NEWS

BBC Names Dr. Tashi Zangmo of the Bhutan Nuns Foundation among 100 Most Influential Women of 2018

By Craig Lewis | | Buddhistdoor Global

The BBC has named Bhutanese Buddhist activist Dr. Tashi Zangmo, executive director of the Bhutan Nuns Foundation, among its list of the world’s 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2018, which draws on the achievements and accomplishments of women from more than 60 countries. Dr. Zangmo, who was born and raised in one of the most remote and rural areas of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, pursued higher education in India and the US, eventually graduating with a PhD from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In 2009, she established the Bhutan Nuns Foundation (BNF), which she now runs, seeking to educate and empower Buddhist nuns in Bhutan. The foundation works with about 28 Buddhist nunneries, educating and training nuns to be community leaders and teachers. The BNF, which operates under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck, is a non-profit organization working to enhanced access to basic and higher education, and to improve the day-to-day livelihoods of Buddhist nuns in Bhutan. The BNF aims to empower and educate Bhutanese girls and women to help improve living conditions and the economic vitality of rural villages, in turn helping to preserve the kingdom’s rich Buddhist culture in the face of rapid development.

“I’m not sure what to feel at this moment, it’s been overwhelming,” Dr. Zangmo told Buddhistdoor Global on her reaction to being recognized by the BBC for her valuable work. “At first, I thought it was just a list of names and not a big deal until I started receiving a stream of congratulatory messages and calls from friends and family around the globe. I’d like to thank the BBC for selecting me as one of the 100 women—it’s an honor and very humbling to be included among so many amazing women from around the world, especially those ordinary women who have achieved extraordinary things for the benefit of others.” Sandwiched between economic heavy-hitters China and India on the edge of the mighty Himalayan mountain range, the tiny Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan is perhaps best known for prioritizing “Gross National Happiness” over the shortsighted acquisitiveness of economic growth, and for its sustainable approach to environmental stewardship. The kingdom is also unique in being the world’s only remaining Vajrayana Buddhism nation. The spiritual tradition is embedded in the very consciousness and culture of this remote land, where it has flourished with an unbroken history that dates back to its introduction from Tibet in the 8th century by the Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche. Most Bhutanese—about 75 per cent of a population of some 735,000 people—are Buddhists. And while the nation’s holistic approach to economic management has resulted in a healthy level of growth and low inflation over the last 20 years, life in Bhutan is not without very real challenges, even for those who find their calling in monasticism. Female lay practitioners in particular face major obstacles in accessing opportunities for spiritual and practical education, and nearly all of Bhutan’s rural nunneries have poor living conditions and lack conducive learning environments.