Jetsunma is currently on retreat at the Palyul Retreat Center in McDonough, New York.  Her intention while on retreat is to connect with her Palyul family, and to spend time with His Holiness Karma Kuchen. Jetsunma has been doing her heart practice, Chime Tsog Thig and Guru Yoga every day.

Jetsunma has encouraged her students that have never attended Palyul Retreat in New York to please do so, indicating that the Palyul Retreat center built by Kyabje Penor Rinpoche in 1998 will help her students to receive the entire cycle of Nam Cho teachings. Terton Migyur Dorje revealed the Nam Cho termas (hidden teachings) hundreds of years ago.   These are the same teachings taught at the New York Palyul Retreat Center during the annual summer retreat.

Jetsunma has also invited all retreatants at the Palyul Retreat Center to come to KPC throughout the year, to help them continue their practices in an environment that supports their Path.   While in retreat, Jetsunma has continuously spoken of the countless blessings His Holiness Penor Rinpoche brought into the world, and has written beautiful prayers for His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and His Holiness Karma Kuchen. She vows to uphold Kyabje Penor Rinpoche and work to ensure that His blessings continue to thrive in the world.

How did His Holiness Penor Rinpoche meet Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo?

In June of 1985, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche came to the United States and visited an American woman in Kensington, Maryland.  It was his first trip to the United States, and this was his only stop.  They had a wonderful summer meal outside on a patio, and many have talked about the laughter and joy that was shared that day.  His Holiness then proceeded to interview the students this American woman had gathered and began asking these students what she was teaching them.  After the interviews were completed, he called the American woman in to speak with her.  He told her that that she was teaching her students, no matter what she called it, were the basic teachings of Mahayana Buddhism.  Mahayana Buddhism is characterized by the bodhisattva ideal in which one seeks enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, not just oneself.

While in Maryland, His Holiness bestowed refuge and bodhisattva vows on the American woman, and her students.  He also approved the refuge vow that she had been giving to her students as an authentic refuge vow and authorized her to conduct the refuge ceremony using that vow rather than the traditional one.

When requested, His Holiness prophesied the location of the new World Prayer Center for which members of the center were actively searching at the time.  He told the students that it would seem to be too costly but that they should get it anyway as their center would grow in the future.  In October of that year, settlement was made on the present location of Kunzang Palyul Chöling near Poolesville, Maryland, in a building that exactly matched the prophesy of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche right down to the four white pillars on the front porch.   And it was more expensive than anyone imagined they could handle, but devotion won out in the end.

After this amazing visit, events proceeded and a number of high lamas of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism visited the new center to give teachings, including the Khenpo brothers, Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, Chagdud Tulku, Ven. Gyaltrul Rinpoche, and others.  In February, 1987, the American woman traveled to India at the invitation of His Holiness where he officially recognized her as the incarnation of Genyenma Ahkön Lhamo, the Tibetan saint and sister of Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab, founder of Palyul Monastery.  After formally recognizing her, he gave her many teachings and transmissions and fully empowered her as a lineage holder in the Nyingma tradition.  He also gave her a name, Ahkön Norbu Lhamo.  The honorific title of Jetsunma was added later.

The next year His Holiness returned to Maryland to bestow the Rinchen Terdzöd cycle of empowerments for the first time in the West.   The Rinchen Terdzöd is a compilation by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great of all known terma revelations in the Nyingma tradition and takes three full months to confer.  Near the end of the empowerments, His Holiness formally enthroned Jetsunma as a tulku and lineage holder in the Palyul tradition.  This startling recognition of an American woman as a reincarnate Tibetan lama was picked up by news services around the world.

Migyur Dorje was only a young boy, about 12 years old, when he began spontaneously revealing the terma cycle known as the Nam Chö (Space Treasure) from his mind.  Although he died young at age 23 in 1667, Migyur Dorje did have students, and his closest heart students were Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab and his sister, Genyenma Ahkön Lhamo.   Kunzang Sherab was the first throne holder of the Palyul lineage that continues to this day, and Palyul is now considered to be one of the six principal mother monasteries of the Nyingma tradition.

