Nagi Gompa, nestled high in the Himalayan foothills above the Kathmandu Valley, is home to over 300 nuns from all over the region, who devote their lives to study, practice, and meditation.
Previously, every nun at Nagi Gompa could request to do a three-year retreat, a historically rarer opportunity when compared to their male counterparts.
Three-year retreats are a centuries-old practice in which Tibetan Buddhists fully isolate themselves in order to pursue one-pointedly the realization of the Buddha’s teachings. At Nagi Gompa, an unusually large number of nuns (fully two thirds of them) have completed the traditional three-year retreat, some more than once, and hold the title of “Retreat Lama.” They emerge from this practice with extraordinary qualities of insight and compassion and are able to benefit others through teaching, serving, and offering counsel on the spiritual path. In this way, they are beacons of wisdom and compassion for the world.
That all changed in April 2015 when a devastating earthquake struck Nepal, leaving the three-year retreat facility and many other buildings at Nagi Gompa uninhabitable. A retreat that was planned for the coming spring had to be cancelled until the retreat center could be rebuilt. A new three-year retreat facility was designed, but put on hold pending funding. Now, with the Pema Chodron grant, and your help, a new group of nuns will be able to enter into a three-year retreat and receive the benefits on the Buddha’s teaching.
Joining together to support the completion of this essential project creates an inexhaustible, ever-increasing wealth of merit which can be dedicated to the benefit of all beings.
We hope that you will join us in making this virtuous project a reality.