Geshema Tenzin Kunsel is one of 20 Tibetan Buddhist nuns who received her Geshema degree from His Holiness the Dalai Lama on December 22, 2016. Her extraordinary story is one of determination and dedication. With gentle humor she tells her story of overcoming many obstacles on the path to becoming a senior nun.

The Geshema degree is equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy and is the highest level of training in the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Until recently, this degree could only be earned by monks and is called the Geshe degree.

This historic milestone for nuns is the culmination of decades of study and dedication. The rigorous exam process for the Geshema degree takes a total of four years to complete. Each year the nuns must take 12 days of exams to test their knowledge gained in a 17year course of study. The majority of the nuns who attained their Geshema degree, like Geshema Tenzin Kunsel, had little or no education in Tibet and escaped into exile to India and Nepal.

This video interview was made in October 2017 at Dolma Ling Nunnery. Our thanks to Venerable Lobsang Dechen, Tibetan Nuns Project CoDirector for her kind translation and to volunteer filmmakers and photographers Evan Kezsbom, Jalene Szuba, and Dustin Kujawski.

To learn how you can sponsor a nun or support the Tibetan Nuns Project, visit https://tnp.org/youcanhelp/sponsor/