<나 여성의 몸으로 붓다가 되리라>
텐진 빠모 (지은이), 세등(世燈) (옮긴이)
김영사 2011
원제 : Cave in the Snow (1998년)
360쪽
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책소개
한 서양 여성이 머리를 깎고 히말라야의 깊은 설산 속으로 들어갔다. 그리고 12년. 이 책은 그 긴 시간 동안 외부세계와 철저히 차단된 좁은 동굴 속에서 궁핍과 금욕, 고독을 견디고 여성 앞에 놓인 편견의 벽을 넘어 영적 스승 '톈진 빠모'가 되기까지의 삶과 수행을 낱낱이 기록했다. 달라이 라마는 그녀의 치열하고 경이로운 구도에 감동의 눈물을 흘리며 "톈진 빠모, 당신은 정말 용감하군요"라고 말했다고 한다.
책은 크게 세 부분으로 구성된다.
인도로 떠나기 전까지 영국에서의 어린 시절,
불교에 귀의하고 티벳 수도원과 동굴에서 수행했던 시절,
동굴에서 나와 영적인 깨달음을 추구하는 젊은 여성들을 돕는 시절이 그것.
고된 수행을 견뎌내는 모습도 감동적이고 경이롭지만, 종교에서 배척당에온 '여성'이란 굴레를 거부하고 종교의 벽을 넘어 마침내 여성을 긍정하는 모습이 무척 인상적이다.
현재 북인도 히말라야의 줄기에 자리한 타시 종 사원 부근에서 티벳의 여승들과 외국인 여성 수행자들을 위한 수도원 건립에 힘쓰고 있는 그녀. 오직 '여성의 몸으로 깨달음을 향해 나아가리라'는 목적이 생이 끝나는 날까지 영원할 것이란 말이 두고 두고 남는다.
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목차
- 첫 만남
- 낯선 고향
- 길을 발견하다
- 첫발을 내딛다
- 구루와의 해후
- 보이지 않는 장벽
- 라홀
- 동굴
- 죽음의 위기
- 여성 수행자
- 여성의 길
- 세상 밖으로 나오다
- 전망
- 스승의 길
- 도전
- 동굴은 필요한가
- 지금은
역자 후기
참고 문헌
저자 및 역자소개
텐진 빠모 (Vicki Mackenzie) (지은이)
샤카디타 인터내셔널 회장. 영국 런던에서 태어나서 1964년 20세 때 정신적인 구도의 길을 찾아 인도로 건너가 티베트 스님 제8대 캄툴 린포체를 만났고, 서양 여성으로서는 최초의 티베트 비구니가 되었다. 12년간 히말라야 동굴에서 은둔 수행한 감동적 이야기가 『Cave in the Snow』라는 제목으로 엮어져 나왔다(한국에서는 『나는 여성의 몸으로 붓다가 되리라』라는 제목으로 번역되었음).
최근작 : <불교 페미니즘과 리더십>,<나는 여성의 몸으로 붓다가 되리라>,<텐진 빠모의 마음공부> … 총 19종 (모두보기)
세등(世燈) (옮긴이)
1954년 경북 김천에서 태어나 19살에 동화사 내원암으로 출가했다. 이후 운문사 강원, 동국대학교 불교학과, 동경 고마자와 대학교 불교대학원에서 공부했다. 1994년부터 4년동안 불교 여성학 연구를 위해 UC 버클리에 객원연구원으로 머물렀다.
지은 책으로 <그들은 마음으로 보고 있었다>가 있고, 옮긴 책으로는 <나는 여자의 몸으로 붓다가 되리라>, <이 땅에 오신 석가모니> 등이 있다. 2004년 현재 운문 승가대학 강사.
최근작 : <그들은 마음을 보고 있었다> … 총 5종 (모두보기)
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Cave In The Snow
by Vicki Mackenzie
4.26 · Rating details · 1,686 ratings · 139 reviews
This is the incredible story of Tenzin Palmo, a remarkable woman who spent 12 years alone in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas.
At the age of 20, Diane Perry, looking to fill a void in her life, entered a monastery in India--the only woman amongst hundreds of monks---and began her battle against the prejudice that had excluded women from enlightenment for thousands of years.
Thirteen years later, Diane Perry a.k.a. Tenzin Palmo secluded herself in a remote cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, where she stayed for twelve years. In her mountain retreat, she face unimaginable cold, wild animals, floods, snow and rockfalls, grew her own food and slept in a traditional wooden meditation box, three feet square. She never lay down.
