The following milestones were achieved:  

1. Created an awareness of the importance of basic monastic and secular education.

2. LNA offering sponsorship to as many nuns as financially possible.

3. Providing a teacher to whichever nunnery that could not afford one.

4. In those monasteries where the accommodation is inadequate for the nuns, the LNA would help construct suitable accommodations to ease the room shortage situation.

5. The LNA is to help organize free Dharma Teachings for half of the year to those nunneries which are so poor that they cannot even afford to buy their own food.

Ariya Vinaya Seminar in Bangkok

Ven. Dr. T. Palmo and Ven. Dr. Thubten Dolma attended the Ariya Vinaya Seminar from 17th to 21st July 2000, at the Wangsnait Ashram near Bangkok, Thailand. An international gathering of monks, nuns, and lay people from a great diversity of Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajarayana Schools met at Ashram Wangsnait to prepare a schedule for future meetings on Ariya-Vinaya. They also attended a ten-day training program organized by the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) coordinated by Ms Ouyporn.

They also learnt about Yoga, which was taught by two Japanese. It was the very first time that  nuns from Ladakh and Dharamsala were exposed to this ancient skill which not only promotes good health but also enhances meditation skills. They also attended a two day Reiki class conducted by Ms Catherine Wheeler and her colleagues.

The study tour was also a very unique experience where they visited nunneries outside of Bangkok. In one of the nunneries, they learnt about body massage where the organizer arranged for three massage teachers to teach this ancient art to all the nuns. They learnt about herbal medicine used in baths, the different herbal ingredients used for fermentation, storage as well as for direct body treatment. They had the opportunity to try out these medicinal herbs several times during the seminar, which proved to be extremely useful and beneficial for the body.

In one of the nunneries, all the nuns including the foreign nuns collected alms in the village. They were very touched to see the lay people so dedicated in offering alms to all the Sangha members, regardless of their nationalities. They also met with nuns who taught children from remote areas and learnt about their work.

Ties were also established with the nuns and the lay people of Thailand.  It was a fortunate and inspiring occasion to see one of the very old nuns, Ven. Kanitha who has been running an orphanage, a home for AIDS patients, and a college. She is 80 years old, but she still has a great interest, energy and devotion towards the less fortunate.

Dharma Teaching for Ladakh Lay Women

In December, we organized our last teaching of the year. About a hundred lay women attended the Dharma teachings offered by Ven. Lobzang Tsephel at the Women's Alliance. This was the first time that women in Ladakh had a week-long teaching for themselves and it was a great success. The main teaching was the "37 practices of a Boddhisattva". The women felt confident to ask questions they never dared to ask before. Among some of the points discussed: What are the practices? and how to apply them in daily life? How to improve our practice and help other people? For the first time, women were given the opportunity to discuss and clarify any doubts about their practice.