Biography

Putting my hobby to good use

Venerable Tenzin Palmo with Eliz             His Holiness Dalai Lama with DGL Nuns

Back in 1998, Tenzin Palmo invited me to join her to help establish the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery (DGL) in northern India. DGL provides a philosophical and general education for Buddhist nuns of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition from Tibet and the Indian border areas.  For these inspiring years I have taken responsibility for the Nunnery’s financial and international administration, but now we have systems and local staff in place at the DGL office who manage the Nunnery’s affairs.

There have been many challenges along the way but great progress has been made and DGL is flourishing with over 80 bright young women living, studying and practising the Buddha Dharma there.  In coming years more nuns will be accepted.  All this has been made possible by the untiring work of Tenzin Palmo, the generous support and donations from around the world, and the efforts of my dear friend Monica Joyce and other volunteers.

I have really enjoyed my role in this unique undertaking and although I am stepping back from the full-time commitment of recent years, I will continue to oversee Nunnery finances on my twice-yearly visits, and provide support as required by Tenzin Palmo.

Now with more free time I will be occupied increasingly by my long-held interest in jewelry making.  Some of you may have already purchased my work when it was available on the DGL website as part of our various fund-raising activities.  I absolutely love this creative work and I hope that many of you like the variety of my designs, some of which I am not ashamed to say may appear a little whacky!  By way of contrast there are some unusual items in the Antique and Asian selection that I have sourced on my travels in India and other parts of Asia.

Looking ahead, I will continue to support Tenzin Palmo and the nuns by donating the profits from the sale of this jewelry to DGL. There is still work to be done therefore Tenzin Palmo continues with her work raising funds for the Nunnery. Please visit www.tenzinpalmo.com for further information on the truly inspiring Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery.

Yours in the Dharma

Eliz Dowling