Jamyang Choling is a non-profit, non-sectarian project to provide study programs for nuns of the Tibetan tradition. It has grown out of an adult literacy program for nuns which was conducted in 1988 and is developing into a comprehensive program of studies in Buddhist philosophy and languages, also offering training in meditation and administrative skills. This training will equip the nuns to initiate similar programs in their own localities.

The aim of Jamyang Choling is to nurture the learning capabilities of Buddhist women and to inspire confidence in their abilities to develop as teachers, counselors, community workers, role models and spiritual guides to others, especially women.

In order to help create a balance in standards of religious education for men and women, Jamyang Choling plans to provide training in spiritual development, monastic discipline, Buddhist studies, and both Buddhist and modern languages. Women of different nationalities, both ordained and lay women interested in the monastic life, would be given an opportunity to train for between six months and ten years. Such a course of training would help them to fulfill their spiritual commitment as mindful and compassionate individuals, and to move forward into meaningful activities for the benefit of society at large.

At present the project is based in Dharamsala, India, and involves twenty-four people of various nationalities as students, teachers and facilitators. Already a branch of Jamyang Choling has been established in a remote region of Zanskar, Ladakh, which is providing education for forty nuns. Many others are eager to enter the Jamyang Choling study program from such distant areas as Arunchal Pradesh and Spiti, where religious education for women is virtually non-existent, but the present facilities in Dharamsala are painfully limited.

At present Jamyang Choling is funded only through occasional donations. If you would like to help the nuns to continue their educauon and create a more permanent facility, please send your donation to: Jamyang Choling, 5404 Taft Avenue, La Jolla, CA 92037. Tel.619-456-1140