Documentary Becoming Geshema by Malati Rao spotlights the nuns' challenge in the monastic order

New Indian Express

16 hours ago

Namdol Phuntshok remembers carrying around rose beads and wearing only 'red or yellow' so that her parents would understand her 'calling' to become a nun. The young girl–when she failed to convince her parents–began feeling lonely and misunderstood, and fell into depression.
Considering her health, when Phuntshok's parents took her to a Lama, a spiritual guide in Tibetan Buddhism, he advised them to let her follow her path. 'My parents were reluctant but were obliged to follow the Lama's advice,' says Phuntshok, who later became one of the first nuns to receive the highest honour of 'Geshema'.
Phuntshok narrates her story in the documentary, The Geshema Is Born, directed by Malati Rao. The film highlights the discrimination nuns face under ancient Tibetan Buddhist rules and patriarchy.
Fight for equality
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, to graduate as a Geshe (Geshema, for nuns) means to create a karmic imprint for rebirth in the mythic kingdom of Shambhala. The word 'Geshe', literally refers to 'the one who knows virtue'.
In the film, dressed in red robes, the nuns are seen chanting prayers in monasteries, debating, studying, and performing daily chores. Some wear a special yellow robe, reserved for scholarly nuns.
The film also tells the stories of nuns fleeing Tibet to escape Chinese oppression. 'Ill-prepared to walk the high mountains,' with blistered feet, they remember begging to survive. 'Somehow, we reached Nepal, and then finally to India. Many perished on the way,' one of them recalls.
As shown in the documentary, the eight monastic rules in Buddhism subordinate nuns to monks in all matters. Tibetan Buddhist nuns have long fought against these outdated traditions.
The participation of women in Buddhism dates back to the time of the Buddha in the 5th century BCE. Despite a highly patriarchal society, women were recognised as equally capable of attaining spiritual enlightenment. They were allowed to ordain as full monastics, equal to men, and many became respected teachers who ran their own independent nunneries.
However, over centuries, Buddhism took different forms across Asia. In many communities, women were no longer allowed to ordain as novices or full monastics (bhikkhunis), and their lineages disappeared. But in some countries like Taiwan and South Korea, full ordination of women continues.
The 'Geshema' title–equivalent to a Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in Buddhist philosophy–was officially approved for Tibetan Buddhist nuns in 2012. The degree is earned after a minimum of 21 years of extensive study of Buddhist texts, and training.
The film, The Geshema Is Born, was screened during the event, Women & Buddhism - Films and Discussion, at the India International Centre (IIC) on Thursday (July 10). Another documentary, White Robes, Saffron Dreams–directed by Teena Gill–was also featured during the event.
It was followed by a discussion by panelists including historian Uma Chakravarati, sociologist Renuka Singh, Tibetan monastic Kaveri Gill, and Zen teacher Shantum Seth.