Tenzin emerged from the cave with a determination to build a convent in northern India to revive the Togdenma lineage, a long-forgotten female spiritual elite.
She has traveled around the world to find support for her cause, meeting with spiritual leaders from the Pope to Desmond Tutu. She agreed to tell her story only to Vicky Mackenzie and a portion of the royalties from this book will help towards the completion of her convent.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published November 26th 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (first published September 15th 1998)
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Popular Answered Questions
Can anyone else tell me if this is a straightforward bio or more of a brag-worship-disguised-as-biography? I like the authors to have it in them to ask questions rather than just towing the party line.
Like 4 Years Ago See All 2 Answers
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Lauren
Mar 03, 2009Lauren rated it it was amazing
ever since reading this as a teenager, I've thought I could be a Buddhist Monk.
I still wish for that sometimes.
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Karan Bajaj
Apr 06, 2015Karan Bajaj rated it it was amazing
What a brilliant book! An incredibly inspiring story of a female monk seeking enlightenment in its truest, most undiluted sense. I admire the remarkable level of detail with which the biographer captured Tenzin Palmo's time in the cave. My wife and I ran into this book at a guest house in the high Himalayas - it was the perfect setting to read it and we both lapped up the story. The idea of meditating in a cave in the Himalayas sounds like a nice escape fantasy, but the reality is quite harsh, grueling, unglamorous, cold and damp. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the genre of "enlightenment quest." (less)
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Mina
Jan 04, 2009Mina rated it really liked it
"Cave in the Snow" is the biography of Tenzin Palmo, a British woman, who became a Tibetan Buddhist nun at an early age. In her attempt to seek enlightenment, she endured 12 years in solitary isolation in a barren cave in the Karakoram mountains. For 12 years, she slept upright in a 2' X 3' "meditation box", endured cold, wild animals, and near starvation.
Surprisingly, I found this book to be a real page turner. It was an uplifting book, and accessibly written by Vicki Mackenzie. I got a real sense for Tenzin Palmo's vibrant, spirited personality. She does not have the hermit-like personality one would think she would have for isolating herself in a cave for 12 years.
The book was also eye-opening. I gained insight into the makeup of a person who is more spiritually inclined than the rest of us. Tenzin Palmo was exceptionally single-minded in pursuing her spiritual goals, more inclined to break societal expectations, and felt more passionately towards Buddha and her gurus than the rest of us.
Through her eyes, I got a sense for how spiritually barren our Western society is compared to the impoverished areas of Northern India where she spent many of her years. We are surrounded my material goods, but are still depressed and lost for all of our material goods, wondering, "What is the meaning of life?" In reading about Tenzin's Tibetan Buddhism learnings, I also gained a surface impression of the depth and learning of certain Buddhist practices, as well as the superficiality of other of the Buddhist practices.
I found the book's message to be uplifting as well. After all of her soul searching, Tenzin Palmo came to the conclusion that all religions seek the same spiritual goal, which is to be "in the moment". Also, we don't have to retreat into a cave to progress spiritually. We can spend 15 minutes a day in the grocery line, washing dishes, or cleaning to calm the chatter in our minds and to attempt being in the present. This book has inspired me to learn more about meditation and its benefits, and more about Buddhism. (less)
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Ananya Ghosh
Jun 17, 2020Ananya Ghosh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Recommends it for: female sadhakas
Shelves: favourites, spirituality, feminism, 2020, practice-manual
14 highlights
I was recommended 'Cave in the Snow' when I complained that I cound't find writings of spiritually enlightened women. "Why didn't Devi Lopamudra and Devi Gargi and other realized women write any instruction manual for women? All I see are scriptures written by men and experiences of male sadhakas and siddhas", was my question and reason for disappointment.
This book is a biography of bhiksuni Tenzin Palmo. Palmo came to India from England in 1963, following her calling for Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. She was 20 back then. As she pursued her path, she was shocked to discover the patriarchal mindset of fellow male Buddhist practitioners who considered female body to be inferior to reach enlightenment. She was so appalled by the discrimination that she vowed to be enlightened in the female body, irrespective of the number of births it would take her.
On her lama's (guru) instructions, Palmo lived in solitude in a cave in Himachal Pradesh and practiced meditation for 12 years before coming back and helping others with the Dharma practice. Now she also runs a nunnery in Himachal Pradesh to support female monastics of Kagyu lineage.
