Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (born 1943) is a bhikṣuṇī in the

Drukpa Lineage The Drukpa Kagyu (), or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or " Red Hat sect" in older sources,

of the

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. She is an author, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. She is best known for being one of the very few Western

yogini A yogini ( Sanskrit: योगिनी, IAST: ) is a female master practitioner of tantra and yoga, as well as a formal term of respect for female Hindu or Buddhist spiritual teachers in Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Greater Tibet ...

s 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 Vicki Mackenzie (born 1947), an author and journalist, was born in England and spent much of her early life in Australia. The daughter of a naval officer, she graduated from Queensland University and became a reporter at the ''Sun'' newspaper in S ...

, 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".

Early life

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was born Diane Perry in Woolmers Park,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, on 30 June 1943. Although

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

at the

Young Lamas Home School The Young Lamas Home School was a school established by the 14th Dalai Lama and Freda Bedi in 1960. Its funding was provided by Christopher Hills and its early abbot was Karma Thinley Rinpoche. Freda Bedi asked Chogyam Trungpa to train young Tibet ...

for a few months before meeting her root lama, the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche.

Career

In 1964 she became only the second Western woman to be ordained in the

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

tradition, receiving the name Drubgyu Tenzin Palmo, or "Glorious Lady who Upholds the Doctrine of the Practice Succession". The ordination was as a

śrāmaṇerī A sāmaṇera (Pali); sa, श्रामणेर (), is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a ''śrāmaṇerī'' or ''śrāmaṇerikā'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sāmaṇerī''). Etymology The ''sāmaṇera'' is a ...

, or novice nun, the highest level of ordination available for women in the Tibetan tradition at the time because the bhikṣuṇī

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

had never been established there. However, with the support of her teacher, in 1973 Tenzin Palmo received the full bhikṣuṇī ordination in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, 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 Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...

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 Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

prejudices. She recounts, 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.

The cave

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

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. 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

Tenzin Palmo emerged from the cave in 1988 and travelled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

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 The Drukpa Kagyu (), or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or "Red Hat sect" in older sources,

order. 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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

– the Ven. Bhiksuni Heng-ching Shih, Professor of Philosophy at Taiwan National University elongma ordination 1975 in San Franciscoand Ven. Bhikshuni Wu-yin, Vinaya Master. It was formed in the autumn of 2005, after the Dalai Lama told Bhikshuni

Jampa Tsedroen Carola Roloff (born 1959 in Holzminden, West Germany) is a German Buddhist nun. Her monastic name is Bhiksuni Jampa Tsedroen. An active teacher, translator, author, and speaker, she is instrumental in campaigning for equal rights for Buddhist n ...

that the Western bhikshunis should be more involved in helping to establish the bhikshuni ordination in the Tibetan tradition.

Recognition

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 The 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigmet Pema Wangchen (, born 1963), is the head of the Drukpa Lineage school, which is one of the independent Sarma (new) schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In Drukpa, druk means 'dragon' which is a symbol of love and peace. ...

,.Enthronement of a Revered Nun at Nepal
/ref>

Books

* A collection of her teachings was released as the book ''Into the Heart of Life'' by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Snow Lion Publications, 2011. (). * Her life was profiled in the book ''Cave in the Snow'' by

(). * Tenzin Palmo released a book containing some of her teachings: ''Reflections On A Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism'' (). * ''Three Teachings'' is a compilation of talks given by Tenzin Palmo in Singapore, in 1998
Three Teachings

Three Teachings

References

External links

Page of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery
/ http://www.tenzinpalmo.com/
Tenzin Palmo is Watering the Nuns
Interview in ascent magazine

by Di Cousens * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080611225029/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/bmc2/bmc2.ch23.html Buddhist Monastic Code II, Chapter 23 Bhikkhunīs, edition 2007by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Buddhist Monastic Code II, Chapter 8 Respect
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

by Jessica Torrens * ttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Tenzin+Palmo&search_type= Tenzin Palmo videos

Online texts

Abstract: A brief overview of the situation for nuns in the Tibetan Tradition
speech by Bhiksuni Tenzin Palmo at the

International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha The International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha: Bhikshuni Vinaya and Ordination Lineages was an historic event that took place July 18–20, 2007. It was a meeting of internationally recognized Buddhist scholars specializing in ...

Media

H.H. Gyalwang Drukpa's explanation of "Jetsunma"
Video

3sat 07-12-2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmo, Tenzin Tibetan Buddhism writers 1943 births Tibetan Buddhist nuns Living people British Buddhist nuns Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teachers Tibetan Buddhists from England Converts to Buddhism Tibetan Buddhist yogis Women yogis 20th-century lamas 20th-century Buddhist nuns 21st-century Buddhist nuns People related to Lahaul and Spiti district Buddhist feminists