The first female Geshe: Geshe Kelsang Wangmo

Due to the efforts of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and so many other supporters we can enjoy & celebrate to have the first female Geshe — a big step forward in Tibetan Buddhism — though still a lot has to be done with respect to gender equality, e.g. the establishment of fully ordained nuns within Tibetan Buddhism.

Geshe Kelsang Wangmo was born and raised in Germany. In 1993 she signed up for the new class of the geshe study program at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. How she became what she is now, read an interview with her in Mandala Magazine:

The Joy of Study: An Interview with Geshe Kelsang Wangmo

Update

Thailand’s female monks (cautiously) lobby for legal recognition by the Christian Science Monitor
Committee for Bhiksuni Ordination in the Tibetan Budhist Tradition

17Comments

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1

Tiger Lily on October 6, 2012 at 2:27 pm
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Now this really makes my heart sing! I believe that out of the ashes of various Dharma Centre debacles, a very fine form of Western Tibetan Buddhism is emerging under the guiding hand of HH the Dalai Lama.
Both Western nuns and monks who have a genuine calling to the contemplative life can contribute much to setting an exemplary and inspiring standard so that we may appreciate Tibetan Buddhism at its best.
- 2
  
  tenpel on October 6, 2012 at 6:51 pm
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  Hi Tiger Lily and Jigie,
  yes this is really much inspiring and something that makes the heart sing.
  Nuns are also not involved in scandals. This is even seen that way in the Theravada tradition.
  Moreover most Westerners interested in Buddhism are women.
  She studied 18 years – an incredible amount of effort, hardships, joy, and merit is needed for this.
  
  Let’s rejoice in her deeds!
  - 3
    
    anon on February 19, 2013 at 9:26 am
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    Yeah, but watch out for MASSIVE generalizations like “Nuns are also not involved in scandals” I can think of some immediately
    As for Tiger Lilys “a very fine form of Western Tibetan Buddhism is emerging under the guiding hand of HH the Dalai Lama”. do we really need to stamp everything with HHDL? Of course, without His leaving Tibet, things would be very different but not all of the “very fine forms of Western Tibetan Buddhism” that are emerging are doing so with his guidance- the Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma traditions are doing OK too thanks,The hiccups in the kagyu are even blamed by some on HH, and this on the basis of what looks like valid reasoning (See Samuels paper)
    
    Unlike may nowadays who read a few of books by HH and claim he is their guru, I have encountered HH personally on several occasions over many years and consider him one of my root gurus, having received teachings and personal instruction from him.But i do wish people would stop this charismatizing of Him-Its been the gateway to abuse in so many cases.recently and whille I am confident this would never happen in his case, it sets a dangerous precedent
    
    There are no external saviours and once, He was an ordinary being, just like us. The real DL lies in our hearts; the corporeal manifestation is a pointer. He is not Jesus-He shows us the way but the alchemist that transforms this human body into the Buddhas form is ourself, just like Kelsang Wangmo is doing
    - 4
      
      tenpel on February 19, 2013 at 11:54 am
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      of course it is an incorrect generalization to say “Nuns are also not involved in scandals”. thank you for pointing this out!
      
      However, compared with male sexual misconduct nuns don’t set such examples to such an amount as men do. I think this is save to say. Both genders seem to have their own strengths and weaknesses as humans just have it. There are also women who take fun and delight to seduce monks, and who wrongly accuse lamas for sexual misbehaviour.
      
      do we really need to stamp everything with HHDL?
      
      no, not necessarily but he is somewhat outstanding. e.g. as far as I can see HH Karmapa doesn’t address issues of (sexual) abuse. I know of a Kagyu person who is quite frustrated of how – according to his experience – Kagyupas treat sexual abuse of a certain lama.
      
      the Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma traditions are doing OK too
      
      very true.
      