To my delight, Cave in the snow not only raised the questions which I had, but in Palmo's emotional challenges during her early days, I discovered a woman with whom I can relate. It gave me clarity, comfort and inspiration which I was unable to find reading the experiences of men.
I definitely recommend this book to women sadhakas of all path. (less)
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Tracy
Feb 01, 2009Tracy rated it really liked it
Vickie Mackenzie's tone in this book is a little too breathless and reverential for my taste, but the story she has to tell is quite amazing. What struck me about Tenzin Palmo, aside from her ability to live in a cave/hut on a mountain in the Himalayas by herself, is how she seems to have been totally self-assured about her priorities and choices in life the whole way through. How many people get to be this sure about anything, let alone devotion to a sexist, byzantine religious order belonging to Asian mountain-people? Not that there's anything wrong with Tibetan Buddhism.. I'm just saying, the lady is formidable. (less)
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Sian Lile-Pastore
Dec 08, 2014Sian Lile-Pastore rated it liked it
A really interesting story let down by some clunky ol' writing. This is about a buddhist nun who lived in a cave for twelve years, although it isn't written by the nun (which would have been better) but by a journalist who met up with her. The nun's story is fascinating, but I could have done with more cave and less talking about a whole pile of other seemingly unrelated stuff in the last few chapters. Onwards!
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Mark Robison
Jun 11, 2017Mark Robison rated it it was amazing
I’m not sure I would've read this book so fast if not for the audio version. The writing is very plain and contains lots of attributions such as “she stated” and “she commented,” like a newspaper article. Also, for those who are unable to read books that take the supernatural seriously (and I’m one such person), it can be difficult to accept all of the Tibetan Buddhism mysticism. All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learning about Tenzin Palmo’s journey from young woman in England to Buddhist nun. What makes the book so engaging, in addition to adventures like being buried in her cave under an avalanche, is its strong and unapologetic feminism. She vows to attain enlightenment in female form “no matter how many lifetimes it takes.” I especially liked when she made the Dalai Lama cry when she explained all of the sexism women must face when pursuing Tibetan Buddhism. Excerpt: “What she had promised was to become a female Buddha, and female Buddhas (like female Christs and female Mohammeds) were decidedly thin on the ground. Certainly there had been plenty of acclaimed women mystics and saints in all parts of the world, but the full flowering of human divinity had, for the past few thousand years at least, been deemed the exclusive domain of the male. The female body, for some reason, had been seen as an unfit or unworthy vessel to contain the most sacred. Now Tenzin Palmo was publicly announcing she was intending to overthrow all that.” The audio version includes two half-hour talks given by Tenzin Palmo in Israel. Grade: A (less)
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James Allen
Apr 19, 2017James Allen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: favorites, buddhism
Tenzin Palmo's life story is inspirational.
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PhebeAnn
Jul 15, 2018PhebeAnn rated it really liked it
Shelves: buddhism
What I expected from this book was essentially a biography of British woman who came a Tibetan Buddhist nun and contemplative long before it was fashionable to do so, but there's a lot more to it.
What I enjoyed most were the later sections of the book where it delved more into the role of women in Buddhism (and particularly Tibetan Buddhism), the relationship between Buddhism and feminism, and the idea of Western Buddhism as a form that is coming-int0-being, and one of its greatest contributions (argues Tenzin Palmo) will be giving women a greater spiritual role.
At times, I disagreed with Tenzin Palmo's feminism (if she'd even call it that - though she is fighting for the equality of women). I felt she is overly critical of the anger of some feminists and that she lets some abusers, such as her teacher Choygam Trungpa, off the hook too easily. Yes, I know Buddhism doesn't like anger. But I also think many women have had to work to claim/express anger even when it's warranted, as we live in a culture where women are not supposed to get angry. So women must be given time to work through that anger. And while I want to leave open the possibility that women have agency to choose union with a non-celibate monk, I still think it's unethical for a monk in a position of power to make advances on young women coming to learn from him.
While I may disagree with her on some points, I nevertheless appreciated Tenzin Palmo's logical, unwavering position on women in Buddhism and the ability of women to attain the same spiritual depth as men. The fact that she lived in a cave for 13 years proving everyone wrong who said women could not withstand such hardship had me cheering. I also appreciated both her refusal of the idea that marriage and childbearing are always longings for women, as well as the depiction of her younger dating life and how she 'integrates' this passion into other parts of her life when she chooses celibacy.
