Dakini Power Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West

Many of us dream of exchanging our day-to-day responsibilities for a heartfelt life full of purpose, but few of us ever get around to doing something about it. The women featured in Dakini Powerand-contemporary teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, both Westerners and Asians, who teach in the Westand-are the exception. All twelve women (including Khandro Rinpoche, Pema ChandÖdrandÖn, Roshi Joan Halifax, and Tenzin Palmo) followed their intuition against all odds, made dramatic and unusual decisions, and sometimes had to fight for their survival in order to lead the lives they envisioned. All were criticizedand-for being too conservative or too rebellious, too feminist or not feminist enoughand-yet they pulled through with immense determination and bravery. Today all are recognized as accomplished practitioners and brilliant teachers. What can we learn from these women? How do they handle the cultural differences? How do they deal with the more controversial aspects of Buddhism? The Westerners among them risked alienating their families and closest friends by immersing their lives in a completely foreign culture. Often, this necessitated radical life changes. What did they find on their journey? Was the price they paid worth it to them? Dakini Power honors the lives and accomplishments of these female pioneers of Buddhism in the West, not least because they seem to have bridged gaps that many of us struggle with. Meeting them in this book, the reader will be inspired in the same way: to let go of old fears, explore new paths, and listen to one's inner voice with confidence. Featured here are: andandandand andKhandro Rinpoche (This Precious Life) andandandand andDagmola Sakya (Princess in the Land of Snows) andandandand andTenzin Palmo (Diane Perry) (Into the Heart of Life) andandandand andPema ChandÖdrandÖn (Deirdre Blomfield-Brown) (When Things Fall A∂ Start Where You Are) andandandand andKhandro Tsering ChandÖdron (most familiar to readers as the late aunt of Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) andandandand andThubten Chodron (Cherry Greene) (Buddhism for Beginners; Taming the Mind) andandandand andKarma Lekshe Tsomo (Patricia Zenn) (Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes) andandandand andChagdud Khadro (Jane Dedman) (P'howa Commentary; Life in Relation to Death) andandandand andSangye Khandro (Nanci Gay Gustafson) (Meditation, Transformation, and Dream Yoga) andandandand andRoshi Joan Halifax (Being with Dying) andandandand andTsultrim Allione (Joan RousmaniandÈre Ewing) (Women of Wisdom; Feeding Your Demons) andandandand andElizabeth Mattis-Namgyel (The Power of an Open Question)

Michaela Haas, PhD, is a reporter, lecturer, and consultant. She is the founder of Haas live! Communication Coaching Consulting, an international coaching company that specializes in media and mindfulness training for business leadersand media professionals. She is also a TV host, interviewer, and documentary filmmaker who has hosted numerous successful live talk shows and political broadcasts in Germany. She has been studying and practicing Buddhism for twenty years, has a PhD in Asian Studies, and is a visiting scholar in Religious Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. Haas divides her time between Malibu, California, and Munich, Germany.