Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Sitting with what is
tying up loose threads in my mind
smoothing out the kinks
We visited Dongyu Gatsal Ling (Garden of the Authentic Lineage), the nunnery founded and headed up by Tenzin Palmo, born Diane Perry in England in 1943, of Cave In The Snow fame, her biography written by Vicki Mackenzie. She is one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic, at the age of 21. The nunnery, which serves as the home, school and training ground of some 116 nuns, is about a half hour taxi ride from Sherabling, and we had an hour of private time with her as well as time sitting in the beautiful shrine room.
Both Nancy and I found her to be entirely accessible, down to earth, pragmatic, and good humored. We talked about the nunnery and what her daily life looks like there, the 50 year stall in decision making by the (male) lineage heads regarding the full ordination of nuns, which to this day still does not exist in the Tibetan tradition (she received her full ordination in the Chinese tradition), the nunnery lock down during the two years of covid’s worst effects, the generosity of Sherabling during this time in materially helping many locals who had nothing to fall back on, the generosity of local monks in serving as teachers for the nuns at DGL, and many other topics of some interest to her.
What gives us meaning?
Hearts and minds aligned for good
being alive with joy
We laughed a good deal, and also shared serious concerns about the worsening state of world social and political conditions. We agreed that humans haven’t seemed to learn very much in their time on planet earth.
We weren’t expecting to spend an hour with her but this is apparently her normal protocol with visitors, and the time went by quickly and enjoyably. A truly dedicated and truly lovely human being.
May her work in the world continue to benefit sentient beings.
