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Nuns from eight different nunneries participated in the annual winter debate.
Photo: Tibet.net

Jang Gun Choe, the month-long annual winter debate for Buddhist nuns, was held this year from October 4 at the Dolma Ling Nunnery and Dialect institute. More than 500 nuns from 8 different nunneries, including 200 from Dolma Ling, participated in the event.

Kalon Pema Chinjor of the Department of Religion and Culture and Kasur Rinchen Khando, founder and chair person of Tibetan Nuns Project were the guests of honour at the opening ceremony.

During the address, Kasur (former Kalon) Rinchen Khando spoke on the importance of education for buddhist nuns and on the first ever nuns’ Geshema examination (the Geshema is the equivalent of a PhD in Buddhist Philosophy) held earlier this year.  Kasur spoke of the importance of the nuns achieving the Geshema Degree and stressed the need for an in-depth knowledge of Tibetan language in order to learn the true meaning of Tibetan buddhism, expressing her hope that Tibetan nunneries could become major centres of learning for the Tibetan language.

Kalon Pema Chinjor in his opening remark said that “Tibet’s most valuable wealth is Tibetan Buddhism and it is our duty to retain this wealth.  Even in the face of oppression, Tibetans inside Tibet have steadfastly upheld our Buddhist traditions. We, in the free world, should take it as an inspiration and work towards learning and understanding the rich knowledge that has been preserved in the Buddhist scriptures.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama met the participants of Jang Gun Choe on the final day.
Photo: OHHDL

On the final day of Jang Gun Choe His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with the nuns at the Main Temple and spoke to the nuns, addressing the controversy over bhikshunis ordination.  He said that this is not something that he alone can decide as it would mean overturning traditions that have been followed since the time of the Buddha’s son Rahula.  He emphasised the importance of realisation and encouraged nuns to embark on the study of buddhist philosophy.

Jang Gun Choe is an annual winter month-long debate between monasteries and nunneries which in Tibet is held in the Jang region, west of Lhasa.  The first ever Jang Gun Choe for nuns was held in Dharamshala in 1995 and this year marked the 19th winter debate session for nuns.