Afternoon Tea with a Geshe-ma

Join us for an informal afternoon of tea and conversation with a Geshe-ma, visiting with her student and friend Jen. The Geshe-ma degree is the highest level of training in the Gelugpa tradition and is equivalent to a PhD in Tibetan Buddhism. The degree was only formally opened to women in 2012. This is a chance to enjoy an informal chat over tea and biscuits, and continue the conversation about women and Buddhism, the role of study, and the special challenges and rewards of being part of a trailblazing cohort of exceptional women.

Geshe-ma became a nun when she was 11 years old, and after that lived in a nunnery in Bhutan. But there was not much opportunity to study Buddhist Philosophy, so in 1993 she joined Jamyang Choling Institute and began formal classes.

Geshe-ma studied in-depth the five major texts in Gelug tradition; the Parjapramita, Madyamika, Logic, Abidarmakosa, and Vinaya. She says that on the completion of these 17 years of studies she feels “we are lucky, we have a good chance to study Buddhism and also I receive to His Holiness teachings often.”

Candidates for the Geshe-ma degree are examined on the entirety of their 17-year course of study of the Five Great Canonical Texts. To qualify to begin the Geshe-ma process, nuns must score 75% or above in their studies to be eligible to sit for the Geshe-ma exams.

In 2011, a German nun Kelsang Wangmo, spent 21 years training in India, becoming the first woman to receive the Geshe degree, even before the degree was officially approved in 2012. It wasn’t until 2016 that HH the Dalai Lama awarded 20 Tibetan Buddhist nuns with Geshe-ma degrees at a special graduation ceremony held at Drepung Monastery in Mundgod, South India.

Sixty nuns now hold the Geshe-ma degree as of November 2023, paving the way for other nuns to follow in their footsteps. This degree makes them eligible to assume various leadership roles in their monastic and lay communities reserved for degree holders and hence previously not open to women.