This fall was my first visit back to Nepal since the devastating earthquake in April 2015. As I was in Katmandu for two weeks at the end of October, I asked my friend Tsedo, who works for the American Himalayan Foundation, http://www.himalayan-foundation.org/live/home/home/, if I could do some volunteer work. He suggested I give some yoga classes to the nuns at Keydong nunnery and to the elderly residents of the Old Age Home. They are both located in the area of Swayambunath, also known as the “monkey temple” because of the huge monkey population living there.
Teaching the nuns was going to be a new experience both for me and them. Keydong nunnery opened in Katmandu in 1984 and is home for about 130 nuns, as young as 8 years old. Some nuns have escaped Tibet, some have no family, or their families are too poor to be able to take care of them. At Keydong, they receive care, love, religious education but also regular education including languages and sciences. Some of them will pursue higher degrees.
Every morning, I arrived at Keydong around 7.15am after crossing the busy Ring Road, already filled with traffic. Once I entered the courtyard, some “Good morning!” or chanting from the assembly hall welcomed me, a nice change from the outside honking.
The nuns at Keydong are very busy: prayer starts at 4.30am until about 7am. Then they have school classes at 9am. Yoga was scheduled at 7.30am. My idea of the class was to offer some movements, stretches, breathing exercises because the nuns do quite a lot of sitting. Thirty of them were preparing an important studying trip to India, therefore could not attend. But the youngest ones were very enthusiastic about it. If the group was large, we stood in the courtyard. With a smaller one, we gathered on the carpet in front of the assembly hall, so we could also do some floor exercises. Some older nuns participated as well and helped me a lot with organizing the space and translating if necessary. At the end of the first week, many nuns could memorize a sun salutation, something I had hoped for, so they would remember it after my departure.
The nuns liked the novelty of the class and also the challenges while practicing their balance on tree poses and their strength on planks. Their ultimate favorite sequence was the jumping one. It brought exhilarating laughters and flying sandals and robes.
The second week happened to be Tihar, the big Nepali Holiday and they had days off from school. I had the opportunity to do a Kora around Swayambunath with my little students holding my hands the whole way around. I was also very fortunate to join them for a day long Puja near Boddhanath. I enjoyed watching Ani Chendon-La, a senior nun and main teacher, leading the ceremony with such great precision and gentleness. Some chanting was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes.
These two weeks went fast. It would have been nice to get to know some of them more. But I loved seeing happy and healthy young girls and women, living in a safe and nurturing environment that felt like a big family. I felt all these eyes observing me, not from a judgement point of view but from open hearts who welcome a stranger’s visit with a lot of gratefulness. Some gestures such as rolling my mat out, bringing my shoes back at the end of the session, or worrying if I had had breakfast were very sweet. Warm smiles and gestures made up for words and I was very touched when an avalanche of Katas fell around my neck after the last session, a traditional way to thank me and say good bye.
“If we make consistent effort, based on proper education, we can change the world.” says His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The nuns’ happiness and kindness were a testimony to the education they receive at Keydong. Daily prayers, meditation and chanting have been helping these young women to overcome their own problems to now help others.The hard times they went through were behind them. They were enjoying the present and building their future while living a simple life.
The time I spent at Keydong has inspired me more than ever to pursue my practice of meditation and work of service. Despite the hard times we are going through in our world, training our minds and developing more contentment, gratefulness and compassion is the way to change the world.
Tashi Delek Keydong! I will come visit again.
You can support the nuns and Keydong nunnery through the American Himalayan Foundation: http://www.himalayan-foundation.org/live/home/home/