Tibetan Buddhism doesn't resonate for me the way it does for Tenzin Palmo - raised a Spiritualist. Re-incarnation (particularly the lineage of incarnate lamas), hell realms, the rainbow body phenomenon, and other such mystical/religious concepts tend to draw me away from Buddhism rather than the more philosophical traditions of Western Buddhist thinkers such as Stephen Batchelor (who is discussed briefly in the overview of the tensions within Buddhism in the west). That said, it was interesting to learn a bit about Tibetan buddhism.
I particularly enjoyed Tenzin Palmo's teachings at the end of the audiobook, which were very practical if not radically different from those of other western teachers (e.g. Jack Kornfield, Pema Chodron). I am curious to seek out more of her teachings. (less)
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Katrin
Apr 28, 2008Katrin rated it really liked it
This is a fascinating account of one of the first Western women to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. She was also one of the few women, ever, to vow to reach enlightenment in a female form. Historically nuns have had to be satisfied with learning as much as possible then hoping to be reborn into a male form, whereby they might be given the higher teachings. Tenzin Palmo basically demanded the teachings. She was a recognized reincarnation of a close friend of one of the high lamas. She eventually went to meditate in a cave in the Himalayan foothills for 12 years!! Besides being a really great story, this book is very informative about some of the history of Tibetan Buddhism and especially what it has been like for women who wish to achieve a really advanced Buddhist practice. (less)
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Happyreader
Apr 10, 2011Happyreader rated it it was amazing
Shelves: spirituality, bio-and-memoir, women-of-interest, favorites
I’ve always been fascinated by Ani Tenzin Palmo. Twelve years meditating in a Himalayan cave!! And during the “prime” of her life too!! Who does that, you wonder? This engrossing biography answers that it’s a woman so dedicated to spiritual attainment that, despite the considerable obstacles of being a woman and a Westerner in the 1960s, she’s willing to commit and give her life to attaining enlightenment in female form. Her purpose in allowing the author access to her life was to inspire others to commit to their own spiritual attainment and this book achieves that. (less)
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Supriya Dhaliwal
Jan 18, 2015Supriya Dhaliwal rated it really liked it
This book unveils a tale of a revolutionary Western Tibetan nun whose eye is focused on a horizon too distant for most of us to see. Mackenzie has done an amazing job. She has crafted the different chapters in such a reader friendly manner that they not only act as the blackboard of the biographic tales of Tenzin Palmo but also introduce us to the diverse realms of Tibetan Buddhism.
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Product description
About the Author
Vicki Mackenzie has been a features writer for The Daily Sketch and The Daily Mail and has written for The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Daily Express, The Mail on Sunday, and many national Australian magazines.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Book Description
How an English woman, the daughter of a fishmonger from London's East end, has become a world-renowned spiritual leader and a champion of the right of women to achieve spiritual enlightenment --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Back Cover
"In 1976 Diane Perry, by then known by her Tibetan name, Tenzin Palmo, secluded herself in a remote cave, 13,200 feet up in the Himalayas, cut off from the world by mountains and snow. There she engaged in twelve years of intense Buddhist meditation. She faced unimaginable cold, wild animals, near-starvation and avalanches; she grew her own food and slept in a traditional wooden meditation box, three-foot square - she never lay down. Her goal was to attain enlightenment as a woman."--BOOK JACKET. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
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Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars181 customer ratings
Top Reviews
Vanessa
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Tenzin Palmo
Reviewed in Australia on 27 August 2014
Verified Purchase
What a blessing for us all to be living on the planet at the same time as this precious teacher.
Liam J Madden
4.0 out of 5 stars Beatifically inspiring book and deeply fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 April 2017
Having seen the documentary 'A Cave In The Snow' on YouTube as well as various talks given by Tenzin Poulmo, this is a worthwhile read and an impressive introduction to Buddhism and the incredible experiences of a brave and truly beatific nun. It's a slim read but an enjoyable one and a good companion to any talks you might see - inspiring and deeply fascinating.
4 people found this helpful
Jay
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2019
Verified Purchase
When you read a book and think 'Yes'
This is one of those books. I read it, I gained power from it , I learned.
One person found this helpful
C. Serginson
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating life story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2018
Verified Purchase
It was great to learn more about Tenzin Palmo. A very inspirational Buddhist. The book was also thought provoking in its discussion of feminism and Buddhism. Some of the writing was a bit magaziney but engaging nonetheless.
One person found this helpful
David West
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2020
Verified Purchase
One woman's lifelong, intuitive, courageous and committed search for Truth. An amazing, fascinating story which has resonance for me and which I do not wish to undermine with further comment. A worthwhile read.