Genyenma Ahkön Lhamo spent most of her life in retreat in a cave in the mountains above Palyul.  She was widely considered to be a saint because of her renunciate lifestyle and her accomplishment in her practice.  Held in particular by the ordained nuns (or anis) of Palyul, the valley in which her cave was located became known as the Red Valley because of the red-robed nuns who gathered there daily to seek blessings from Ahkön Lhamo.  It is said that Ahkön Lhamo never bathed or otherwise tended to her personal hygiene, yet the sweet smell of flowers always emanated from her cave.

When Ahkön Lhamo died, she was cremated, as was the tradition.  As the fire burned her body, suddenly the skull cap, or kapala, flew from the body and through the air, landing on her brother’s throne in the monastery about a kilometer away.  Upon examination, the kapala revealed a number of seed syllables – ultimate condensations of the Dharma into a single syllable, such as “AH.”  Such manifestations are only associated with practitioners of very high attainment.  This event was considered a miracle by those who witnessed it, and the kapala became the most sacred relic of Palyul Monastery.  For centuries it was used to distribute the blessed amrita during empowerments and large group practices or pujas.

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche often passed out the amrita to the gathered monks using this precious relic.  It so impressed him that he made prayers to find the reincarnation of Ahkön Lhamo if she lived in the world.  When the Chinese invaded and annexed Tibet, they destroyed nearly all the monasteries and temples in Tibet and killed many monks and lamas.  Among the monasteries destroyed was Palyul, and one of the many sacred objects destroyed was the kapala of Genyenma Ahkön Lhamo.  His Holiness Penor Rinpoche was able to recover a piece of the kapala, and after recognizing Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, he gave it to her.  This relic rests today at Kunzang Palyul Choling, and is shown on specific Buddhist holidays.  The piece of the kapala that His Holiness was able to recover displays the miraculous “ah” on the kapala itself.

For Jetsunma, recognition occurred at a much older age than was traditional in Tibet.  It also involved the recognition of a woman and a Western woman.  Jetsunma also had no formal training in Buddhism, instead teaching directly from her mind.  Such a recognition caused some controversy because of its nontraditional aspects.  Yet His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, who was widely venerated as a Living Buddha, was adamant in his recognition, and he was supported by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, also a former Supreme Head of the Nyingma tradition, and the Second Dzongnang Jampal Lodro Rinpoche, the most senior Palyul tulku.

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche enthusiastically supported Jetsunma’s efforts until the end of his life in 2009.  His successor, His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche, has also stated on numerous occasions that he supports her just as His Holiness Penor Rinpoche did and that her activity and her center must continue.  Jetsunma has fully fulfilled His Holiness Penor Rinpoche’s trust in her, and countless sentient beings have benefitted.

While at the Palyul Retreat His Holiness Karma Kuchen indicated that he knows and understands that Jetsunma and the late His Holiness Penor Rinpoche were very close and that he would like for her to consider their relationship to be the same as hers with Kyabje Penor Rinpoche; that they both want to uphold Palyul in the world and His Holiness Penor Rinpoche’s legacy.

The lowing of the conch shell sounded from various points the temple grounds like a soft foghorn. It overlaid the patter of hammers as stupa construction continued. Sometimes the sound wavered and spluttered out, and Jetsunma would laugh, lowering the conch. She was practicing for the enthronement ceremony the following day and had been told at the last minute that she would have to blow the conch. She never had before, at least not in this lifetime. She wiped her mouth and joked to her students, “I’m never going to get this down.”

She gamely tried again, continuing her gradual circumambulation of the temple. The sound came out clear and strong and hung in the air. After a moment of stillness, the students cheered.

On September 24, 1988, the temple filled with cameras and mics angled in every direction. Jetsunma sat quietly humble on the throne, and straightened the brocades draped over her shoulders, blinking at the lights. The temple had never been so brightly lit. To the blare of Tibetan horns and ringing bells, NBC filmed while His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, Throne Holder to the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma School of Vajrayana Buddhism, formally enthroned Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo as a tulku, or reincarnate teacher.

