who we are
Our spiritual guide:
His
Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Orgyen
Trinley Dorje
Read about his strong stance on women's issues.
Other issues to which His Holiness has strong commitments include environmental protection and a non-sectarian approach to religious practice. For more on his environmental activism, visit the website of his projects.
the nuns of our community
At present, our community consists of four Western nuns ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. We share a deep commitment to living together as monastics, and working to develop a harmonious and joyful community for nuns. Small as we are, we have agreed not to take new members for an initial two-year period, to allow time to create a stable base on which to build later growth.Lhundup Damcho
After seven years as a
journalist in her hometown of New York and in Hong Kong,
Damcho was ordained as a sramanerika in 1999. She
studied Buddhist philosophy for seven years with Geshe Lhundup Sopa,
her preceptor, and produced the English translation of
the Sanghata Sutra. In 2009, Damcho received her PhD
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working
on Sanskrit and Tibetan narratives about Buddha's
female disciples. Damcho is currently
working on an English translation of
those stories. She is a disciple of His
Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje.Dharma talks by Damcho in Spanish may be downloaded from either of these two sites: Rechung Dorje Dragpa Center or budismopuertorico.org
tenzin dapel
Born in the German-speaking
part of Switzerland, Dapel worked four years as an
elementary schoolteacher before ordaining as a
Buddhist nun at the age of 28. She received
her sramanerika vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and has lived since then in monastic comnmunities in India. She is currently engaged in Tibetan language studies, and spiritual training under the guidance of her lama, His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa.
tenzin nangpel
Born to Polish and Mexican parents and raised
in Mexico, Tenzin Nangpel has a degree in law, and had a career as a
researcher in Mexico's anthropology bureau. She is
also a qualified aikido master, and had her own dojo in Mexico. Nangpel
studied Dharma in the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions in
Xalapa, Mexico, and co-translated the Sanghata
Sutra into Spanish. She attended several years
of summer instruction in Buddhist philosophy from Geshe
Lhundup Sopa,
and then went forth as a Buddhist nun, receiving her sramanerika vows
from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2008. Nangpel is undergoing
intensive meditation training, having received instruction
from Tai Situ Rinpoche. karma lodro drolma
Born in Mexico City, Drolma
has a degree in psychology, and left a successful career
as manager of a Radisson Hotel in Mexico to pursue her
spiritual path in India. After an initial hair-cutting from her lama
His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa, Drolma was ordained by
Thrangu Rinpoche earlier this year, to become the newest
member of our community. Drolma is currently engaged in an intensive
course of
meditation training.