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Walking up toward the Keydong Nunnery you hear the high pitched sound of young girls in their morning puja. The adorable seven-year-olds are particularly boisterous, as if they believe the louder they pray, the more likely their prayers will be heard. Their smiles and shy glances show no sign of the difficulties they have faced in their young lives. Many of these girls were separated from their families and made their way over the high passes of the Himalayan Mountains with the help of strangers. They managed to arrive safely at the nunnery where they now have a warm, loving home and can learn and practice their faith.

Ani Chodon introduced us to the newest handful of nuns that just arrived. These girls are in their late teens and old enough to appreciate the gravity of the situation in Tibet. They have a solemn look about them—no doubt they too have had a hard and painful journey to get here.

Fighting back the tears brimming in her eyes, Ani Chodon talks her own arrival in Nepal. She and a group of nuns escaped from Tibet in 1959 shortly after the Dalai Lama left. With the help of three other nuns, they carried with them a statue (weighing well over a hundred pounds), which they consider the essence of their nunnery. They spent more than twenty years living in the mountains before making their way to Kathmandu with nothing more than their statue.

Today the large and active nunnery shows little sign of its slender beginnings. There are 92 women and girls studying and living here, and for new arrivals, Ani Choudon gives priority to girls who have escaped from Tibet. An intricate sand mandala sits near the alter—the nuns at Keydong were among the first women to study this ancient art, a practice traditionally reserved for monks. In a short time the nuns will be reminded of the beautiful impermanence of life by ceremoniously dismantling the sands and sending them out into the world.

Although Keydong is bustling, the nunnery’s survival is always uncertain. $240 protects and cares for a small nun seeking refuge and study for a year—giving her a peaceful home and teaching her Buddhist practices.

Tracy Mills
Just back from Nepal

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