A message from Ani Choying Drolma . . . E ducation for women has traditionally been neglected in Asia. Women have been strictly defined in ways that do not make educating them seem important, and are even sometimes denied education on principle. Nuns, as well as lay women, are suffering from this discrimination. Although this situation is beginning to change with the development of several nunneries in Nepal and India, most nuns, especially those from remote areas, still come to Buddhist practice with little or no formal education.
Nuns join a monastery or nunnery and receive religious training in rituals and prayer services.
They learn to read and recite Tibetan texts, yet many cannot even properly write their own names. We nuns often have a lot to share and a wish to more actively engage in bodhisattva activity, but we lack the opportunity to express ourselves in this way. Women are especially known for their loving and caring nature, and nuns are women who have vowed to use their wisdom of love and compassion for all sentient beings. Thinking about this situation, I had a vision. In the future some could become teachers themselves.