By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 22 MAY: An inaugural two-day conference on women’s empowerment in Tibetan Buddhism was held at the auditorium of the Dalai Lama Library and Archives in Dharamsala from 20 to 21 May, with the participation of over 80 nuns from 13 nunneries across India and Nepal.

Jointly organised by the Department of Religion under the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), in collaboration with the Dalai Lama Trust and with support from the Tibetan Nuns Project and the Tibetan Women’s Association, the conference featured panel discussions on key issues concerning nuns in Tibetan Buddhism. These included the institutionalisation of the Geshema degree—the highest academic qualification, first conferred in 2016 and historically reserved for male monks as the Geshe degree—as well as the continued absence of full Bhikshuni (Gelongma) ordination in the Tibetan Mulasarvastivada Vinaya tradition...