Monastic Life

A treasury of information about the joys and challenges of life as a Buddhist monastic.

All Posts in Monastic Life

Tenzin Palmo at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, September 2006.
A Nun's Life

Equal opportunity for nuns

Interview with Buddhist nun Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on her work to raise the self-esteem of…

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Tibetan nuns smiling.
Tibetan Tradition

Conference on gelong-ma ordination

Results of the third seminar of vinaya scholars meeting in Dharamsala, India, to discuss the…

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Group of Tibetan nuns waiting to take vows.
Tibetan Tradition

A seminar to be organised by the Department of Relig...

This paper is a summary of much of the research done on the bhikshuni ordination…

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Bhikshuni and bhikshunis walking in 2 rows, with lay person spreading flowers on the path.
Tibetan Tradition

Research regarding the lineage of bhikshuni ordination

Possibility and validity of introducing bhikshuni ordination into the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

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Ven. Chodron, Ven. Jampa Tsedroen , Ven. Heng-Ching Shih and Ven. Lekshe Tsomo sitting and discussing on a table full of papers.
Tibetan Tradition

A new possibility

The importance of having bhikshunis in the world and how bhikshuni ordination can be established…

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A tibetan buddhist nun standing beside a peach blossom tree.
Tibetan Tradition

Bhikshuni ordination

Tracing bhikshuni ordination from the Buddha's time to the present and how the existence of…

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Tibetan nun smiling.
Tibetan Tradition

Bhikshunis in Mulasarvastivada vinaya tradition?

A request to Tibetan vinaya masters to develop a system of bhikshuni ordination.

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Ven. Chodron, Ven. Jampa Tsedroen , Ven. Heng-Ching Shih and Ven. Lekshe Tsomo sitting and discussing on a table full of papers.
Tibetan Tradition

A means to achieve bhiksuni ordination

A request to all upholders of the vinaya traditions, to work together to find a…

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Ven. Samten, Ven. Tarpa and Ven. Jigme smiling happily.
Theravada Tradition

Ordination: Sakyadhita’s heritage from the Buddha

A look at the importance of and challenges to keeping the Bhikshuni ordination alive.

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Ven. Chogkyi with other participants of the EML program.
Exploring Monastic Life 2005

Reflections on the first Exploring Monastic Life, 2005

The participants of the first EML course share how the program helped them look at…

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Venerable Chodron with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Tibetan Tradition

Making progress towards the development of bhikshuni...

Highlights the progress made within nunneries and seminaries for advancement of bhikshunis and geshe-mas.

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Venerable Chodron and a monk walking down a path, in conversation.
Western Buddhist Monastic Gatherings

Monastic practices

A discussion among Western and Asian monastics highlights some of the practices in their particular…

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