Vens. Thubten Tenzin, Tenzin Ngeunga, Tenzin Péma, Chantal Dekyi, Irene Turner, and Michèle Paldreun at Dorje Pamo Monastery, En Baut, Fiac, France, January 2018. Photo by Ven. Tsékyi.

Monastère Dorje Pamo (Dorje Pamo Monastery), an FPMT nunnery in En Baut, Fiac, France, welcomed Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as well as visiting and resident nuns, and volunteers in 2019. Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi (Chantal Carrerot), coordinator, and Gabrielle Leflaive, volunteer, share the story.

In 2018 we finished the first phase of renovation work for Dorje Pamo Monastery, and rejoiced in the beginning of a monastic community life in En Baut, Fiac, France. Many events have taken place in the past few months. Most significantly, the monastery accommodated a dozen nuns who came for the Vajrayogini retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche held at nearby FPMT center Institut Vajra Yogini in May-June 2019. Dorje Pamo Monastery welcomed these nuns, who came from all over the world: Australia, China, the United States, Holland, Italy, Singapore, and Switzerland. For the first time Dorje Pamo Monastery was full.

This was made possible thanks to work done in April by nuns and volunteers. By the time the visiting nuns arrived in May, all of the rooms had been furnished and set up, the necessary common services (laundry, kitchen, and more) organized, and the garden and outside grounds tended.

While coordinator Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi was guiding the retreat and staying at Institut Vajra Yogini, Ven. Michèle stayed at Dorje Pamo Monastery and ensured everything went well there. Ven. Michèle was supported by a team of lay volunteers, who carried out many tasks: driving the nuns to Institut Vajra Yogini early in the morning for the first session and then back to Dorje Pamo Monastery at night, as well as maintenance, cleaning, shopping, caring for the sick, and more. Many thanks to Dominique Carrérot, Jordane De Marliave, Annick Lainé, Annick Leclerc du Sablon, Gabrielle Leflaive, Anne Logréco, Ghyslaine Nivet, Sophie Minon, Michel Pradines, and Marie Vaysse.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with students at Dorje Pamo Monastery, En Baut, Fiac, France, January 2018. Photo courtesy of Dorje Pamo Monastery.

The nuns expressed their appreciation at the end of the retreat. They were very grateful for the warm welcome they received. They loved the monastery’s beautiful setting and peaceful environment, and very much appreciated the comfort, kindness, care, and services they were given.

The retreat was a great success; more than 400 retreatants were present during the first ten days, and 236 people finished the complete five-week retreat. The retreat came to a close with a long-life Initiation ceremony open to all, in which 750 people took part.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche widely expressed his satisfaction. He praised Institut Vajra Yogini’s many volunteers (up to a hundred), and was constantly dedicating the merits of practice to their well-being. Rinpoche found the dynamics of the retreat so positive that he said Institut Vajra Yogini should serve as an example for the entire FPMT organization.

Many retreatants took the opportunity to visit Dorje Pamo Monastery after their retreat period was over. They were delighted by the place and showed great interest in the continuation of the project. Rinpoche visited the new monastery during the retreat. He blessed the gompa, gave oral transmission of “The Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor” and “Black Manjushri,” and gave some advice.

Dorje Pamo Monastery volunteers Jordane De Marliave, Michel Pradines, Ghyslaine Nivet, Gabrielle Leflaive, and Sophie Minon in Lavaur, France, July 2019. Photo by Annick Lainé.

Dorje Pamo Monastery’s monastic community is slowly developing. The goal is to have a core group of a few nuns sharing a monastic life centered on common and individual practices, study, and service. The monastery reached its full accommodation capacity now that the main construction work has been completed and the bedrooms set up.

Various nuns and lay women have stayed in the monastery since September 2018, when we moved into the monastery. Ven. Losang Dekyi moved in with us but then left in mid-December 2018 after completing the Basic Program’s Lorig module at nearby FPMT monastery Nalanda Monastery; she went to do a one-year retreat at O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros, an FPMT center in Spain. This autumn a lay woman aspiring to become a nun is expected to come and stay at the monastery until her ordination.

Between January and March 2019, we enjoyed the energy and the know-how of Ven. Tsekyi, who came from Germany to help with renovation work. She sealed and painted the gompa and future library, built shelves for the laundry room, and did various repair and maintenance tasks. She moved like a tornado through house and premises and left cleanliness and order behind.

Vens. Michèle Paldreun, Tenzin Ngeunga, Robina Courtin, Thubten Tenzin, Tsékyi, and Tenzin Péma at Dorje Pamo Monastery, En Baut, Fiac, France, January 2019. Photo by Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi.

This past summer the monastery welcomed Ven. Dechen, an Australian nun who along with six other people was recently ordained by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Nalanda Monastery. Ven. Dechen is doing retreats at Nalanda Monastery and staying at Dorje Pamo Monastery the rest of the time.

Lea Israels, who is a Dutch carpenter, offered to come to volunteer for two weeks in August. We assembled an impressive list of tasks for her. Local nuns and lay volunteers will also be residing for short stays. In this way a monastic community is taking shape. Nuns now have a quiet and peaceful place to live and practice together while striving to preserve and spread the Dharma for the benefit of all beings.

Work on the gompa and library, which began in October 2018, is nearly finished. Teams of volunteers and monks from Nalanda Monastery have completed painting and other jobs. Many thanks to Ven. Yeshe Didier and Lea Israels, who are laying the floor boards in the gompa and library.

Carpenters Ven. Yeshe Didier, Lea Israels, Ven. Dechen, and Laurenz in front of the new altar at Dorje Pamo Monastery, En Baut, Fiac, France, August 2019. Photo by Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi.

The altar was installed by the cabinetmaker who built and painted it. Lama Zopa Rinpoche would like it to be decorated in classical Tibetan style and suggested a few local artists. We also have to chose the statues for the altar.

We are very grateful for all of the donations we received which enabled us to build the altar. Future projects include furnishings for the gompa, which include altar decoration, statues, thangkas, a throne, carpets, cushions, tables, and audio-visual equipment.

For more information about Monastère Dorje Pamo (Dorje Pamo Monastery), visit their website:
http://monasteredorjepamo.org/en/

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