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Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo is a tulku and the Kunzang Palyul Choling spiritual director; a Tibetan Buddhism center in the Vajrayana Nyingma Palyul tradition with locations in Poolesville, Maryland, Sedona, Arizona in the U.S.A., and Comboyne, NSW, Australia.
Early Years
Jetsunma was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish mother and Italian father. She left an abusive home life at seventeen and moved south, ending up in North Carolina. In her twenties, she began a meditative practice and intuitive spiritual training, culminating in a spiritual experience at age 30. She moved to the Washington DC area in 1981 and was asked to teach. An organization was formed to support this activity called The Center For Discovery and New Life.
A chance meeting with a Tibetan lama selling rugs to support his monastery in southern India led to a series of events that connected Jetsunma with His Holiness Penor Rinpoche during his first visit to the US.
Recognition as a tulku
Jetsunma was recognized as a tulku and emanation of Ahkon Lhamo, cofounder with her brother Kunzang Sherab of the Palyul Lineage, by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, head of the Palyul Linage. Jetsunma is the first western woman to be recognized and enthroned as a tulku in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She was enthroned at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Poolesville, Maryland in September 1988.
In 1994, Lama Orgyen Kusum Lingpa recognized Jetsunma as an emanation of Mandarava, the Indian spiritual consort of Padmasambhava, the tantric master who established the Buddha's teaching in Tibet. In 1996, she traveled to India and visited many of the places where Mandarava was known to have practiced.
Prayer vigil
In April of 1985, Jetsunma instituted a 24 hour prayer vigil in Maryland where participants continuously maintain 2 hour prayer shifts. The vigil is dedicated to the end of suffering and has been unbroken since its inception. In 1999, Kunzang Palyul Choling started another 24 hour prayer vigil shortly after Jetsunma established the Sedona, Arizona location.
Jetsunma was motivated to start a 24 hour prayer vigil from experiences in Brooklyn, when she searched for a sacred place to pray and found locked doors.
Peace Park and Stupas
Under her direction, many stupas have been built at Kunzang Palyul Choling's two locations, all containing relics pertinent to the Nyingma linage.
The first stupa, the 36 foot Enlightenment Stupa in Maryland was built and consecrated in 1988.
In the early 1990s, the Stupa Peace Park in Maryland was completed and dedicated to peace in the world. It contains all 8 types of stupas representing the 8 Great Deeds of the Buddha. At the center of these stands an 18 foot Long Life Stupa, dedicated to Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.
In the mid 1990s, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche gave Jetsunma a relic from Terton Migyur Dorje, which is now housed in the 42 foot tall Migyur Dorje Stupa in Maryland. Stupas housing similar relics built worldwide are renown for the spontaneous healing from mental and physical afflictions experienced by those who circumambulate with faith. This particular stupa is dedicated to the eradication of diseases for which there is no known cure.
The most recent is the Amitabha Stupa in Sedona, Arizona, completed and consecrated in 2004.
Palyul Productions
"Palyul Productions". extensively records Jetsunma's teachings. Their mission is to preserve and disseminate Tibetan Buddhist Palyul master's teachings.
Buddhist Relief
Jetsunma established Buddhist Relief, a compassionate disaster relief organization and network for worldwide compassion, in response to the Hurricane Katrina New Orleans disaster in 2005. The organization is currently focused on supporting the efforts in Burma as a result of military action against monastics.
Tara's Babies and Garuda Aviary
The Tara's Babies animal sanctuary organization, was founded by Jetsunma in 2005, in response to Hurricane Katrina and the many animals abandoned as a result of the evacuation. Initially caring for 130 dogs, the sanctuary is set in 148 acres of former ranch land nestled in the 3 million acre Tonto National Forest near Payson, Arizona. It has rescued many abandoned and abused dogs and cats through shelter, adoption, and foster care.
The well-equipped Garuda Aviary in Poolesville, Maryland was founded by Jetsunma and has rescued macaws and many other neglected and abused parrots.
Blinded By View
"Blinded by View". is Jetsunma's contemporary music production company. Releasing 2 recordings in 2007.
Arrest
In 1998, a Mirabella Magazine article entitled "Bad Karma" reported that Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo was arrested for the assault of two of her monastic students. The Maryland State's attorney's office confirmed her 1996 arrest for the assault. Two years later, a former Washington Post reporter wrote, The Buddha from Brooklyn, interviewing Jetsunma and many current and former students. The book describes both the assault and the arrest, and details concerns about Jetsunma's then $100,000 a year salary.
The assault arrest is a controversial issue for judicial rights and Vajrayana Buddhist teacher student sovereignty in the context of ending suffering. In the Vajrayana school, a monastic student seeking judicial protection may breach a guru's samaya (committed equality confidence) and create manufactured controversy. A notable Tibetan Buddhism feature is the emphasis on wrathful deities, often alternative manifestations of normally peaceful deities.
