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My name is Lhamo Yangzom.I am twenty two years old. My motheris no longer in this world, but I have ourfather and four brothers. They are all stillin Tibet. Two of my brothers are monksand the other two are married. They arenomad farmers in Tibet. My father worksin the field.Our families are Khampas and ourhome is in Markham. Since there was noschool for girls like me in Tibet I spent mytime looking after the home and feedingthe animals like cow and yaks.I decided that my life would be morevaluable as a nun and was ordained in Tibetby a visiting Rinpoche. Soon after, in 2006,I was given the chance to come to India,where I hoped I would have the chance tosee the Dalai Lama and to study.There were 80 people in our group.It was in January or February and theweather was icy cold. Due to Chinesesecurity guards, we could not go byvehicle. So, we walked to India and therewere many hardships. We had to walk atnight to avoid being seen and we hid incaves during the day.We would take it in turns going aheadof the group looking for the path, in casethere were Chinese soldiers waiting. Oneday the Chinese caught the boy who waswalking ahead. We heard this happeningand hide. We were very frightened andwhen it was safe we turned back andwent back to Tibet. We don’t know whathappened to the boy – it could have beenany of us.We started again after 1 month andfinally got to Nepal after 23 days. Westayed there for 2 months while our paperswere processed, then we were taken by busto Delhi. After a while we were put onanother bus and taken to Dharamsala. Iwas taken to the newcomer’s school.I soon heard about DGL nunnerythrough friends. I asked if I could join. Iliked it because it is a very quiet peacefulplace and the facility for study is good. Ihave a sponsor and am so grateful to mysponsors to give me this opportunity tospend my life in study and prayer andliving for the benefit of all sentient beings.For the last few months I have beensick with TB and a liver abcess. I had tostay in my room alone so that others didnot get sick. At first I felt so sad to bealone without any friends and wonderedwhy I am not like others. I spent this timereading and praying. I thought that sinceeverything is impermanent and has an endI would overcome this sadness one day.The doctors have now told me my healthis good and I can once again mix with theother nuns.I am very grateful to Jetsunma TenzinPalmo for this opportunity. I can nowspeak and write a little English. I wantto be able to use my life as a nun to helpothers, maybe one day as a teacher.Live andLet Liveby Drimay PalmoLive and let live should be the motto of each one ofus. Others will let us live only if we let them live. Wecan’t hope to live in peace if we disturb the peace ofothers. All great religions of the world give the highestimportance to the love of fellow beings. Love of one’sown country, religion or community does not meanthat we should run down others.Peaceful existence should be the goal of everyindividual, community and nation. Only such thinkingcan save mankind from impending disaster. Wenuns are living in a community founded by JetsunmaTenzin Palmo. She always teaches these noble thingsto us. Currently she is teaching about six perfections.The six perfections are generosity, morality, Patience,Joyous effort, concentration and wisdom. We nuns arealways trying to incorporate these values in our dayto-daylife to contribute a bit for restoring peace andhappiness in the world.8 GATSAL ISSUE 23
InPraiseofTaraThe Dongyu Gatsal Ling Endowment FundOm Tara. What a privilege it is toknow Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. Andwhat could be more joyful than beingpart of her effort to raise awareness forthe Dongyu Gatsal Ling EndowmentFund?I met Jetsunma on her first NewYork City teaching tour in 2002, atthe Shambhala Meditation Centerwhere Deborah Garrett was thenits executive director. So I feel it isespecially auspicious that seven yearslater Deborah and I are collaboratingas directors of development for thenewly created DGL Endowment Fund,to help achieve the nunnery’s goal ofraising two million US dollars to ensurethe long-term education and wellbeingof our DGL nuns and nunnery.With the support of Jetsunma, MonicaJoyce, Eliz Dowling, and many others,Deborah and I look forward to offeringmany opportunities to the supportersof Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and DongyuGatsal Ling Nunnery to help build thisendowment so that the nunnery cancontinue to thrive and accomplish itspurpose.My inspiration became evenstronger earlier this year when I visitedthe nunnery for the first time andfully grasped the scope of Jetsunma’sundertaking. I was totally taken bythe heartfelt wisdom embedded inthe facilities and programming toencourage these young women to bepowerful, loving representatives of theDharma. The nuns have already begunto exercise their leadership outsidethe nunnery. At a regional dharmaconference earlier this year, they spoketo their sisters from other nunnerieson developing confidence. So muchhas been accomplished in such a shortperiod of time, and this is just thebeginning.As many of you know, Jetsunma isplanning to lead a pilgrimage to the“cave in the snow” in the autumn of2010 to raise funds for the DongyuGatsal Ling Endowment Fund. Ifyou are interested in participating inthe pilgrimage, please email Deborahand me at pilgrimage@gatsal.org, andLesley Kovitz, our tour coordinator,will be in touch with you. And ofcourse, email us at endowment@gatsal.org for any questions about the DGLEndowment Fund.What an honor to supportJetsunma’s mission to nurture anew generation of Tibetan Buddhistnuns from the Himalayan regions torealize their spiritual and intellectualpotential. Needless to say, this deepwish and expression of Tara, the divinefeminine, extends to all of us.May it be so.Evan ZazulaOCTOBER 2009 GATSAL 9
Page 3 and 4: Dear friends, continuedcontributed
Page 5 and 6: MyAssociationwith DGLNunneryby Char
Page 7: OCTOBER 2009 GATSAL 7
Page 11: Our TibetanStatue PainterPema Tashi

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