Lady of Realization

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Gelongma Khechog Palmo was a pioneer in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. She was known as Freda Bedi, with a degree in political science from Oxford university, who then married a sikh, and fought for Independence in India. She was the first western woman ordained as a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.  Her life, as an Englishwoman in India was extraordinary both as an academic, political activist, and social worker. At the request of Nehru, she was chosen to help the Tibetan refugees,when China invaded Tibet.

Sister Palmo is remembered today, as one of the key figures in bringing the sixteenth Karmapa to America and Europe. Her influence was there too with younger important  Rinpoches, like Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Rinpoche as well as many others  Sister Palmo was also a distinguished scholar and translator. Her translations into English bear both an authenticity and rare beauty of language. She is known for her “Garland of Morning Prayers”, various sadhanas, and a translation of Mahamudra, known as the “Great Seal”, the highest form of meditation.

It was my privilege to have been her student, and to study, and then travel with her. This memoir is a reflection of that extraordinary time of the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism in the West  in the seventies. The memoir also  brings with it, deep personal experiences from my own life, lived out during the long and brutal years of the apartheid government in South Africa.