Showing posts with label kung fu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kung fu. Show all posts

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Kung Fu Nuns



Kung Fu Nuns of Nepal Smash Convention In Himalayan Buddhism, the religious roles of nuns have long been restricted by rules and customs. But one sect is changing that, mixing meditation with martial arts and environmental activism. ........ the Kung Fu nuns, part of an 800-year-old Buddhist sect called Drukpa, the Tibetan word for dragon. Across the Himalayan region, and the wider world, its followers now mix meditation with martial arts. ....... Every day, the nuns swap their maroon robes for an umber brown uniform to practice Kung Fu, the ancient Chinese martial art. It’s part of their spiritual mission to achieve gender equality and physical fitness; their Buddhist beliefs also call on them to lead an environmentally friendly life. ...... Amid a soft rustle of their loose uniforms, they cartwheel, punch and kick one another. ....... “Kung Fu helps us to break gender barriers and develop inner confidence” ....... Leading the charge for change are the Kung Fu nuns, whose Drukpa sect began a reformist movement 30 years ago under the leadership of Jigme Pema Wangchen, who is also known as the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa. He was willing to disrupt centuries of tradition and wanted nuns who would carry the sect’s religious message outside monastery walls. ........ “We are changing rules of the game,” said Konchok Lhamo, 29, a Kung Fu nun. “It is not enough to meditate on a cushion inside a monastery.” ....... and walk for months on pilgrimages to pick up plastic litter and make people aware of climate change. .......

Every year for the past 20, except for a hiatus during the pandemic, the nuns have cycled about 1,250 miles from Kathmandu to Ladakh, high in the Himalayas, to promote green transportation.

.......... The sect’s nuns were first introduced to martial arts in 2008 by followers from Vietnam, who had come to the nunnery to learn scriptures and how to play the instruments used during prayers. ........ When they travel, heads shaved, on trips in their open vans, they can look like soldiers ready to be deployed on the front line and capable of confronting any bias. ......... The sect’s vast campus is home to 350 nuns, who live with ducks, turkeys, swans, goats, 20 dogs, a horse and a cow, all rescued either from the knife of butchers or from the streets. The women work as painters, artists, plumbers, gardeners, electricians and masons, and also manage a library and medical clinic for laypeople......... “When I look at them, I want to become a nun,” said Ajali Shahi, a graduate student at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. “They look so cool, and you want to leave everything behind.” ........

Every day, the nunnery receives at least a dozen inquiries about joining the order from places as far as Mexico, Ireland, Germany and the United States.

......... “And so strong from inside that I can do anything.” .





Ukraine Hits Russian Positions Deep Behind Enemy Lines Nearly a dozen explosions rang out in the Russian-held Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, site of one of the best-known battles of the war. ....... What targets were struck was perhaps less intriguing than how Ukrainian forces had managed to hit them. ...... a vast network of partisans loyal to Kyiv to wage war on the occupiers. ....... School officials said that Russian attacks have damaged 3,128 educational institutions, 441 of which are beyond repair. ....... Kyiv has also been casting an anxious eye on Russian threats via two neighboring countries, Belarus and Moldova. ........ Still, the main thrust of Moscow’s offensive operations remains in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces are trying to break through Ukrainian defenses in five directions.
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