Buddhist nun performing daily ritual.

Thami nuns, Solukhumbu, Everest region, Nepal.

Buddhist nun, chod Torpa, Humla. On a rooftop, a Buddhist nun, a chod practitioner, blows a thigh-bone trumpet scavenged from the funeral grounds, invoking spirits to dismember her body and sever all notions of self-cherishing. Performed in wild and haunted places, the practice of Chod liberates the yogin from cyclic existence by vanquishing the fear that stems from identification with the ego and the physical body. By summoning what is most dreaded and openly offering that to which we are most attached, new levels of awareness open within ourselves and others.

Young Tibetan nuns have yogurt in wooden bowl. Tshurpu Monastery. Tibet.

Westerner nuns. Kathmandu, Nepal.

Budhist Lama instructs anis (nuns) about Buddhist philosophy. “Education is to crack the shell of ignorance, expand the intellect, and thereby encourage the achievement of supreme wisdom, the essence of enlightenment.” -Lobsang Lhalungpa, Tibetan Scholar.

Monks and Nuns offer butter lamps at Mahabodhi Temple. Kalachakra Initiation, Bodhgaya, India.

Tibetan pilgrims prostrating Buddha, at the base of Swayambhunath. Kathmandu, Nepal.

H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche teaching at Sechen Monastery to his close circle of Monks and Nuns. Kathmandu, Nepal.

Tibetan nuns greet westerner at Sechen Monastery in Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Medicine Buddha altar.

At the foot of Mount Kailash a Buddhist nun recites mantras. She beats a stretched sheepskin drown, damaru, and rings a bell. On her lap is a human thigh bone, Kagling. Pictures of the Karmapa rest at her feet. She is performing a Chod ritual -- lost souls are called forth and fed spiritually.

Pilgrims receiving the Kalachakra Initiation in Bodhgaya, India.

The reading of traditional Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.

Renunciation is generally considered a path for men, not women. Tibetan Nuns gather to recite prayers.

In Dharamsala an old Buddhist nun is assisted by a young relative.

Her face dappled by the late evening sunlight, a Tamang nun blows a conch shell. Nagi Gompa, on the outskirts of Kathmandu valley. Nepal.

The reading of traditional Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.

In the mountainous region of Northern Kham, monks and nuns of Talok Monastery practice the Gesar dances that are performed during the annual summer festival. Tibet.

Buddhist nuns greet one another in a traditional gesture of exchanging energy by touching heads. Nepal.

A Tibetan Nun reads traditional scriptures while on cruise in Thailand.

Tirdrom: Buddhist nuns work together mud-painting the walls of the hermitage. Tibet.

During the 7 day long Potenization Ceremony, medicinal Plants, minerals and bones are laid over sacred texts which is believed to contribute to the potenization of them. Chang Tang Nyee, Ladakh.

During the 7 day long Potenization Ceremony, medicinal Plants, are laid over sacred texts which is believed to contribute to the potenization of them. Chang Tang Nyee, Ladakh, India.

Tibetan pilgrims, monks and nuns lighting butter lamps at the base of Boudhanath Stupa during the Losar festival-Tibetan New Year. Kathmandu, Nepal.

Budhist Lamas in prayer, Bodhgaya, India. Monks attending the Kalachakra Initiation at the Mahaboudhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India. The Mahabodhi Temple marks the site of Buddha’s enlightment twenty-five hundred years ago. For centuries Tibetans have made pilgrimages across the Himalayas to sites connected with the life of the historical Buddha. From a Tantric perspective, pilgrimage is more than paying homage at sacred sites. Rather, it is believed that the activities performed at these places become a memory of the place itself. By attuning oneself through ritual and meditation to this timeless presence, similar experiences can be evoked.

Ani Tenzin with two young disciples, Swayambhu, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. “The Chinese Teach children to believe in only what they see,” she says, “We teach our young nuns that there is more o life than what the eye can see.

Young monks chanting scripture. Mahabuddha Vihara, Monastery, Clementown, India. “ Education is to crack the shell of ignorance, expand the intellect, and thereby encourage the achievement of supreme wisdom, the essence of enlightenment.” -Lobsang Lhalungpa, Tibetan Scholar.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama conferring the giving the Kalachakra Initiation in Bodgaya, India.

Buddhist scriptures and other holy items.

Ladakh has many historic monasteries called Gompas, where Buddhist monks and nuns live, study and practice their religion. The monasteries of Ladakh are situated in scenic locations, on hills and mountains and have rich collections of Buddhist Thangka paintings, art and artifacts. Many of the monasteries are open to tourists who can admire the architecture and art collections in these Gompas. Ladakh, India.

Young Tibetan Buddhist Nuns seated for daily prayers at a Monastery in Ladakh, India.

Kushinigar. Death, India. Just as death and impermanence was Buddha’s first teaching, it was also his first one. Some forty-five years after his enlightment he announced that he had completed his life’s works, and requested that his principal disciples meet with him in Kushinigar in order to be with him during his final days. On the day of his passing he delivered a final discourse to the gathering, entered meditation, and with full awareness departed from this world.

H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche teaching at Sechen Monastery to his close circle of Monks. H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991), Tutor to the present Dalai Lama and revered as one of the greatest exponents of Dzogchen-the teachings of the Great Perfection. Never forget how swiftly this life will be over, like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand. Now that you have the opportunity to practice Dharma, do not waste a single moment on anything else, but practice with all your energy.” H.H. Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche, The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones It is often said that meditation upon death and impermanence was the first teaching the Buddha gave after his enlightenment, when he spoke of the four noble truths-suffering, its causes, liberation, and the path to liberation-because lack of awareness of impermanence and change is a principal cause of human suffering.

Buddhist Ani (Nun) spins Prayer Wheel sending prayers to all sentient beings. Swayambhunath. Nepal.

Monks reciting practices reciting prayers. Clementon, India. Never forget how swiftly this life will be over, like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand. Now that you have the opportunity to practice Dharma, do not waste a single moment on anything else, but practice with all your energy.” H.H. Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche, The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones

A pilgrim meditating in the deer park at Sarnath, India. All pilgrimage ends with a return to the familiar world that was left behind, yet if one’s journey was successful, the old world has been irrevocably transformed. The end of pilgrimage is to envision a new beginning.

Old Nuns. Solu, Nepal.

Main temple at village monastery in Lubra. Nepal.

Young Aani. Tibet.

Buddhist Lama instructs anis (nuns) about Buddhist philosophy. “ Education is to crack the shell of ignorance, expand the intellect, and thereby encourage the achievement of supreme wisdom, the essence of enlightenment.” -Lobsang Lhalungpa, Tibetan Scholar.

Young monks.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Tibetan pilgrims, monks and nuns lighting butter lamps at the base of Boudhanath Stupa during the Losar festival-Tibetan New Year. Kathmandu, Nepal.

Monks and Nuns offer butter lamps at Mahabodhi Temple. Kalachakra Initiation, Bodhgaya, India.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.