Dharmadatta Nuns’ Community was founded by and for Spanish-speaking women wishing to practice in community as Buddhist monastics. We are four nuns, from four different countries, and share a deep commitment to living together in community as an integral part of our personal practice and to serving others as the final aim of that practice. We aspire to develop a harmonious and joyful community where women can learn to serve as conditions for each other’s flourishing. In this phase of our development together, we are focusing on building a stable base from which our community can grow in future.

The nuns of our community

Lhundup Damcho 

Lhundup Damcho was born and raised in New York. After high school, she spent a year back-packing alone in Europe before starting her university studies at Sarah Lawrence, where she earned a BA in humanities. She then spent a year studying and living abroad in Paris and Poland, and then joined the New School for Social Research, for MA studies in Continental and Greek philosophy. In 1989, she left to begin a career as a journalist, continuing for seven years in her hometown of New York and later as bureau chief in Hong Kong. Later, during a year’s sabbatical writing as a freelance journalist, she engaged in a 10-day meditation retreat in Nepal’s Kathmandu valley. It was there that she… read more…

Tenzin Nangpel

Nangpel was born to Polish and Mexican parents. Her maternal grandmother was a Holocaust survivor: one of the few survivors within her family. Nangpel was raised in Mexico in a large family. She began studying Spanish literature at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and then shifted to the study of law, in which she earned her BA. As part of her deep social commitment, Nangpel worked for 13 years as a researcher in the National Anthropology and History Institute INAH.

She holds a first grade black belt in aikido and was authorized by her teacher to open her own dojo, where she … read more…

Tenzin Dapel

Born in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Dapel trained as a teacher, and worked for four years as an elementary schoolteacher. While still living in Europe, she was exposed to Buddhist meditation in the Theravada tradition and regularly participated in meditation retreats. During extended travels in Asia, she attended a month-long lam rim meditation retreat at Kopan Monastery, followed by the three-month Vajrasattva retreat there.

At the age of 28, Dapel decided to dedicate her life… read more…

Karma Lodrö Lhadron

Karma Lodrö was born in the Dominican Republic. She immigrated with her family to Puerto Rico at an early age. Lodrö earned a BA in Accounting and an MA in Business Management. She founded her own business, providing accounting services to diverse companies.

She encountered the Dharma at the Centro Budista Ganden Shedrub Ling Buddhist Center in Puerto Rico, where she completed the study program comprising a two-year course in Basics of Buddhism followed by the study of Madhyamaka philosophy. In 2012, she joined the 3-month Vajrasattva Retreat in Mexico directed by Venerable Damchö and… read more…