October 2, 2002

12:41 PM

Tenzin Palmo,a British-born Buddhist nun, became famous in the Tibetan community when she spent 12 years meditating in a cave in the Himalayas. Now she seeks to address the gender inequality faced by women in Buddhism. She runs the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, and hopes to reestablish the lost tradition of the togdenma, yogini nuns of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage who follow the ascetic path of Milarepa.
posted by homunculus (7 comments total)

The term holier-than-thou seems apt for her. Her quotes came off quite bitchy. Guess I'd be pretty grouchy after a few years of sleeping sitting up.
posted by sharksandwich at 1:17 PM on October 2, 2002

I'm not a proper Buddhist, but spend time at the local Kagyu centre (the Kagyu Samye Dzong in Waterloo, which is run by a woman lama and a nun) meditating. The Salon article is filtered through a specific notion of gender politics, which doesn't ring true with what I imagine such a teacher as Palmo would be saying - I think she's been quite heavily mediated by the author of the article, to fit a notion of what a Battling Priestess!!! should be like. "Punishment" is the wrong word, for a start.

She is a good person doing good things, but the article's fetishisation of her femaleness misses the point as much as the old Tibetan culture she is working to counter.
posted by Grangousier at 1:25 PM on October 2, 2002

sharksandwich, the bitchiness is most likely in yourself.
posted by botono9 at 2:40 PM on October 2, 2002

whatkind of cardoes she drive? that says it all.
posted by Postroad at 2:54 PM on October 2, 2002

who reads this salon shit anyways?
posted by Satapher at 3:52 PM on October 2, 2002

Wow, you know all we need is for someone to say "I'd hit it" and this discussion would be on the same level as the one on Fark.com

Vive La Farkifacion I guess.
posted by Grimgrin at 4:58 PM on October 2, 2002

The answer lies within ourselves. If we can't find peace and happiness there, it's not going to come from the outside."

The essence of many eastern religions look inward for solving problems not outward. Cant say Id live in a cave for 12 years when you can be a modern hermit and sit home alone in front of a computer.
posted by stbalbach at 8:01 PM on October 2, 2002