Words of Wisdom from a Buddhist Nun in Times of Coronavirus

I talk with Tenzin Palmo, who spent 12 years alone in a cave in the Himalayas, about solitude, presence, ego and, of course, coronavirus.

Meeting Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

I talk to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo over Zoom on a Monday morning, my hair still damp from the shower, feeling rather below par after a weekend in which the days were spent writing, the nights tossing and turning with coronavirus-related money worries.

The Zoom connection is swiftly made, the internet bandwidth from the nunnery she founded in northern India giving us a clear connection, albeit with a slight time lag that will lead to me occasionally speak over her by mistake. She looks as robust, healthy and serene as I don’t feel. She is sitting in front of a white wall bearing a colourful banner of a Tibetan deity. When she flashes her smile, which is infrequent but broad and dazzling, it reminds me of somebody. It is only later than I place it — Cameron Diaz, if Cameron Diaz were a shaven-headed, seventy-six year-old Buddhist nun from Bethnal Green.

Cave in the Snow

It was early 2004 when I first read the book about Tenzin Palmo’s life, Cave in the Snow (I include several quotes from the book below). It had been recommended by a friend I’d met while…