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso's Congressional Gold Medal offers this: "World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of Human Compassion."
A provocative contemporary alternative context with "War on Terror" political detainees debate is how and what laws should they be held to; the US constitutional judiciary due process or be subject to military tribunal with torture as a possibility to bring enlightenment. The Vajranya enlightenment path being guru yoga between teacher and student.
Music and Prayers
- Invocation, 1992, ISBN 9-991-33545-5
- Revolution of Compassion, 2007, ISBN 9-991-55428-9
- Delog, 2007, ISBN 9-991-55430-0
Footnotes
- Kunzang Palyul Chöling
- Tibet in Australia
- What is Enlightenment magazine, Fall-Winter 1999
- Oldenburg, Dan. "The Unexpected Incarnation In Poolesville, Buddhists Exalt Catherine Burroughs" in The Washington Post, Sep 26, 1988
- Women of the Year: "Ms Magazine", January/February 1989 Vol. XVII Nos. 7 & 8.
- Milestones: Time Magazine, October 10, 1988 Vol. 132 No. 15
- Nyingma.com. Kunzang Palyul Chöling, Feb 16, 2007
- Kunzang Palyul Chöling. Stupas of Maryland
- Montgomery Gazette, August 27, 1997
- Ganzer, Tony. A piece of "Spiritual Technology", May 24, 2007
- Arizona Republic, October 5, 2005
- Montgomery Gazette, November 28, 2007
- Sherrill, The Buddha From Brooklyn, p 239
References
- Blythe, Will. "Bad Karma" in Mirabella Magazine, 1998.
- MacKenzie, Vicki. Reborn in the West. HarperCollins, 1997, ISBN 0-7225-3443-4
- Sherrill, Martha. The Buddha from Brooklyn, Random House 2000, ISBN 0-679-45275-3
Further reading
- Bloom, Pamela. Buddhist Acts of Compassion publisher? 2000, p. 100, ISBN 1-573-24523-2
- Coleman, James William. The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition publisher? 2001, p. 225, ISBN 0-195-15241-7
- Corless, Roger. The Vision of Buddhism: The Space Under the Tree. publisher? 1989, p. 295, ISBN 1-557-78200-8
- Costa, Cheryl Ann. The Twentieth Century Collection: Eight Extraordinary One-Act Plays by Playwright. publisher? 2002, ISBN 0-595-25967-7 (inspiration)
- Havnevik, Hanna. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns: History, Cultural Norms, and Social Reality. publisher? 1989, p. 223, ISBN 8-200-02846-1
- Hyolmo, Tsering Wangdhi Lhoba. Buddhist Masters. publisher? 2000, p. 200.
- Jetsunma Ahkön Norbu Lhamo. The Practice of Generosity. publisher? Ahkön Norbu Lhamo, 1991.
- Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. Stabilizing the Mind. Palyul Press, 2005, ISBN 1-4116-6102-8
- Kelly, Marcia and Jack. The Whole Heaven Catalog: A Resource Guide to Products, Services, Arts, Crafts & Festivals of Religious, Spiritual, & Cooperative Communities. publisher? 1998, p. 336, ISBN 0-609-80120-1
- Khandro, Sangye. The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava: The Indian Consort of Padmasambhava. publisher? 1998, ISBN 0-861-71144-0; ISBN 978-0861711444
- The Complete Guide to Buddhist America, 1998, p. 274
- Maguire, Jack. Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices publisher? 2001, p. 288, ISBN 0-671-04188-6
- Miller, Timothy. America's Alternative Religions. publisher? 1995, p. 169, ISBN 0-791-42398-0
- Shermer, Michael. How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God. publisher? 2003, p. 260, ISBN 0-805-07479-1
- Paine, Jeffrey. Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes To The West. publisher? 2004, p. 152, ISBN 0-393-32626-8
- Prebish, Charles S. and Kenneth Kenichi Tanaka. The Faces of Buddhism in America. publisher? 1998, p. 105, ISBN 0-520-21301-7
- Zangpo, Ven. Tsering Lama Jamapal, translated by Sangye Khandro. A Garden of Immortal Wish-Fulfilling Trees: the Palyul Tradition of Nyingmapa. Snow Lion Publications, 1988, ISBN 0-937938-64-5
- Laurel,The Truth: About the Five Primary Religions and the Seven Rules of Any Good Religion. The Oracle Institute, 2005, p. 260, ISBN 0-977-39290-2 (Jetsunma Included)
- Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America. Edited by Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Marie Cantlon, 2006, p. 655. ISBN 0-253-34688-6