Building Keydong Nunnery

Spring 2004

Dear Friends,

Tashi delek and Happy Losar (Tibetan New Year, February 21)! I hope that you are all well. I am writing to give you all the annual update for the Keydong Thuk-Che-Cho-Ling Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal. This past fall, we had the good fortune to have Ani Tendol La, Administrator for the Nunnery, visiting with us from September to January. We also were blessed with a short visit from Ani Yeshe La, now the Abbess of the Nunnery. Besides honing her already quite excellent English skills, Ani Tendol La taught guest classes at Trinity College in Hartford and led a number of pujas in the Greater Hartford area. These pujas were part of a directed fund raising effort for an important project that is happening at the Nunnery.

The Keydong Nunnery has always been in the forefront of education for monastic women. Nuns from Keydong were among the first to learn the sacred art of mandala (a practice previously restricted to monks). In fact, our very strong link with Keydong began in 1998 when nuns from Keydong, with Ani Tendol La as translator, came to create the mandala of compassion at Trinity College. That event, which attracted over 2,000 visitors, was not only memorable, but also transformational for many of us. More recently the nuns have been learning the art of mani, an oral storytelling tradition that communicates the spiritual and cultural values of Tibetan Buddhism to lay audiences and threatens to go into extinction without this important revival.

For as long as I have been acquainted with the Nunnery, the dream has existed for a library and classrooms to house the ongoing educational development of the nuns at Keydong. Classes in English, Tibetan, and the religious and philosophical foundations of Tibetan Buddhism now take place in the courtyard or in various rooms of the nunnery. The library and classrooms will not only provide the appropriate spaces for educational endeavors, but the library itself will be a vital repository for important religious texts. Both the library and classrooms together will be a vital symbol of Keydong's progressive commitment to women's education.

Rinchen Dharlo, President of the Tibet Fund, has been a pivotal catalyst in the realization of the library project. He has been joined by Daidie Donnelly, author of Sorrow Mountain (the story of revolutionary Tibetan Buddhist nun Ani Pachen), Ani Tendol La, nunnery representative, and myself. Together we have spearheaded a fund raising campaign directed toward raising $50,000 for the building of the library and classrooms ($35,000) as well as purchasing the necessary books and furnishings ($15,000). We have already raised $15,000!

This year, in addition to looking for sponsors for the twenty nuns at the Nunnery still without sponsorship, we are seeking moneys for the completion of the library project. I am including with this letter further information about Ani Pachen, after whom the library will be named. Your generous support is so greatly appreciated. Please help to make this major educational effort a reality and/or consider being a sponsor of a nun. We now have 22 sponsors from America as a result of Ani Tendol La and the senior nuns' visits and this annual letter!

Again, my deepest and heartfelt thanks to you all for making a significant difference to the nunnery and also for contributing to the vision of a world that is more peaceful and compassionate.

My very best regards,

Judy Dworin
Trinity College Coordinator of The Keydong Nunnery Fund and Chair, Theater and Dance Department
Trinity College
300 SUMMIT STREET
HARTFORD, CT 06106-3100
www.trincoll.edu