Contentment

“Contentment is the supreme of all wealth. It is the greatest gift.”–Kheychok Palmo, 29, teacher at the Karma Drubdey Gompa Nunnery and Retreat Center, Trongsa.

Despite the differences Kheychok Palmo sees in the treatment of monks and nuns in Bhutanese society, she does not feel these treatments are in any way unfair. “That is their karma,” she says. “I am happy with what I have.”

Unlike some nuns in Bhutan, however, Kheychok Palmo does not feel that she would like to return in her next life as a man. “I will always want to be reborn as a woman, never as a man, because I feel one can benefit as a man already, and only a few women can benefit in female form. Women need to receive more benefits, and so many men already do well in the world.”

Kheychok Palmo’s confidence perhaps stems from having many good teachers, including Khenpo Rinpoche, who teaches all the nuns at Karma Drubdey that the final meditation on emptiness is one that focuses on Prajna Paramita -- the Great Mother of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. This practice brings the perfection and liberation of wisdom, represented in Tantric Buddhism by the female diety.