the food donations from the community or family for instance is not as plentiful as for the male counterparts. The huts they live in are made by hand, there is no running water. The fuel for the harsh winter months is hard earned through field work. Still, what little the nuns have, they happily shared.
On a spiritual level, the main teachings are given by lamas from the nearby monasteries. Important annual rituals are exclusively done by monks too. Over all the nuns aspiration is to be re-born as male in order to continue their spiritual path as a monk and therefore reach enlightenment, eventually.
The situation is slowly changing though, thanks also to the initiative of the 14th Dalai Lama, who encourages nuns to embark on the path to become a Geshema. In 2016, the first time ever, 20 nuns were awarded the highest degree of Geshema within the monastic curriculum.
A bottle of Rum in a nunnery? Monty, how strange. It's for ritual purposes.
Carved prayers. Mani stones, Are strewn across.
One stone. On top of another, Equals a modest home.
Tiny door, Blessed space, A nunnery's treasure.