Meet Kelsang Virya | a Buddhist Nun

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsang Virya and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsang, what are you inspired by?
compassion for others. All beings deserve dignity, food and housing. Working with the unhoused in Denver is my passion; It’s what appears to me. It’s what i can do right now in my community.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I pray pride has no place in this work.

I am just a Buddhist Nun and maybe not the best Buddhist Nun. I have great faith. I pray, meditate and study…but mot as much as i should. But my faith in my religion is my refuge, my foundation. It is what anchors me when working in the middle of so much suffering on the streets of Denver. I am loud, inappropriate at times. I deal with my own mental health daily. I am especially drawn to folx struggling with addictions, mental health issues and the more vulnerable.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would definitely prepare for and attend Mutual Aid Monday. This community that gathers every monday is the most fulfilling, fun, emotionally hard, place to be. During the week we would do outreach to unhoused folx, support them during sweeps. We might hit a Thai restaurant but mostly we would cook at home. We would attend any protests happening to change the inequality, suffering, hatred (i.e. immigration status, police brutality, rights for all especially queer and trans folx) that exits in our society.

We would spend time in nature probably in the mountains, spend time with family probably playing games and we would spend time reading, meditating, reflecting and connecting.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
All the street folx, all the traditionally unhoused, all the folx making it day by day out on the streets of Denver

My heroines in this work are Teresa Howard and Jess Weiderholt.

Website: https://linktr.ee/Mutualaidmonday

Instagram: Mutual-Aid Monday

Twitter: @AidMonday

Facebook: @MutualAidMonday

Other: venmo: @Mutual Aid Monday

Image Credits
photo by Jess Weiderholt