Fourth Sunday in ordinary time. Today’s readings: Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17, 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:18.21-30
In her book Cave in the Snow. Tenzin Palmo’s Quest for Enlightenment, Vicki Mckenzie tells the fascinating story of Diane Perry, who is one of the world’s most revered Buddhist teachers; the first-ever Western woman to receive full bhikṣuṇī ordination in the Tibetan tradition in 1973. As a novice nun in 1964 she received the name Tenzin Palmo, and had to live in an all-male monastic setting, experiencing misogynistic discrimination, even though monks were very nice and kind to her.
Vicki Mckenzie’s book Cave in the Snow. Tenzin Palmo’s Quest for Enlightenment.After six years, she was allowed to become a hermit in a cave in the Indian Himalayas. There she spent 12 years, the last three spent in full retreat. After 24 years, she was forced by the police to break the spiritual law of seclusion, whereby “her retreat was irrevocably broken”, and to quit India in 10 days.
Instead of falling prey to disappointment, Tenzin Palmo said to herself that evidently she was not meant to stay there in long meditative solitude. Immediately after she was forced to come out of the retreat, people started flocking to her, attracted by her “deep-seated purity, innocence and true equanimity, compassion, inner freedom, peace and clarity”.
Ever since her forced entry again into the ‘world’, she has travelled worldwide, advocating for equal rights and opportunities for women, and founded the Dongyu Gatsai Ling Nunnery, which provides education for Tibetan women, and spreads the message of love and compassion all over the globe. She was also invited by the Vatican as a speaker at the Taiwan Interfaith conference.
In 2008 she received the title of Jetsunma for her accomplishments and dedication to the cause of Tibetan women. As a spiritual teacher she embodies Eastern and Western mysticism. Very fond of Therese of Lisieux, she also resonates with Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Francis of Assisi and Eckhart.
Her story is one of empowerment and enlightenment; of someone who in her own words went into a retreat to understand who she really is and what the situation truly is. Only “when one begins to understand oneself then one can truly understand others because we are all interrelated”. Her journey started with a spiritual quest to understand what perfection meant and to ultimately go back to that innate God-given flawlessness we all behold.
When one begins to understand oneself then one can truly understand others because we are all interrelated- Tenzin Palmo
In today’s first reading, Jeremiah is assured by God: “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you”. It is to this primordial signification that we are called to return, or to “take refuge” (Ps 71:1) “striving eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts”, as the Apostle, in the second reading, encourages us to do.
Transformed in charitas, namely selfless divine love, we become empowered, in Tenzin Palmo’s words, to act “out of compassion for all beings” and to “be sensitive to the needs and suffering of humanity”, fulfilling the God-assigned appointment to be a courageous prophetic presence in the world (Jer 1:5).
In today’s Gospel, Jesus, following his retreat in the desert, makes public his mission “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives”. Upon rejection, he did not give in to desperation, resentment or bitter disappointment. He simply “passed through the midst of them and went away”, continuing with his mission, being true to himself and faithful to his identity and mission.
It is solely by being rooted in our primordial identity that we can efficaciously be a transformative presence for good in the world.