ZERO DREADZ
5.0 out of 5 stars Hare Krishna a really Great book and some of my family knew her when ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2018
Verified Purchase
Hare Krishna a really Great book and some of my family knew her when she lived in London and it gives you a good sense of what she went through in the cave in the Snow ❄️
One person found this helpful
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Why Buddhism?: Westerners in Search of Wisdom
by Vicki Mackenzie3.98 · Rating details · 58 ratings · 4 reviews
Vicki Mackenzie, bestselling author of Cave in the Snow, investigates this question with the insight of a journalist who has explored Buddhism for 25 years. Among those who speak candidly about the effects of Buddhism in their lives are counselors and writers, a woman lama, a terminal cancer patient, a diamond merchant, composer Philip Glass, Professor Robert Thurman, and Buddhist luminaries Sharon Salzberg and Stephen Batchelor. The stories present intriguing responses to the Buddhist way -- to its ideas about consciousness and compassion, work and worldly success, family and relationships, nature and death, reincarnation, and other faiths. At a time when Western culture seems overwhelmed by materialism and individualism, Buddhism is attracting thoughtful people seeking a wiser way to live, inspiring them with tolerant and practical ethics and joyful spirituality. (less)
Why Buddhism?: Westerners in Search of Wisdom
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Johannes Bertus
Dec 21, 2013Johannes Bertus rated it really liked it
Some very inspiring stories. The author's views come through somewhat in the interviews, but she is sincere enough that it didn't bother me too much.
If I had to raise criticism, I would say is somewhat prone to equate Buddhism with Tibetanism, treating the many (legitimate) alternatives as oddities or even aberations. For instance she seems genuinely dumbfounded by Stephen Batchelor's skepticism of rebirth, while I would argue Batchelor merely takes the Buddha's teachings of non-self to their logical conclusion.
But when all is said and done, this is an inspiring overview of some dedicated Western Tibetan Buddhists. (less)
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Dean
Aug 09, 2013Dean rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: buddhism
Some interesting interviews with a wide range of Western background Buddhists over different traditions. Some well known, others not. Gives quite a good overview of the ways that Western people have taken on Buddhism and adapted some of the practices. It is good that the author also included both sides of views on issues such as karma, rebirth etc.
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Duncan Reed
Jun 15, 2019Duncan Reed rated it it was amazing
Shelves: 2019, spirituality
A really interesting and quite diverse group of Western Buddhist practitioners (many well known, some not so) explain why they find Buddhist practices personally beneficial. Mainly focuses on Mahayana, but does include Theravada too. The book is well written, based on interviews with the subjects which have been presented very clearly, and easy to read.
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Belle
Apr 26, 2017Belle rated it it was amazing
This was so inspiring. I started meditating more in hope of experiencing even something in the slight that others in this book. It opens your eyes to another life. Another way of existing in this world that carries you through everything imaginable and not so imaginable.
I really enjoyed getting the different perspectives from all the people interviewed because they each said something valuable and unique and equally important for the understanding and progress of someone hoping to embark on the same path. I felt excited to meditate reading it. The concepts were well explained with many stories and anecdotes along the way to help cement your understanding and to some extent the profundity these people have experienced. As a practical person I very much identified with Buddhism. There were some things I didn't agree with quite as much but that's the beauty of it - it's not an all or nothing "religion" which denotes true authenticity for the benefit of every individual whom partakes. I can't wait to continue my journey of discovering the Buddhist philosophy. (less)
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 이 책의 전자책 : 16,000원 
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| | - 판권 소멸 등으로 더 이상 제작, 유통 계획이 없습니다.
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| | - 출판사/제작사 유통이 중단되어 구할 수 없습니다.
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4.
국내도서] <나는 여성의 몸으로 붓다가 되리라>텐진 빠모 = 비키 메킨지 (지은이), 세등(世燈) (옮긴이) |
김영사 | 2011년
판권 소멸 등으로 더 이상 제작, 유통 계획이 없습니다.
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Tenzin Palmo
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (born 1943) is a bhikṣuṇī in the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is an author, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She is best known for being one of the very few Western yoginis trained in the East, having spent twelve years living in a remote cave in the Himalayas, three of those years in strict meditation retreat.
