A harmonious life in Tibet nursing home

Winter weather chills Lhasa in November, but at the home for the aged in Drepung Monastery, it still feels like spring.

Occasionally, birds play on the green lawns amid dazzling flowers at the nursing facility.

Konchok Phunde, an 83-year-old monk who has difficulty walking, chose not go out, but stayed inside to read sutras.

"Monks' livelihoods relied on income of the monastery or adherents' giving in the past," he said.

"But we have pensions now. It gives us comfort."

A local policy enacted in January, puts monks and nuns in the Tibet autonomous region on a pension system. Over 80 percent of the religious population has been covered by the system.

Monks and nuns also can enjoy medical compensation like local civilians do, thanks to a medical insurance system.

In tandem with the social security system, the Drepung Monastery has been promoting harmonious thinking this year.

Norbu, director of the management committee of the monastery, said they are helping monks to understand the importance of a harmonious society.

"Monks have been more open and accessible since then," Norbu said.

"They become more willing to talk with visitors. They tell the history of Drepung to the visitors and listen to others' stories."

Drinking a cup of tea, Phunde watches the sunrise while eating breakfast every morning.

He said a harmonious life in the monastery and in society fills him with hope.