Cave in the Snow

Ok this is a little off-theme, but I was blown away when I first read this book many years ago and needed to put it on my list. It tells the story of an English woman who lived alone in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, practicing Buddhist meditation. I lived as a Buddhist nun in Myanmar, but only for a year, while Tenzin Palmo spent twelve years in silence. Her story is harrowing at times, illuminating, deep, and moving. One interesting tidbit—she never lay down (for 12 years!)!

This book is a true treasure. It tells the incredible story of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, now a world-renowned dharma teacher in the Tibetan tradition. Born as Diane Perry in London, she decided at the age of 18 that she was a Buddhist, saved up her money, and sailed to India in 1964 to pursue her spiritual path. There she battled the prejudice against women in Tibetan Buddhism, did a 12-year solitary retreat in a remote cave in the high Himalayas, and emerged from the cave with the stead-fast determination to build a monastery for nuns in India. Vicki Mackenzie recounts… show more.

This is one of my most favorite books ever! At the age of 18, Diane Perry — now known as Tenzin Palmo — decided she was a Buddhist and her commitment to this path has never wavered. Not even when she was on a three-year solitary retreat in a cave in the Himalayas and got snowed in. She did yoga to keep warm! Author, Vicki McKenzie, has written this fantastically compelling book about how Tenzin Palmo steadfastly held on to her meditation practice, through the unpleasant and challenging realities of being a Buddhist nun in India, (rats under the bed,… show more.