Vicki Mackenzie, who wrote Cave in the Snow about her, relates that what inspired the writing of the book was reading Tenzin Palmo's statement to a Buddhist magazine that "I have made a vow to attain Enlightenment in the female form - no matter how many lifetimes it takes".[1]
Early life[edit]
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was born Diane Perry in Woolmers Park, Hertfordshire, on 30 June 1943.[1][2] Although spiritualist meetings were held in her childhood home, she realized at the age of 18 that she was a Buddhist when she read a library book on the subject. She moved to India at 20, where she taught English at the Young Lamas Home School for a few months before meeting her root lama, the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche.
In 1964 she became only the second Western woman to be ordained in the Vajrayana tradition, receiving the name Drubgyu Tenzin Palmo, or "Glorious Lady who Upholds the Doctrine of the Practice Succession". The ordination was as a śrāmaṇerī, or novice nun, the highest level of ordination available for women in the Tibetan tradition at the time because the bhikṣuṇī sangha had never been established there. However, with the support of her teacher, in 1973 Tenzin Palmo received the full bhikṣuṇī ordination in Hong Kong, one of the first Western women to do so.
Living at Khamtrul Rinpoche's monastery as the sole nun among 100 monks provided Tenzin Palmo with first-hand experience of the discrimination that restricted women’s access to information that was imparted freely to men. Eager for instruction, she felt frustrated by the fact that she was kept out of most monastic activities because of misogynistic prejudices.[3] She recounts,
When I first came to India I lived in a monastery with 100 monks. I was the only nun... I think that is why I eventually went to live by myself in a cave... The monks were kind, and I had no problems of sexual harassment or troubles of that sort, but of course I was unfortunately within a female form. They actually told me they prayed that in my next life I would have the good fortune to be reborn as a male so that I could join in all the monastery's activities. In the meantime, they said, they didn't hold it too much against me that I had this inferior rebirth in the female form. It wasn't too much my fault.
This phase lasted for six years. Then Tenzin Palmo left the monastery at her teacher’s suggestion to go to Lahaul in the higher reaches of the Indian Himalayas, where she would eventually enter the cave and launch herself into uninterrupted, intense spiritual practice.[4]
The cave[edit]
In 1976 Tenzin Palmo commenced living in a cave in the Himalayas measuring 10 feet wide and six feet deep and remained there for 12 years, for three of which she was in full retreat. The cave was high in the remote Lahaul area of the Indian Himalayas (nearby Tayul Gompa), on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Tibet. In the course of the retreat she grew her own food and practised deep meditation based on ancient Buddhist methods. In accordance with protocol, she never lay down, sleeping in a traditional wooden meditation box in a meditative posture for just three hours a night. The last three years were spent in complete isolation. She survived temperatures of below −30° Fahrenheit (−35°C) and snow for six to eight months of the year.
Activism[edit]
Tenzin Palmo emerged from the cave in 1988 and travelled to Italy as visa problems meant she needed to leave India. Since her retreat Tenzin Palmo has taken on the cause of equal rights and opportunities for Buddhist nuns. In support of this, she spent several years travelling the world fundraising for a new Buddhist nunnery, as her root lama had asked her to do. In 2000, the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery was opened with the purpose of giving education and training to women from Tibet and the Himalayan border regions. At this nunnery, Tenzin Palmo also plans to re-establish the extinct lineage of togdenmas, a Drukpa Kagyu yogini order.[5]
Tenzin Palmo is a member of the six member "Committee of Western Bhikshunis", an organisation of senior Western nuns supported by two Advisors from Taiwan – the Ven. Bhiksuni Heng-ching Shih, Professor of Philosophy at Taiwan National University [Gelongma ordination 1975 in San Francisco] and Ven. Bhikshuni Wu-yin, Vinaya Master. It was formed in the autumn of 2005, after the Dalai Lama told Bhikshuni Jampa Tsedroen that the Western bhikshunis should be more involved in helping to establish the bhikshuni ordination in the Tibetan tradition.[6]
Recognition[edit]
On 16 February 2008, Tenzin Palmo received the title of Jetsunma (reverend lady) in recognition of her spiritual achievements as a nun and her efforts in promoting the status of female practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism by the head of the Drukpa Lineage, the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa,.[7][8]
- A collection of her teachings was released as the book Into the Heart of Life by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Snow Lion Publications, 2011. (ISBN 978-1-55939-374-4).
- Her life was profiled in the book Cave in the Snow by Vicki Mackenzie (ISBN 1-58234-045-5).
- Tenzin Palmo released a book containing some of her teachings: Reflections On A Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism (ISBN 1-55939-175-8).
- Three Teachings is a compilation of talks given by Tenzin Palmo in Singapore, in 1998. Three Teachings - Three Teachings
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