Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was raised in London and became a Buddhist in her teens. In 1964, at the age of 20, she decided to go to India to pursue her spiritual path. There she met her guru, His Eminence the Eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche Dongyu Nyima, a great Drukpa master, and she became one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. She will be making a teaching tour of Europe in May/June 2009. This will be her last tour of Europe before she retires.

There will be four events in the UK:

London:  6th May: ‘Opening the Heart’ Evening Public Talk - starts at 19:00 St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL Tickets £15 available on the door (no advance booking) For information please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Worcester: 7th May: ‘The Boddhisattva Way of Life’  Evening public talk - starts at 19:00 St Swithun’s, Church Street, Worcester, WR1 2RH Tickets at the door: £12 concessions £10 Advanced tickets: Tel: 01905 611427 which is: Worcester Live Box Office, Huntingdon Hall, Crowngate, Worcester WR1 3LD

London: 9th May: ‘Death and Dying‘ Full day teaching - 10:00 - 16:00 Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1 Tickets (at the door): £30, concessions available Tickets in advance: Drukpa UK, 114 Harvist Road, London NW6 6HJ For information please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

London: 10th May: ‘Transforming the Mind’’ Full day teaching - 10:00 - 16:00 Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1 Tickets (at the door): £30, concessions available Tickets in advance: Drukpa UK, 114 Harvist Road, London NW6 6HJ For information please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Monastics can attend any event free.

A Short Biography follows: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was raised in London and became a Buddhist in her teens. In 1964, at the age of 20, she decided to go to India to pursue her spiritual path. There she met her guru, His Eminence the Eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche Dongyu Nyima, a great Drukpa Kagyu lama, and she became one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. She remained with Khamtrul Rinpoche and his community in Himachal Pradesh for six years and then he directed her to Lahaul in order to undertake more intensive practice. After some years, seeking greater seclusion and better conditions for practice, she found a nearby cave where she remained for twelve years, the last three years in strict retreat. Tenzin Palmo left India in 1988 and went to stay in Italy where she taught at various Dharma centres. Before Khamtrul Rinpoche passed away in 1980, he had on several occasions requested Tenzin Palmo to start a nunnery. She understood the importance of this and remembers: “When I was staying at a small monastery in Lahaul I saw for myself that nuns, however intelligent and devoted, had no opportunity to study and no access to higher teachings. It made me so sad because the monks were given all the teachings and put into retreats while the nuns were overlooked and treated as servants.“ In 1993, the Lamas of Khampagar Monastery at Tashi Jong again made the request for a nunnery.

In 2000 she established Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India, and the first nuns arrived. Dongyu Gatsal Ling is now a thriving Nunnery. In 2008 Tenzin Palmo was given the title of Jetsunma, which means Venerable Master, by His Holiness The Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, Head of the Drukpa lineage. His Holiness bestowed this honour on Tenzin Palmo at Druk Amitabha Mountain in Kathmandu in recognition of her spiritual achievements as a nun and her efforts in promoting the status of female practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism.

There will be a live webcast from His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa's Live to Love public talk - "Wisdom, Love and Action" in London tonight. It is due to start at 19:00 GMT 5 Jan 2009. You can view the stream at ustream.tv - click here to be taken to the page.

Dear Drukpa Spritual Family,

I hope you are well in your spiritual and material activities. I want to inform you that, recently thirty five (35) delegates from Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Ladakh,Garsha, Kinor and Nepal came as a representative of Drukpa Lineage outside of Bhutan to meet His Majesty the 5th King of Bhutan to offer the prayers and congratulations of His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa and International Drukpa Sanghas. Due to the various activites of coronation and the 45 day celebration, The Goverment of Bhutan was able to give us a confirmed date of appointment with His Majesty only a week before the actual appointment, Therefore we felt that the time was too short to gather all the Sanghas from Europe, North and South America and Since Drubpon Ngawang had already represented Drukpa Europe, North and South America during the actual coronation,we felt that it was rather easier to gather the Drukpa Asian Sanghas. Anyway, every thing went well and His Majesty the fifth King of Bhutan expressed his admiration for His Holiness and mentioned that he look forward to meeting His Holiness in person. He also mentioned that because of our shared Drukpa Lineage and as a Dharma King, he supports all the Monasteries, be it in Bhutan or Ladakh and Garsha etc. and His Majesty also mentioned that he wishes for Bhutan to represent all the good and joyous things in the world. From our side we have to acknowledge the importance of Bhutan as a spiritual Kingdom for the world and Dharma in general and especially for the Drukpa Lineage and pray for the long life of His Majesties the Kings of Bhutan and well being of the Kingdom. That is all for now, My best wishes for a Happy New Year to all of you and I look forward to welcoming you all in Bhutan,the Kingdom of Dragon.

With love,Yours in Dharma,

Do Kham.

