Tsunma Tenzin Dasel

Tsunma Tenzin Dasel is Spiritual Director of Tashi Gatsel Ling.  She recently served as assistant to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and her nunnery, Dongyu Gatsal Ling in northern, India and returned to Tashi Gatsel Ling in August 2021.

A 1988 graduate with a BA from Bates College, and a Master in Arts, Summa Cum Laude, from Bangor Theological Seminary, she has been studying and practicing Buddha Dharma with her root lama, HE Kyabje Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsetan, since 2002 and was ordained by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in 2017. Venerable Tenzin Dasel teaches and leads meditation workshops and retreats in the USA and internationally. 

Institutional Affiliations

  • International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
  • Siddhartha High School, Ladakh, India
  • Ladakh Nuns Association (LNA), India
  • Alliance of Non-Himalayan Buddhist Nuns
  • S’ngsor Nunnery Arunachal Pradesh, India
  • Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women
  • Girls and Nuns Schools: Thubten Choeling Balika Vidyalaya, Lhou, Tawang
  • Dorje Dzong Nunnery and Girls School, Zanskar, Ladakh
  • Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, India
  • Yarmouth High School
  • Gray New Gloucester High School

Highlights of Recent Activities

  • 2008, Founder, Maine Mindfulness Project
  • 2009,National Association of Professional Women’s Wellness Award
  • 2010, Leading Woman of Maine, USA Award
  • 2014, Parliament of the Worldʼs ReligionsSpeaker & Session Leader, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  • 2016, Rabjung ordination as novice monastic in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Thosamling Nunnery, Sidhpur, India
  • 2016, Resident Dharma Instructor at Ngari Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Saboo, Leh-Ladakh, India
  • 2016-2018, Mindfulness Meditation Trainer and a Guest Instructor at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Leh-Ladakh, India
  • October 2016, Principal touring teacher of the Arunachal Mindfulness Project “The Understanding of Buddhist Philosophy and Cultivation of a Healthy Mind,” five city tour, northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh
  • January 2017-March 2018, Thosamling Nunnery and Institute for International Buddhist Women in Dharamsala, principal instructor of Shamatha Meditation Retreats
  • March 2017, ReceivedGetsulma ordination with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.  Attended 15th Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women, Hong Kong
  • November 2017, C0-Leader of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) Retreat, Taiwan
  • 2017-2018, One-month teaching tour to three cities in the Ural Mountains, Russia
  • November 2018, Presenter at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Canada
  • March 2019, Became Assistant to Most Venerable Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and Dongyu Gatsal Ling (DGL) Nunnery
  • March 2019, Assisted Dawn Ferguson, founder of Children Singing Peace Around the World in Mcleod Ganj and DGL Nunnery
  • April 2019, Meditation Instructor at FPMT Tushita Meditation Center 10-day Introduction to Buddhism course, for 113 people from 27 countries
  • May 2019, Australia and New Zealand Dharma pilgrimage
  • June 2019, Presenter & Meditation Leader, 16th International Sakyadhita Conference of Buddhist Women, Blue Mountains, Australia
  • July-August 2019, Retreat leader, Ladakh Nuns Association, Leh, India
  • October 2019, Workshop Leader, Panel Moderator, Speaker International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), Bi-annual Meeting, Deer Park, India
  • November 2018 & 2019, Retreat leader, Tashi Gatsel Ling, Gray, Maine, USA
  • December 2018 & 2019, Guest instructor at Bodhi Mind Center at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
  • November 2019, Visiting Dharma Instructor, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  • December 2019, Instructor, Shivananda Yoga Center, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Contact info: VenTenzinDasel@gmail.com