An evening with the Kung Fu Nuns

Introduction

On March 25, we had a very interesting webinar featuring Jigme Rupa Lhamo and Jigme Yangchen Ghamo. They are part of a group of young nuns from the ancient Drukpa lineage of Buddhism. These nuns have adopted Kung Fu as a way to build inner strength and confidence while championing gender equality. They have broken centuries-old traditions – like a ban on exercise for nuns – and a social order that favors men in leadership roles. These nuns have empowered themselves to serve and empower others. Their work has made a big difference in a region where there are major problems like human trafficking, border violence and attempts at forced religious conversions.

About the speakers

Jigme Rupa hails from Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh, India. She is the only daughter of her parents and is loved by everyone. Now, she works to make sure every girl feels valued. Kung Fu helps her keep calm and meditate. She hopes girls around the world feel safe and have equal opportunities.

Jigme Ghamo was only 10 years old when she became a nun. Growing up, she used to feel shy to have a conversation but now she is featured in CNN’s Great Big Story. She is a born leader and believes in women becoming their own heroes.

A life of service

These nuns are known for their epic acts of service to society. They travel to remote villages to explain the benefits of environmental conservation. They champion women’s empowerment and speak out against human trafficking. The nuns are often the first to reach remote villages after natural disasters like earthquakes which are common in the region. They also run free health clinics, rescue injured animals, and manually remove thousands of pounds of plastic litter from across the Himalayas and India.

Role models to other women

The Kungfu nuns serve as role models to an entire generation of women that now feel empowered to protect themselves and make a change in their communities.

The nuns believe that women are gifted with special powers. If they are given an opportunity, they can prove themselves. They do not expect any special favours. All they request is a level playing field. It is unfair to women to make them stay at home and do household chores and limit their education or prevent them from going out to work. Today, there are over 700 Drukpa nuns, with a long waiting list of women and girls who hope one day to join their ranks.

What does "Jigme" in their title mean?

Jigme in front of their names means fearless, bold or nirbhay. Their message is – you should keep fighting to break free from your oppression. You don’t have to remain silent and subdued - talk about your story, teach others about what women are capable of. They wanted to do something good for the world – to give back to nature and help people live better, happier and more empowered lives. Driven by their belief that girls have their own power and they can defend themselves, the Kung Fu Nuns extol the need to be their own heroes. ‘Building Oneself’ is strongly enmeshed with the dharma of ‘Helping Others’.

Challenges & Transformation in the Life of a Kung Fu Nun

At various stages the challenges for the nuns are primarily three-fold:

1. Self: in dealing with doubt vs belief, largely in the initial stages.
2. Family: in overcoming the power of loved ones and managing to share that power of love for the larger good. Initial stages and occasionally too.
3. Community: ability to give against criticism based on appearance and perception- at all stages. The transformation among nuns equips them in handling activities ranging from disaster relief to Covid relief, rescue of girls to rescue of animals, addressing dangers of society to dangers of jungle.

The transformation among nuns equips them in handling activities ranging from disaster relief to Covid relief, rescue of girls to rescue of animals, addressing dangers of society to dangers of jungle.

Interestingly, the life of a Kung Fu Nun epitomises the spirit of “First Break All Rules” by harnessing the physical and mental strengths. Also by breaking all the prevailing perceptions.

Daily routine

The nuns are trained to do a variety of tasks. Indeed, their daily schedule is packed and meaningful. They wake up at 3 am and then, do their meditation and prayers. After breakfast, they attend classes which cover a range of practical subjects. After a lunch break between 12 and 2 pm, they practise Kungfu. At 4pm, they have tea. They do their evening prayers at the main temple. They eat light and then go to sleep. Saturday is a holiday and they often go out to clean the surroundings.

Action with compassion

What the nuns do could be rightly called action with compassion. They are concerned about society. But instead of spending all their time on meditation and prayers, which is the expectation of the traditional Buddhist monks, they want to go out into the world outside and do things that will benefit society in general and women in particular. They have rescued girls from tracking, helped people during earthquakes and cleaned up the environment. During the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, their sterling qualities came to the forefront.

Expeditions and padayatras

The nuns are famous for their padayatras and cycling expeditions which they use to spread awareness in society. Some of these expeditions take them thousands of kilometres and are physically demanding. But the nuns are fit and sturdy to go through all these hardships. One expedition to Ladakh also demanded acclimatization as oxygen supply is short in that part of the world.

Persuading people

The nuns never try to do a hard sell. They first get close to people and break the ice. Then they quietly make their points and make sure they are heard by the people.

Why Kungfu?

The nuns do a lot of mediation (including yoga) but that remains within the monastery and is not meant for the outside world. As the nuns explained, Kungfu may look very different but like meditation calls for intense concentration. Kungfu also inculcates discipline and consistency. The fitness regime is stringent. It is a common misconception that Kungfu is a violent sport. Rather, it creates discipline and gives a feeling of self-confidence. As the two nuns explained, it is initially difficult when we start learning Kungfu. The exercise and discipline involved are phenomenal.

On how they motivate themselves

What keeps these nuns motivated? Their purposeful actions themselves give a sense of joy. When they see others getting the benefit and talking about it, the nuns feel happy. Happiness reinforces as motivation to do more and better.

We thank Dr. Vedpuriswar for bringing out the highlights in the form of this note