 His Holiness will be in London at the start of January 2009. on Sunday 4th January 2009 (at 10 am) there will be a teaching on Amitabha with initiation at: THE SKYLIGHT CENTRE, 9-15 Elthorne Road, London N19 4AJ Nearest stations: Archway or Upper Holloway. Admission: £35 (£25 concs) View the googlemap here then, on Monday the 5th January at 7pm the will be a public talk: Wisdom, Love and Action The Brunei Gallery, SOAS, 10 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1 Nearest tube: Russell Square. Admission £15 (£10 concs) View the googlemap here

November 26, 2008

Dear Friends,

Upon my return to Bhutan, I met with His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa in Katmandu in Nepal. We spoke at great length on the subject of the First Council of the Drukpa Lineage, which will take place from the 6th to the 15th of April 2009 at Druk Amtibha Monastery in Katmandu. His Holiness’s project is especially important for Him and it is important for all individuals having a tie or link to His Holiness to make as much effort as possible to participate. The word “council” is but one meaning. On might also rightly speak of a “pilgrimage” because on the occasion of this gathering, teachings will be given and there will be tsok ritual offerings and mandalas as well as visits to holy places, as is the case with pilgrimages. His Holiness has invited all of the great masters of the lineage to come together for two days in order to confer among themselves. Many masters from Tibet, Bhutan, India and Ladakh will be present and this is truly exceptional. This is a remarkable opportunity for us to create a link or tie with these different masters and receive their blessings. The organizers wish that Drukpa Plouray be responsible for registration for all of Europe, the Americas and Australia. In Katmandu, the Damaru agency, directed by Mr. Indra will be in charge of organization. It is thus imperative that you contact the Plouray Center in order to register. It will not be possible to enter Druk Amitabha Monastery without being at first registered. Profits from this pilgrimage will be used to finance the necessary expenses linked with bringing together the masters of the lineage. This council project is the His Holiness’s idea and it is our duty to respond to it, if possible. It is a means to great benefits and to receive blessings. I thus invite you to do all that you can in order to participate.

Drubpön Ngawang Tenzin

Dear Drukpa friends Some of you may have heard already that we have to leave our premises in Audley Square at short notice. The reason is that the building owners have increased the rent so the current leaseholder has no option but to surrender the lease. We always knew that our stay at Audley Square would be temporary (we were told between 6 months and 2 years) but, as usual with these situations, we all assumed it would go on a bit longer. Following His Holiness's instructions we have already started the search for new premises to rent and we will keep everybody informed of the progress on this. If anyone hears of anything that may be suitable please let us know. In the meantime we would like to invite everybody to celebrate the last tsok in Audley Square (Chenrezig & Amitabha practice) this coming Wednesday June 18th, starting at 7 pm. This day is especially auspicious as it is also the anniversary of Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment and so we hope that many of you will be able to attend on this occasion and make wishes together for the swift manifestation of the next premises. The actual packing up and moving out will take place on the following weekend, on the 21st and 22nd June, and we would appreciate as much help as possible with this task. This will mainly involve lifting and carrying so please come prepared for this, but the less able bodied amongst us are also welcome to help with jobs like cleaning and tea making etc ! Email us here to join in.

 Dear Friends We are planning a new activity for this month's Live to Love group activity. There is a ward at St Mary's hospital in Paddington where many of the elderly patients receive few or no visits. We have been given permission by the hospital administrators to go along as a group this Sunday to keep these patients company during the afternoon visiting hours. We are meeting at Starbucks in Paddington Rail Station at 14:45 on Sunday. If you would like to come along, please email here if you need a contact mobile telephone number to ensure you meet up with the group.

 We are happy to announce that Drubpon (Lama) Nawang will be coming to London again to give teachings, from May 30th to June 1st. The main topic this time will be Green Tara, building on the teaching and initiation that we received from His Holiness in January of this year. The details are as follows: Venue: Drukpa Kunga Peljor, 5 Audley Square, London W1K 1DS Times: Friday May 30th, 7.30 - 9.30 pm. Since this is Dakini day we will be doing Sengye Tsewa tsok practice Saturday May 31st, 10.30 am - 6 pm - Green Tara teaching and practice Sunday June 1st, 10.30 am - 6 pm - Green Tara teaching and practice Cost (to cover travel and other expenses): £10 per day, £25 for the whole weekend (= £5 per individual session) Texts: Green Tara, Guru Yoga and Rosary of Jewels, plus Sengey Tsewa for Friday evening (copies of all texts will be available at the venue). Looking forward to seeing you there. with best wishes Drukpa UK

 To all Drukpa Centres; I pray that all is well and harmonious with your Dharma activities. As most of you are aware, the Annual Drukpa Council created by the enlightened mind of H.H. Gyalwang Drukpa is to be held this December in Nepal. As per the wishes of H.H., I am trying to raise the awareness of this sacred event to others and would like to encourage you all to raise awareness among other Drukpa followers as well as the general public of the upcoming ADC event. Being followers and with great faith in the Drukpa Lineage, I have great hopes that we will all strive to work harmoniously together in raising awareness of this event as well as spreading the sacredness of the Drukpa Lineage to others in every way possible in order to benefit as many sentient beings. We have recently sent out invitations to other Rinpoches of the Drukpa Lineage to attend and participate in the ADC. We are still progressing on the organization of the ADC event and have not currently set up the registration site; however we will update everyone as soon as it is ready but the website is still available to all. My prayers and good wishes to everyone in the Drukpa centres. Yours sincerely in the Dharma, H.E. Khamtrul Rinpoche Tango: Bhutan --- Note: The first Annual Drukpa Council is scheduled to take place 27th Dec 2008 to 5th Jan 2009 at Druk Amitabha Mountain in Kathmandu. More information will appear here as it becomes available, or you can visit the www.drukpa-council.org website.