My name is Lhundup Jamyang. I was born in the Netherlands into a Catholic family. I was the 3^rd of 7 children, and have two sisters and four brothers.

I was trained as a physiotherapist in the years between 1979-1984 in Heerlen, the Netherlands, and have worked with children for 12 years. The last 9 years I had my own practice, where over half of the time I worked with children younger than two years old.

At the age of 28 I came for the first time in contact with yoga and meditation techniques. It changed my life. It brought me in contact with a healing quality within myself. Although I had no label for it at the time, I used this quality to develop my own way of working within physiotherapy.

Years later I still didn't know how to label this quality and checked it with two of my teachers. One called it ‘natural mind healing', and Lama Zopa called it the healing of ‘lung' or wind disease. I loved the work in my practice which was focussed on the total well-being of the child. It is so easy to see the potential children have, and to stay focussed on their capacity for positive growth. Working with the parents was more a challenge, and I was not satisfied with the way I could give them guidance.

Recognizing that this was due to a lack of understanding of the functioning of my own mind I felt a strong need for a teacher. When the conditions arose, I decided to sell my house and practice, determined to find the answers to my questions and trusting that a new way of living would reveal itself.

To find my teacher I went to India. It was March 1997. My boy friend Louis went with me. While I was looking for a man in an orange dress, Louis dragged me up the hills in Dharamsala to shake hands with the Dalai Lama. I was drawn to the red robes, but not at all to Buddhism. I wasn't interested in religion, and was not aware of the big knowledge that is packed in Buddhist philosophy. Because of the heat in India, we stayed the last month of our trip in Dharamsala, and I had to give up my search for the yogi in the orange dress. Not wanting to just hang out for a month, I decided to do a 10 day course at Tushita Meditation centre. I had no faith or trust that I would find what I was looking for. Maybe we need this attitude of giving up our own ideas and longings in order to find what suits us best.

The course was led by Ven. Sarah Thresher, who led Lama Zopa's recent Mahamudra retreat in Adelaide. After the course, my Buddhist adventure evolved fast. I recognised that Buddhism could give me the answers I was looking for, that Lama Zopa was my root guru, and that this was the path to go. Next November I went to Nepal and met Lama Zopa. He advised me to go to Pokhara, Nepal, to study Dharma with Lama Choeding Rinpoche. Still hoping that I could follow the path with Louis, who loves Nepal as I do, we went together and stayed as long as we could in Nepal. After that I did the Vajrasattva retreat in Dharamsala, and Louis went home. We returned to Dharamsala in February 1999 to do the 2-months Lam Rim course with Yangsi Rinpoche. More Dharma karma ripened during this course, and I had a dream about becoming a nun (and so did Louis).

It became very clear to me that if I wanted to understand the Dharma, or my wisdom mind, I had to practise ethics. I also realised that so far I had created many negativities in order to please my partner, and that there is only one person who would suffer from that after this life. I realised that if I would die, I would die with regret if I kept living the life I did.

After returning home Lama Zopa advised me to do retreat in Pharping, Nepal. He said I could become a nun now or in five years, but not in between. I didn't want to hurt Louis, but I also could not sustain the life I lived. I decided to jump in, and left for Nepal in September 2000. It was a very painful break in the relationship for both of us, and a profound practice in unconditional love and letting go.

I was ordained by Geshe Sopa, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's teachers, during the November course at Kopan Monastery. Lama Zopa advised me to go to Chenrezig Nuns' Community in Queensland, and after returning for half a year to the Netherlands to get an Australian visa, I arrived at Chenrezig Institute in October 2001. Since then, I've concentrated on studying the modules of the Buddhist Study Program (BSP). The Mahamudra Centre in New Zealand requested that I come to their centre and teach. Rinpoche checked, and said it was not beneficial for me to go to New Zealand, nor to stay at Chenrezig. Instead I should go to Buddha House in Adelaide to offer service and to study Dharma.

Soon after this I received a request from the Great Stupa in Bendigo to paint a Chenrezig mandala from 1.80m X 1.80m. Tangka painting has been in my life since I came back from the first Kopan course, and somehow, painting helps me to process my emotions. Painting the mandala of compassion seemed a great way to make the transition from Chenrezig Istitute to Buddha House. Although Bendigo was not on my way to Adelaide I could easily stop over. I spent nine weeks, working six days a week painting the mandala

And now I'm here, settling in and curious what will unfold for me and Buddha House. I've met many of you, and I feel very blessed to be here. The community feels strong, harmonious, and dynamic and I have the impression that anything is possible. I'm sure many ideas will ripen in the next few months, and that my role at Buddha House will naturally unfold.

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