Ven. Yeshe Khadro, manager of Chenrezig Nuns’ Community in Queensland, Australia, talked to Ven. Ailsa Cameron. Eleven nuns live in the community, which is part of the Chenrezig institute, on land offered to them by the institute.

What do you see as the advantages of living in a Sangha community?

One advantage is that there’s a more visual Sangha presence. If you’re living alone in a center, you are usually doing a specific job, and people tend to see you in that role rather than as a member of the Sangha. Also, a group of Sangha doing Dharma practices together seems to inspire others and from the side of the Sangha, there is the obvious advantage of practicing more because you live in a community with an established program of Dharma teachings and activities that you are expected to attend. If you are living alone, you have more distractions because you have to work to earn a living and so on.

However, I think that one of the main benefits of a Sangha community is that it makes it easier for people to make the decision to take ordination because they can see what Sangha life entails and they can also see that there will be community support for that lifestyle.

What do you see as the drawbacks of community living?

Complications can come because there are naturally different personalities, interests, and lifestyles in a group of Western nuns living together. In a community you have to have some common rules, and these differences can create difficulties for some people. Also, it’s natural in a group to have some people who don’t get along with each other, and any friction that exists between two people becomes stronger because they are living close together and are having to deal with each other. It also affects the other members of the community.

Other problems can come if people join the community with an expectation that their life will somehow automatically become easier. Some see the community as a refuge, but the community really only works if each person participates and contributes what they can to make it a positive place. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained very clearly, if you see a Sangha community as a prison, it is obviously a hard way to live; but if you see it as a great opportunity to practice Dharma, and you’re enjoying your practice, it offers a lot of support.

Is Chenrezig Nuns’ Community harmonious – and if so, to what do you attribute the harmony?

During most of the past six years I’d say it has been harmonious. There haven’t been any serious conflicts. On a couple of occasions there has been some obvious friction, and it seemed to come about simply due to a particular combination of personalities. This is something that we just have to accept. People don’t become perfect because they join a Sangha community. We didn’t do anything in particular to resolve the minor conflicts. The nuns who found it difficult to live in the community simply moved on to something else.

I feel that the harmony is helped by doing Dharma practices, such as retreats, together. Chenrezig Institute’s lama, Geshe Tashi Tsering, is also quite strict about Sangha attending teachings, pujas, and precept ceremonies, and on top of this he likes to involve all the nuns and monks as a group in activities such as filling statues and blessing wealth vases. Also, training in counseling skills as a group seemed to bring everybody closer together. And periodically Geshe-la and all the monks and nuns living at Chenrezig Institute head off together for a ”slunch” (Sangha-lunch). We eat at a restaurant on the Sunshine Coast, walk on the beach, and generally relax and enjoy ourselves. This kind of social activity is very important because it gives us the chance to spend time together as people.

Five of the 16 nuns who have been members of the community since its inception have disrobed. Do you see any pattern in the disrobings, and do you think the community could have done anything to prevent them?

I would say that most of the disrobings happened because of a general dissatisfaction with the lifestyle, though in a couple of cases there was a more specific problem with the vow of celibacy. If our community had been stronger, with a better structured study program and more Dharma activities, it’s possible that some of them would not have disrobed.

In July four new nuns joined the community. Is there any formal training for new nuns?

At the moment we have a group of about six reasonably new nuns, so we have started a training program. Besides attending the regular teaching program, which takes quite a few hours a week, the new nuns study the vows with Geshe-la; they will also train in counseling techniques and in giving basic Dharma talks and leading meditations. All of these activities will occupy their time pretty well.

So the thing that we have to add to that is that the nuns do more retreat, whether it’s commitments from their tantric initiations or lam-rim retreats, so according to Rinpoche’s advice that sounds like the thing that will give them more experience and therefore make them better teachers but also make them stronger in their own Dharma practice.

How is discipline maintained in the community?

Well, we haven’t appointed a formal disciplinarian, a gegu. I think that unless the person was very, very skillful, it would be a difficult position in terms of the other nuns not accepting advice or discipline from that person. At the moment all the nuns attend a weekly meeting, and issues of behavior, dress, and so forth are discussed. We either consult Geshe-la or make a collective decision about whether or not something is acceptable. We’re gradually writing down various rules concerning dress and so on. If a particular nun doesn’t abide by the decisions we’ve made, a nun best suited to approaching the person is asked to discuss it privately with them, rather than publicly pointing out their fault or having one person whose job it is to point out everyone’s faults.

Do you feel that the nuns’ community receives support from Chenrezig Institute and from the lay community?

Chenrezig Institute definitely supports us through the financial concessions it gives the nuns, and Chenrezig originally gave us the use of the land the nunnery is built on. Also, the lay people who live here and who come to the center are very respectful towards the Sangha. When the Sangha group is harmonious and working hard at their Dharma practice, even more respect comes from the lay people, and this respect is an inspiration to the Sangha community.

Would you prefer to live in a separate monastic community – like Nalanda Monastery, for example?

I’m sure there are many advantages living in a separate community, but personally I prefer to live in a Sangha community that’s connected with a center because the mutual support between Sangha and lay people is very helpful. Because there is a lay community, the nuns all have an opportunity to lead meditations and discussions and therefore have an incentive to study. Sangha living in their own community have to be more self-motivated. And the lay people here often say that they find it inspiring to see the Sangha practicing together. I think both sides benefit from a shared community.

What activities do the nuns do together?

Each day we do Lama Chöpa together in the morning and Mahakala puja at night, and we have lunch together. These are the three main activities. Each week we also have a nuns’ meeting, and once a month this meeting is for all the Sangha living at Chenrezig. Other than that, we attend all the spiritual program activities, such as teachings and pujas.

How do you see the future development of the community?

Quite soon we’re going to need to build a large communal building with a kitchen, office, meeting area and living space for six to eight nuns because our accommodation is now completely full. On our present land we can accommodate about 30 nuns. Rinpoche has advises us to select another piece of Chenrezig land if this proves necessary.

Even now with within this small community of nuns, you can see that there are different interests. Some nuns mainly want to retreat, some definitely want to study and train as teachers and others are more involved in fields such as hospice work. I think that all of these options will be available in the future, and each nun will choose the direction that suits them. What the community has to provide for the nuns is the training, study and opportunity to do retreat to ensure that they practice and develop their own mind so that they are qualified to do whatever they choose to do.

For the Dharma to flourish in the West the Sangha need good Dharma education. … It is so important to have qualified Western teachers. … This will help everyone. Please open your hearts and sincerely help the monks and nuns. – Geshe Wangdu