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Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment
 
 
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Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment [Paperback]

Vicki MacKenzie (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment + Into the Heart of Life + Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism
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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (27 July 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747543895
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747543893
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 70,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Vicki Mackenzie
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Product Description

Product Description

The story of Tenzin Palmo, an Englishwoman, the daughter of a fishmonger from London's East End, who spent 12 years alone in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas and became a world-renowned spiritual leader and champion of the right of women to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Diane Perry grew up in London's East End. At the age of 18 however, she read a book on Buddhism and realised that this might fill a long-sensed void in her life. In 1963, at the age of 20, she went to India, where she eventually entered a monastery. Being the only woman amongst hundreds of monks, she began her battle against the prejudice that has excluded women from enlightenment for thousands of years. In 1976 she secluded herself in a remote cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, where she stayed for 12 years between the ages of 33 and 45. In this mountain hideaway she faced unimaginable cold, wild animals, floods, snow and rockfalls, grew her own food and slept in a traditional wooden meditation box, three feet square - she never lay down. In 1988 she emerged from the cave with a determination to build a convent in northern India to revive the Togdenma lineage, a long-forgotten female spiritual elite.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In 1976 Diane Perry, by then known by her Tibetan name Tenzin Palmo, secluded herself in a remote cave, over 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, cut off from the world by mountains & snow. There she engaged in years of intense Buddhist meditation. Her goal was to gain Enlightenment as a woman.

Tenzin Palmo's path inspired, uplifted & gave me the giggles too! From Diane's war-worn childhood to her wild teen years in Swinging London during the 1960s to her determination to follow her calling to the exiled Tibetan communities in Northern India. From Diane's survival of strange childhood ailments to her connection with the rare Buddhist societies in England to her glimpses of the Path to Perfection, Vicki Mackenzie tells this modest pioneering woman's adventures on her way to the roof of the world among a people with a long lineage of spiritual attainment with a lively, insightful fluency enhanced by snippets of conversations & seemingly simple philosophies.

Vicki Mackenzie has written an articulate modern adventure story complete with everyday bean counters & spiritual soul counters.

There is an amusing & entertaining history lesson to be had from Cave In The Snow. Being of the same age as Tenzin Palmo, I was also exploring Buddhism, except I emigrated to America. Even so I came across the same shin-whacking taboo - women cannot become gurus, lamas, priests, imams or rabbis because...& the silly litany tumbles out of men's mouths the way excuses do when they're caught with their fingers in the cookie jars.

As any woman who has ever stumbled into male-run religions knows, it always knocks the breath out of us when, with that simple, lineal logic, we are cast into spiritual exile because those in the know consider the attainment of Enlightenment a man thang & the body female prohibits both the study & the fulfillment of spiritual perfection. As if Spirit has a gender!

Irony is one aspect of becoming spiritual that brought about the giggles. Among all that seriousness there are gentle glimpses of glee such as when a monk bids Tenzin Palmo to raise the volume on her boom box so he could hear the Spanish monks singing their prayers.

High amid the Himalayas, this odd English woman brings to those sonorous sounding monks the rarified harmonies of Gregorian chants. Any Buddhist monk I've ever seen has had a ready smile & a mischievous laugh. That is attractive to me - a religious people who enjoy laughing.

For anyone who wants their heart to soar, their spirit to burst open like a flower, their mind to enfold peace ... Very well done!

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is an interesting view of what one woman undertook to journey toward enlightenment.The tale is one of great courage and is very inspiring. The attitude of traditional Tibetan Buddhism toward women was a shock to a Westerner. The chapter on the "flaws" of some of the Tibetan spiritual leaders reminded me that we all have a process in seeking enlightenment and that each person must witness him/herself throughout the journey. Even those who have reached a high level are still human beings. This was encouraging. However, I frequently found myself wishing the book were written better. The sometimes plodding style was occasionally distracting.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Vicki MacKenzie really takes the reader inside the life of Tenzin Palmo and shows her determination to get to enlightenment. What is the most striking is how the daily hardships seem to be barely mentioned by Tenzin Palmo even though, as pointed out by the writer, they seem immense to a Western reader. Reading this book made me realise just what true religious dedication is and makes my own worries seem so minor. Overall, an uplifting read which although outlining much of the core of Buddhism is more memorable as a story of a truly amazing woman.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Absolutely brilliant!
This book is absolutely brilliant. The wisdom in it is exceptional and the bravery of this woman is humbling. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Julie Faber
Quest for enlightenment
A fascinating account of the second western woman to become a Tibetan Buddhist nun, and her subsequent life as first the secretary of the Khamtrul Rinpoche and then later, the long... Read more
Published 9 months ago by xanadu
Good read
Although as a biography (rather than an autobiography) it lacks some of the insight and understanding that it might have had if written by the subject herself, i nevertheless found... Read more
Published 16 months ago by anna greve
Absorbing
Very absorbing read. I thought the narrator tried to draw conclusions about whether being away from sociery for so long had served any purpose. Read more
Published 17 months ago by BertieBox
Tenzin Palmo
A wonderful and inspiring account of a woman who spent 12 years in a solitary retreat in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Published 22 months ago by David
Inspirational read
Totally inspirational story of a English woman's journey on the path to enlightenment. Well written and a brilliant story that I found hard to put down. Highly recommended read.
Published on 15 Feb 2010 by Mrs. T. B. Carnall
Not just "a customer"
This is an inspiring and fascinating insight into the world of an extraordinary woman (Tenzin Palmo, previously Diane Perry), who endured all kinds of privations and gender... Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2008 by felicitas
Amazing
This book is one of the most amazing books tha I have ever read. I closed the back cover and open the front to read it again. Read more
Published on 11 April 2006 by V. Geddes
An inspirational read
Tenzin Palmo's life is a story of determination, courage and humility. In a time when few in the West had heard of Tibetan Buddhism, Tenzin Palmo travelled to India to embark on a... Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2000
An excellent book about a woman of great spiritual strength
"Cave in the Snow" is a biography about the religious life of a truly amazing woman. No matter what your beliefs are you will not be able to put this book down until... Read more
Published on 11 April 1999
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