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| Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, www.breakthroughpsychologyprogram.com. |
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo celebrates her 77th birthday today, June 30, 2020. I would like to honor her by reflecting on her life story.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Her biography begins, "Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was born in England in 1943 and named Diane Perry.
"She and her older brother were raised by her mother in the Bethnal Green area of London after her father’s death when Diane was 2 years old. Mrs Perry was a spiritualist who held séances in the family home, and Jetsunma credits this as being a strong and positive influence on her development as a seeker of truth.
"Aged 18, she realized she was a Buddhist while reading the book The Mind Unshaken by John Walters.
"After leaving school she worked as a librarian at the Hackney Public Library and then SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) in London, saving enough money to leave England in 1964, sailing to India to pursue her spiritual path.
"She headed north to Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, where she had arranged to work with an expat Englishwoman named Freda Bedi, who had opened a school for young reincarnated lamas among the exiled Tibetan community.
"On her 21st birthday in June 1964, the school had a special guest: His Eminence the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche, a great Drukpa Kagyu lama.
"Diane recognised him immediately as her Guru and asked him if she could become a Nun. Aged 21, only 3 months after arriving in India, the newly named Drubgyu Tenzin Palmo became one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic.
"In the summer months supplies were delivered from Keylong and she grew turnips and potatoes nearby. She stockpiled for winter, when the cave was snowbound. She slept and meditated upright in a meditation box.
"Despite many hardships and life-threatening experiences, Tenzin Palmo thrived in her solitary spiritual practice and lived in the cave for 12 years, from the ages of 33 to 45. For the first 9 years she occasionally had visitors or took trips away from the cave, while the last 3 years were spent in strict retreat.
"Her retreat ended in summer 1988 and after 24 years in India, she returned to Europe to stay with friends in Assisi, Italy. There she rediscovered her western roots and started to accept requests to teach."
Continue reading Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's biography on www.tenzinpalmo.com.
"She and her older brother were raised by her mother in the Bethnal Green area of London after her father’s death when Diane was 2 years old. Mrs Perry was a spiritualist who held séances in the family home, and Jetsunma credits this as being a strong and positive influence on her development as a seeker of truth.
"Aged 18, she realized she was a Buddhist while reading the book The Mind Unshaken by John Walters.
"After leaving school she worked as a librarian at the Hackney Public Library and then SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) in London, saving enough money to leave England in 1964, sailing to India to pursue her spiritual path.
"She headed north to Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, where she had arranged to work with an expat Englishwoman named Freda Bedi, who had opened a school for young reincarnated lamas among the exiled Tibetan community.
"On her 21st birthday in June 1964, the school had a special guest: His Eminence the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche, a great Drukpa Kagyu lama.
"Diane recognised him immediately as her Guru and asked him if she could become a Nun. Aged 21, only 3 months after arriving in India, the newly named Drubgyu Tenzin Palmo became one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic.
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| His Eminence the 8th Kamtrul Rinpoche (1931-1980), www.kamtrul.org. |
"In 1967 she received the sramanerika ordination at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim from His Holiness the 16th Karmapa.
"As full ordination is not yet available for women in the Tibetan tradition, in 1973 she travelled to Hong Kong to obtain the bhikshuni ordination at Miu Fat Temple.
"Tenzin Palmo was based with Khamtrul Rinpoche and his community first in Dalhousie and later at the monastery of Tashi Jong, near Palampur, Himachal Pradesh for six years until 1970, when he directed her to the Himalayan valley of Lahaul in order to undertake more intensive practice. She stayed in Tayul Gompa, a small Lahauli monastery for the next 6 years, remaining in retreat during the long winter months.
"Then in 1976, seeking more seclusion and better conditions for practice, she found a cave a couple of hours hike from Tayul, at 13,200 feet above sea level. The cave was enhanced by building enclosing walls, creating a living space around 6 feet (1.8 metres) square.
"As full ordination is not yet available for women in the Tibetan tradition, in 1973 she travelled to Hong Kong to obtain the bhikshuni ordination at Miu Fat Temple.
"Tenzin Palmo was based with Khamtrul Rinpoche and his community first in Dalhousie and later at the monastery of Tashi Jong, near Palampur, Himachal Pradesh for six years until 1970, when he directed her to the Himalayan valley of Lahaul in order to undertake more intensive practice. She stayed in Tayul Gompa, a small Lahauli monastery for the next 6 years, remaining in retreat during the long winter months.
"Then in 1976, seeking more seclusion and better conditions for practice, she found a cave a couple of hours hike from Tayul, at 13,200 feet above sea level. The cave was enhanced by building enclosing walls, creating a living space around 6 feet (1.8 metres) square.
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| Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo outside of her cave, early 1980s, www.tenzinpalmo.com. |
"In the summer months supplies were delivered from Keylong and she grew turnips and potatoes nearby. She stockpiled for winter, when the cave was snowbound. She slept and meditated upright in a meditation box.
"Despite many hardships and life-threatening experiences, Tenzin Palmo thrived in her solitary spiritual practice and lived in the cave for 12 years, from the ages of 33 to 45. For the first 9 years she occasionally had visitors or took trips away from the cave, while the last 3 years were spent in strict retreat.
"Her retreat ended in summer 1988 and after 24 years in India, she returned to Europe to stay with friends in Assisi, Italy. There she rediscovered her western roots and started to accept requests to teach."
Continue reading Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's biography on www.tenzinpalmo.com.
Cave in the Snow
Watch the short video "DGL nuns offering their prayer to Jetsunma, celebrating Children's Day in India" on the DGL Nunnery Vimeo channel.
Listen to a reading from Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's biography, "Cave in the Snow, read by Beth, by watching the video "Tenzin Palmo's 12 Years in a Cave" on the Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery YouTube channel.
Watch the fifty-one minute film "Cave in the Snow" on the שרית אופריכטר YouTube channel.
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| Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (official) Facebook. |
Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery
His Eminence the 8th Kamtrul Rinpoche (1931-1980) requested on several occasions that Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo build a nunnery. His Eminence the 9th Kamtrul Rinpoche (1980-) along with lamas from Khampagar monastery at Tashi Jong made the request in 1993.
Construction on Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery (DGL) began in 2001. The Drukpa Kagyu nunnery is in Himachal Pradesh, India. Prior to the start of the pandemic visitors were welcomed to stay at the nunnery by contacting the DGL office. The nunnery is temporarily closed.
Watch the video "Finding Our Voice - The story of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery"on the Bodhi Events Australia YouTube channel.
Watch the short video "Chöd Practice at Tenzin Palmo's Nunnery, DGL near Palampur" on the Her Way is the Highway YouTube channel.
Contribute to the DGL Endowment Fund to help future generations of nuns.
Long Life Prayer for Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Glorious, foremost and holy one
Who through the blessings of
The Three Jewels and three roots
Spreads the amazing
Teachings of the meaning lineage
Far and wide across the world -
May you live long and may your
Enlightened activities flourish
and increase.
- written by His Eminence the 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche
- translated into English by Ruth Sonam
Contribute to the DGL Endowment Fund to help future generations of nuns.
Long Life Prayer for Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Glorious, foremost and holy one
Who through the blessings of
The Three Jewels and three roots
Spreads the amazing
Teachings of the meaning lineage
Far and wide across the world -
May you live long and may your
Enlightened activities flourish
and increase.
- written by His Eminence the 9th Khamtrul Rinpoche
- translated into English by Ruth Sonam
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