From: Pearl Mala at Jnanasukha info@pearlmala.

net
Subject: STORY: How the Tsogyal Nuns Built their New Temple
Date: December 16, 2015 at 6:46 PM
To: aditidevi64@gmail.com

The Story of How the Tsogyal Nuns

Built their New Temple
(Read here or on The Pearl Mala website.)

My emanations, radiating waves of skillful means, will lead all

future beings to their happiness. Yeshe Tsogyal

Such was Yeshe Tsogyals promise, uttered to her

disciples moments before attaining the rainbow
body. Time and again, she has kept her word
sometimes appearing as a realized master,
sometimes teaching through visionary
experiences and sometimes, implanting her
wisdom life force in sacred landscapes.

With the rising of a new temple at her birthplace, Tsogyal Latso, she has kept
her word once again.

Yeshe Tsogyal is a female buddha who incarnated in eighth century Tibet to

benefit beings. She was a consort of Guru Padmasambhava and one of his chief
disciples. Through her life example, she demonstrated the path to
enlightenment. As heir and protectress of Padmasambhavas legacy and a
sublime master in her own right, she helped establish Buddhism in Tibet and
preserve it for future generations.

Tsogyal Latso is a historic pilgrimage site in the Drak Valley of Central Tibet. It
is most famous as the repository of Tsogyals ecological legacy her life force
lake which miraculously formed at her birth, her breast milk healing springs,
and her life-force tree.
and her life-force tree.

Today, a small community of nuns led by Ani

Samten, are the caretakers of this sacred site of
the enlightened feminine. Lama Dechen Yeshe
Wangmo, founder of Jnanasukha Foundation,
first visited Tsogyal Latso in 2009 and soon
established The Pearl Mala to provide financial
support and medical care for the nuns and to help
with restoration and expansion.

On March 5, 2015, Lama Wangmo received a startling message from Ani

Samten. After years of dreaming about a new temple, the nuns had at last
started construction. The old temple had become too small and was falling
apart. Their request for prayers to prevent obstacles was shared by Jnanasukha
and The Pearl Malas global Internet community.

The day the nuns broke ground for the new temple was Buddhas Miracle Day,
with both a new moon and a solar eclipse. An auspicious start!

Then a network of support to build the temple appeared monastics and

lamas, construction workers, craftsmen, local villagers, and a timber wholesaler
from Kongpo.

Ani Samten, a humble and spirited nun with a talent for organizing, has served
as manager at Tsogyal Latso for eleven years. Small of stature with a melodic
voice and dazzling smile, she moved to Tsogyal Latso in 2004 when it was not
much more than a rundown temple desecrated during the Cultural Revolution.
Although her resources were scarce to non-existent, she vowed to rebuild
Tsogyal Latso and to bring together a community of nuns devoted to Yeshe
Tsogyal.

I take care of Tsogyal Latso because I have faith and because it's
my karma. It's good karma, but still, it's difficult .
Ani Samten
In 2012, Ani Samten sought government permission to build a new temple. The
timber columns and structural supports of the existing temple were worm-
eaten and deteriorated and the temple was too small to accommodate the nuns,
the local community and pilgrims. Three years later, permission was granted.

Following the advice of lamas in Amdo, the energetic essence of the temple was
preserved by a centuries-old practice of recycling. Instead of demolishing and
disposing of the materials, the temple was dismantled and some of the stones
and other materials were incorporated into the new temple.

To generate a stream of positive conditions, Ani Samten sent offerings to many

monasteries and asked for prayers. Two monks from nearby Mindrolling
performed a special ritual to safeguard the construction and the nuns
accumulated a hundred thousand Vajrasattva mantras and a hundred thousand
Praises to Tara.

I always keep in mind that the new temple is for the benefit all
beings. Ani Samten

In September, Lama Wangmo, with two Jnanasukha directors and a writer, left
Lhasa for Tsogyal Latso. It was a beautiful day dry and warm with fits of
restless wind. They were looking forward to seeing all that had been
accomplished in just a few months, especially the temple, the newest emanation
of Yeshe Tsogyal in our world.

Several hours later, they arrived at the nunnery. As they walked through the
traditionally-painted gate and across the sandy courtyard, the new temple
glowed against a dazzling blue sky. On the roof, a new golden Dharma Wheel
flanked by two kneeling deer reflected rays of amber light.

The traditional architecture and detailed woodwork carved columns, door

frames and latticed windows were impressive. The mortared stone walls,
rugged and brilliantly white, tapered gracefully toward the sky.

Ani Samten and a handful of smiling nuns suddenly appeared and in the spirit
of a homecoming, they offered katas and warm greetings.
of a homecoming, they offered katas and warm greetings.

The Pearl Mala Offering Day was

celebrated inside the temple. The
interior chamber, marked by bare
timber frame columns, was cool and
dimly lit. The nuns skated around
playfully on cloth mats, polishing the
stone floors. When it came time for
the offerings, the polishing mats
became cushions.

When asked how they were able to accomplish so much in so little time, Ani
Samten smiled and said,

When a new temple is built, sometimes there are serious problems.

People even die because of sudden accidents.
But here at Tsogyals birthplace, theres magic!

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