      The hiccups in the kagyu are even blamed by some on HH, and this on the basis of what looks like valid reasoning (See Samuels paper)
      
      could you kindly explain this?
      just last week a researcher sent me this link and stressed what became known as the Halloween party (Thrungpa Rinpoche): http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/trungpa.asp
      
      I replied that I have problems to take this guy, Dr. Geoffrey D. Falk, seriously because what he puts together in the “HELLO, DALAI!” chapter is quite ridiculous because almost nothing has to do with the Dalai Lama who is in no way involved in any such scandal. I said, it appears to me the author gathered all controversial stuff to put it in the Dalai Lama chapter just to be able to include the Dalai Lama in the book. I said I cannot understand researcher who praise such a work because it has nothing to do with academic standards (at least not the Dalai Lama chapter). The researcher replied, he didn’t read the Dalai Lama chapter but now having read it, he agreed that it is indeed “confused”.
      
      Unlike may nowadays who read a few of books by HH and claim he is their guru, I have encountered HH personally on several occasions over many years and consider him one of my root gurus, having received teachings and personal instruction from him.But i do wish people would stop this charismatizing of Him-Its been the gateway to abuse in so many cases.recently and whille I am confident this would never happen in his case, it sets a dangerous precedent
      
      thank you.
      
      There are no external saviours and once, He was an ordinary being, just like us. The real DL lies in our hearts; the corporeal manifestation is a pointer. He is not Jesus-He shows us the way but the alchemist that transforms this human body into the Buddhas form is ourself, just like Kelsang Wangmo is doing
      
      well said. thank you very much for your comment!
    - 5
      
      tenpel on February 19, 2013 at 12:46 pm
      Reply
      
      I was a bit quick in replying …
      To expand the thoughts on the “Root Guru” topic …
      
      Personally I don’t care too much who calls whom his or her root guru. Nor I am interested to know this. It’s for me rather a secret topic that belongs to the Vajrayana. However, what concerns me is a tendency I can see in Western Dharma centres where people new to Buddhism are confronted with questions like “Who is your root guru?!” and then explaining (often a bit puffed up) who the own “root guru” is, as if this is the main issue of starting a spiritual path. The New Kadampa Tradition has stressed this topic again to an extreme.
      
      If one looks in the biography of past masters, e.g. Gampopa or Naropa, they have found their “root guru” at a certain point long after they have started to learn and practice the Dharma.
      
      While in the Gelug school formally everybody is your root guru who gave you a Tantric empowerment, commentary and transmission, as far as I heard, in Kagyue/Nyingma school only that teacher, that shows you the nature of your mind becomes your root guru. So most Westerners might not have any root guru according to the latter explanation while many Westerners might have many root gurus according to the former.
      
      There seems to be a high amount of confusion in this topic that deserves some further investigation. I found the explanation by HH Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche quite useful: http://buddhistische-sekten.de/wurzellama.html (its in German but it should be available in English somewhere too).
      
      Maybe we can use the opportunity to shed more light on this topic. What is your knowledge/understanding of it?
      - 6
        
        Anon on February 19, 2013 at 1:12 pm
        Reply
        
        Well, the same as yours It seems in the West it has become a hip term for someone who’ you read a few books by .This may be valid but it doesn’t really compare I was told that the root guru was the one to whom you felt closest and who benefitted your mind the most By that standard the new Western definition fits But I fail to see how you can claim someone is your teacher when youVe never met them Maybe this the way things will be in the future CHNN seems to conduct much of his teaching via the web for example and I suspect this means many off his ‘students’ have never met him Seems sad that things are like this
      - 7
        
        Joanne on April 25, 2013 at 2:47 pm
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        FYI, all, Here’s a very helpful definition for “root guru” given by HHDL at a long teaching on Mahamudra in 1982:
        
        “Sometimes we differentiate a root guru from our other gurus and focus particularly on him or her for our practice of guru-yoga. Our root guru is usually described in the context of tantra as the one who is kind to us in three ways. There are several manners of explaining these three types of kindness. One, for example, is the kindness to confer upon us empowerments, explanatory discourses on the tantric practices and special guideline instructions for them. If we have received empowerments and discourses from many gurus, we consider as our root guru the one who has had the most beneficial effect upon us. For deciding this, we do not examine in terms of the actual qualifications of the guru from his or her own side, but rather in terms of our own side and the benefit we have gained in our personal development and the state of mind this guru elicits in us. We consider the rest of our gurus as emanations or manifestations of that root guru…” (The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra, pp185-186)
        
        This is very close to Tenzin’s perspective when he says that the question of whether or not a lama is one’s root guru is a personal one. I personally find this perspective very helpful.
        
