DGK Nunneries

At present there are two main nunneries under the management of Druk Gawa Khilwa Abbey, one in Kortsa, a remote mountainous area in Ladakh, and one in Kathmandu, Nepal. Those of us who are in solitary retreat stay in Kortsa and those of us who are learning Buddhist philosophy and rituals and being trained are staying in Kathmandu. At any one time, we are divided into two groups, taking turns to learn and practice in either locations.

A few nunneries are in the midst of being set up, one in Lahaul (Garsha) and one more in Nepal in the immediate pipeline.

His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa takes personal care of us, our physical health and our spiritual development. He hopes to work together with a few masters of the Drukpa Lineage, who shares his vision of providing female practitioners equal opportunities as their male counterparts, to revive a spiritual lineage of Yoginis, unique and precious to his lineage in particular.

In October 2007, His Holiness handpicked 6 nuns to start them on the practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa. He had initially hoped to send them to H.E. Trulshik Adeu Rinpoche to be trained under the latter's guidance. Sadly, Rinpoche passed away unexpectedly in July 2007. Now, His Holiness has taken upon himself to train qualified nuns who have completed a certain number of preliminary practices, so that they will eventually be qualified to undertake Tantric Buddhist practices which will lead them on the path of enlightenment, within one lifetime.