The Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP), a US-registered charity based in Seattle and in the Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India, has announced that this year’s cohort of geshema exam candidates has set a new record once again, with 147 Tibetan Buddhist nuns undergoing various levels of their geshema examination process.
This year’s exams are being held at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod, southern India, from 21 July–15 August. As in previous years, the candidates gathered in advance for a one-month study period before the roughly two weeks of written exams and oral debates begin. Last year saw 132 nuns take part.
“There are 15 more nuns than last year’s record 132, and 53 more nuns than in 2022,” the TNP explained in an announcement shared with BDG. “No exams were held in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. All being well, there will be 13 more geshemas formally graduating this fall.”
The geshema degree is the highest academic degree in Gelugpa tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism and was only recently made available to Buddhist nuns.* Like the geshe degree for male monastics, it is roughly equivalent to a PhD in Tibetan Buddhist studies. The rigorous exams take four years to complete, with one set held each year. To date, 54 Buddhist nuns have earned this degree. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, geshema examinations were cancelled in 2020 and 2021, and resumed in 2022.**
“The geshema degree enables Tibetan Buddhist nuns to become teachers, leaders, and role models,” the TNP noted. “It makes these dedicated women eligible to assume various leadership roles in their monastic and lay communities reserved for degree holders and hence previously not open to women.”
The nuns taking part in the examinations are from seven nunneries in India and Nepal: first-year exams: 45 nuns; second-year exams: 37 nuns; third-year exams: 52 nuns; fourth- and final-year exams: 13 nuns.
“The fact that growing numbers of women are achieving equality with men in the highest levels of Buddhist monasticism, by earning the equivalent of doctorate degrees, is joyous and of enormous importance to the world,” said Tibetan Nuns Project board member Steve Wilhelm. “This means that women monastics will be leading more monastic institutions, and will be teaching other women and men. Humanity needs this gender equity if we are to navigate perilous times ahead.”
The TNP explained that as of June 2024, 60 nuns held the geshema degree since the formal approval in 2012:
2016: 20 nuns became geshemas
2017: six nuns graduated as geshemas
2018: 10 nuns became geshemas
2019: seven nuns graduated at the end of November
2020: exams canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021: exams canceled for a second year due to the pandemic
2022: 10 nuns became geshemas
2023: seven nuns graduated as geshemas at the sixth convocation ceremony
“There’s a dramatic increase in nuns taking their geshema exams,” the TNP emphasized. “The geshema are paving the way for other nuns to follow in their footsteps and the momentum is building. Not long ago, this increased status of nuns was almost unimaginable and we are so grateful for your support to educate and empower these dedicated women!”
Geshema candidates are examined on the entirety of their 17-year course of study of the five major canonical texts covering the Abhidharma (higher knowledge), Prajnaparamita (the perfection of wisdom), Madhyamaka (Middle Way), Pramana (logic), and the Vinaya (moral and ethical conduct). During the course of their studies, the candidates must achieve a score at least 75 per cent to be considered eligible to sit for the geshema examinations.
“We are extremely grateful to the 159 donors to the Geshema Endowment, which funds the annual exams, including the Pema Chodron Foundation, the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Frederick Family Foundation, and the Donaldson Charitable Trust,” the TNP added. “We are also very grateful to everyone who sponsors a nun and helps them on their path.”
Click here for information on ways to support the work of the Tibetan Nuns Project
The Tibetan Nuns Project provides education and humanitarian aid to refugee nuns from Tibet and Himalayan regions of India. Established under the auspices of the Tibetan Women’s Association and the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration, the TNP supports hundreds of nuns from all Tibetan Buddhist lineages and seven nunneries. Many of the nuns are refugees from Tibet, but the organization also reaches out to the Himalayan border areas of India, where women and girls have little access to education and religious training.
* The Central Tibetan Administration reached this unanimous and historic decision on 19 May 2012 after a two-day meeting in Dharamsala attended by high lamas, representatives of nuns from six nunneries, and members of the Tibetan Nuns Project.
** Tibetan Nuns Project Announces 10 New Geshema Graduates at Ceremony in Bodh Gaya (BDG)
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