        8
        
        tenpel on April 25, 2013 at 3:33 pm
        Reply
        
        Very helpful, thank you very much!
        
        9
        
        the Devils Advocate on April 25, 2013 at 4:41 pm
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        I was there! I find each of the definitions proposed beneficial. I must say I still find the current tendency to refer to HH as ones root guru when one has never even spoken to him about ones practice(or indeed at all) rather disturbing The dharma must move with the times I suppose but I fear for the existence of the tantric path under these latter day circumstances-how will people practice without the skilled personal guidance of a qualified master?
        
        10
        
        Joanne on April 26, 2013 at 1:13 pm
        
        That is good, Anon. However, while I could never know or judge your personal reasons for claiming HHDL to be your root guru, it does seem a little strange that you would disagree on a very fundamental level with his approach to the dharma– indicating that perhaps his approach is not really useful for you.
    - 11
      
      tenpel on March 10, 2013 at 10:28 am
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      - 12
        
        Anon on March 10, 2013 at 11:36 am
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        That isnt a joke-check out kelsang Gyatsos appointees and the reason why he appointed a rather masculine looking, middle aged scotswoman becomes clear- Still, even that, like her, could go pear shaped
        
        13
        
        tenpel on March 10, 2013 at 11:48 am
        Reply
        
        Of course there is only some truth in this, also women can be involved in scandals, however, less likely in sexual scandals.
        My own first (abusive/manipulative/exploitative) Buddhist teacher was a woman …
14

jigje on October 6, 2012 at 4:10 pm
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This was an inspiring story that brought a lot of happiness to my heart this morning! Thanks for posting it, tenpel. It’s, of course, way past time, but hopefully her pioneering accomplishment will spark a landslide of other women to follow in her footsteps.
15

Full Ordination for Women: Thailand’s Buddhist nuns cautiously lobby for legal recognition – Tibetan Buddhism :: Struggling With Diffi·Cult Issues on February 18, 2013 at 10:28 pm
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[…] First female Geshe: Geshe Kelsang Wangmo 2012/10/06 […]
16

tenpel on June 21, 2013 at 10:22 pm
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News:

From a newsletter by E. Napper:

I am excited to share good news with you.

This month 27 Tibetan Buddhist nuns made history. They finished the first round of exams for their Geshema degree – the equivalent of a PhD in Buddhist Philosophy. These stringent examinations are the culmination of a rigorous 17-year course of study.

This is a landmark achievement for Tibetan women.

Geshes, and soon also Geshemas, are the most educated monastics, carrying much of the responsibility for preserving and maintaining the Tibetan religion and culture. This will enable the nuns to take up leadership roles as educators for future generations of Buddhist practitioners.

Some of the nuns sitting the doctoral exams were illiterate when they escaped from Tibet and could not even write their own names. Your kindness and generosity have made possible their immense leap in capacity.

This would not have been possible without the support of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Department of Religion and Culture of the Tibetan government in exile and the compassion and generosity of Tibetan Nuns Project donors like you.

We hope you will rejoice with us this historic milestone.

With profound thanks and warmest wishes,

Elizabeth Napper,
Co-Director
Tibetan Nuns Project
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216
Seattle, WA 98134 USA
Phone: 206-652-8901
Email: info@tnp.org
Website: http://www.tnp.org

PS We need more sponsors for the nuns. For less than $1 a day you can provide shelter, food, health care and education for a nun. 100% of the sponsorship funds are sent to India. To sponsor a nun or learn about our current major projects that we need your help with, please visit https://tnp.org/youcanhelp/sponsor/ and https://tnp.org/projects-2/

Copyright © 2013 Tibetan Nuns Project, All rights reserved.
17

tenpel on July 1, 2014 at 8:54 pm
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If you support the idea, please sign the petition about “United Nations Day of Vesak (UNDV): Invite Ajahn Brahm to present his gender equality paper @ the 2015 UNDV conference”

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/United_Nations_Day_of_Vesak_UNDV_Present_Ajahn_Brahms_gender_equality_paper_the_2015_UNDV_conference/?tOASPhb

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