Abstract:

‘No, but we are different. Tonpa Sherab treated men and women in the same way, he passed on his teachings to both men and women and that is why we nuns are on equal footing with the monks, quite unlike the Buddhists.’

The Bön religion is often seen as a part of the Tibetan Buddhism but its bond is actually far more complex and has its own origin in the history of Tibet. The role of women worshipping in both, Bön an Tibetan Buddhism, is quite different. And although there are studies on Buddhist nuns, there is hardly any research available on nuns in the Bön tradition. This pioneering study vividly portrays the nuns of the Redna Menling monastery in Dolanji (India), the headquarter of the Bön religion in exile. It focuses on the developments of the Bön in exile, the specific context in witch Bön nuns live and how the monastic tradition takes shape. It provides interesting insights into the monastic community in exile, the historic context of the Bön religion as well as the personal motives to become a nun.