Life lessons from a woman who spent 12 years in a cave meditating.

Busy? Restless?
Disconnected from yourself,
From your spiritual side?
Longing for inner peace?
Missing your ‘happier Self’?

I was extremely fortunate
To meet in India (back in 2017)
With a world-famous Buddhist Nun
To ask her advice:

Jetsuma Tenzin Palmo.

Who is Jetsuma Tenzin Palmo?

A UK born woman
(Hertfordshire, to be exact)
Became the second Westerner
To be ordained
As a Tibetan Buddhist Nun.

In 1976 she decided to spend
12 years in a cave
Alone
To retreat and meditate
13,000 feet up in the Indian Himalayas
Extreme cold, near starvation
Wild animals, floods...
She came out
A spiritual leader
Champion for
Female spiritual enlightenment.

I tell you dear fellow Inner Pilgrim,
She is extraordinary.

During a one hour one-to-one talk
At her nunnery in Bir, North India
We spoke about our human longing
To re-connect with ourselves
With that part of us
That is peaceful,
Loving, kind and still
Rested and full of energy
Inspired and happy.

Our true nature.

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Inner Peace

I don't know about you,
But used to feel
True despair
When I miss ‘myself’
When I can't connect with
A bigger spiritual source
Deep in my heart.

I even get a sense of
"What is the point
If I am not connected with myself,
With the source of it all, inside of me?"
It made me pretty unhappy…
If I may say so.

It felt like going through the motions
Without a purpose, anchorless.

Her response
While giving me a gentle
Pat on my left cheek:
"Relaaaaaaaaaax
Make friends with yourself.
Really, love yourself."

We are never disconnected
From our true nature.
It’s always there.

Like the sky,
Just temporarily obscured
By the clouds.

For the clouds to dissappear
We need inner calm, we need inner peace,

And this is how:

"Do not do anything unwholesome
Do wholesome deeds plentifully
And tame your own mind”
- These are the teachings of the Buddha.

Let’s start with ourselves.

So.....I am practicing:
Making friends with myself,
Doing nothing unwholesome to myself,
Being relaxed and loving with others.

I enjoyed my shower
Instead of mindlessly
Jumping in and out.

I had a tea
Gazing in the distance.

I completed
Some outstanding admin
Which made my mind
More quiet.

I smiled at the people in the park.
I wrote these kind lines to you.

Dongyu Gatsal Ling - Nunnery, India

“Beautiful Karin, thank you for sharing. I found this so inspiring, there is truly something magical about the soul of Jetsunma, and you!”

Elizabeth Cairns - The Empowered Entrepreneur

How about you?
What can you do to
Relaaaaaax
Make friends with yourself
And truly love yourself?
Because
Inner peace is right there.


With inspired peaceful love,
Karin

PS
If you like to learn more
About Jetsuma Tenzin Palmo
Read "Cave in the Snow"
Her wisdom and kind heart
Will leave you inspired.

And if you’d like to visit her nunnery in North India
It’s called Dongyu Gatsal Ling
And has a lovely guest house.

My husband and I lived there for a few months
On and off throughout 2018 and 2019.
It’s a place where you come home to yourself.