"I have made a vow to attain Enlightenment in the female form - no matter how many lifetimes it takes"
One of my spiritual heroes is Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who in 1964 was the second Western woman ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. She spent 12 years in a Himalayan mountain cave in intense spiritual practice, which included sleeping in a traditional wooden meditation box in a meditative posture for just three hours a night. Since coming out of the cave, she has taken on the cause of equal rights and opportunities for Buddhist nuns. Listen to her important message about spiritual practice:
Regarding her time in solitude, she says:
"One of the good things about suffering is that it pulls people up.....and gets them thinking. When everything seems to be going well, and things are rolling along, then one tends to be less motivated to deal with the fundamental issues of life."
On living in an affluent society:
"If one has any sense at all, one should eventually realize that getting more stuff does not fill that huge black hole inside of discontent, disillusionment, and frustration. Then one sees that the spiritual teachers of all ages have something important to teach us.....But everyone seems to want everything so quick, these days."
She tells the story about how an individual once asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama what was the quickest and fastest way to achieve enlightenment. His Holiness just looked at him, then put his head down.....and just started crying.
"It's not a quick and easy fix. A genuine spiritual path is not easy," she says.
"It takes a tremendous, tremendous amount of effort to become effortless. And how much people are willing to put into it.....I don't know. This is my only fear. But hopefully, there will be a change in consciousness. Because if not, the planet is finished. We don't have that much time."