According to tradition, ceremonial items were carried from H.H. Penor Rinpoche to Jetsunma, empowering her to teach and formally represent the Palyul Lineage. When the time came for her to blow the conch on camera, the sound came clear and then wavered. Not as good as the night before. She shared a wry smile with her students, tipping her head, Oh, well. Then one of the monks had to blow the conch. His Holiness chuckled and Gyaltrul Rinpoche translated his comment, ”They should have had Jetsunma do it.”

The news spread via Associated Press, and world newspapers printed photos of the spectacle of a western woman with long dark hair on a Tibetan throne. Her enthronement came at a time when Vajrayana Buddhism was relatively unknown in the US. The year before, an obscure Tibetan monk, H.H. the Dalai Lama, spoke at the National Cathedral to a scattered audience of about a hundred. At Buddhist temples in the late 1980s, teachers were universally Asian.

It was openly questioned whether Westerners could accomplish this Eastern religion.

H.H. Penor Rinpoche, who never shirked what was needed, answered with a resounding “Yes.” As he enthroned her, he said, “People have asked me why there are no American tulkus. And people have asked me why there are no female Lamas. Now you have both. So you should be very happy.”

“This is for you,” Jetsunma said later to her students. “It’s for all of us really. This is your own enthronement, your own future accomplishment that you’re seeing.” She explained that the enthronement meant that not only can Dharma be accomplished, it can be accomplished by Westerners, even in this day and age. “Yes, even you.” And she wrinkled her nose impishly at her students, and laughed.

Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje

We can tell the story now:  KPC thanks Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje (Peter Yeung) of the Pathgate Institute in the United Kingdom for the generous donation that enabled us to meet the challenge of our recent financial crisis.

Lama Dondrup Dorje is the Principal of the Pathgate Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Founder of the Palyul Nyingma Buddhist Association in the United Kingdom, Greece, and Australia.  He was the donor who offered the challenge grant that doubled the proceeds of our second evening webathon on April 28, then made up the difference between our fund-raising results and our goal.

For those who just came in, KPC had a surprise at the end of April:  the note on our mortgage-backed line of credit was called by the bank—with five days notice.  (You can catch up on that story here.)

Lama Dondrup’s generous response to the plight of KPC was rooted in his devotion to the late Holiness Penor Rinpoche, 11^th Throne Holder of the Palyul Lineage, by whom he was entrusted with the charge of the largest Palyul ordained sangha in Europe.  He has always maintained his only mission in life is to promote and preserve the Dharma activities of his Root Guru, Penor Rinpoche.  For more information about the donation, click here.

Penor Rinpoche is also the Root Guru of KPC Spiritual Director Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo; he enthroned her as a Lineage Holder in 1988 and consecrated the center she had established as the first seat of Palyul in the Western Hemisphere.  She has gathered the largest Palyul ordained sangha in the Western Hemisphere.

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and the sangha at KPC are indebted to Lama Dondrup Dorje.  May he see the fruit of his generosity in this very life!

In commemoration of the 21st anniversary of the enthronement of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on September 24, we are presenting testimonials from Jetsunma’s students about her impact on their lives.

This is an account by a Palyul monk of meeting his teacher, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. 

Unequivocally it is easy for me to say that Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo has been the most profound positive influence in my life.

Here is why:

I had already been ordained as a monk in the Gelug tradition at a Buddhist Centre in the Queensland rainforest, having determined that Buddhism was the path for me and that being a monk was the way to practice.

However I was ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. At times it was quite horrendous.  There were a number of occasions where I felt my life force slipping away and that I was going to die. People who saw me on those occasions often wanted to call an ambulance. After blanking out for 12-14 hours or so I would wake finding that I was alive, though still feeling exhausted. This was my life.

Eventually it became obvious that my health was too bad to stay at the Buddhist centre and I moved to my parent’s house. During this time I had a picture of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche (head of the Palyul lineage) on the wall in my bedroom. Whenever I saw it, I would cry and cry. I didn’t know why.

One day I went to a friend’s place to watch a video of his teacher. The teacher was Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.  As soon as I saw her, tears welled in my eyes; I felt instant recognition of her amazing qualities. Instant familiarity.

During that teaching Jetsunma talked about meeting HH Penor Rinpoche (her root teacher) for the first time. As she was explaining this, lightning bolts went off in my head. It was the same experience I was having sitting on the sofa watching her on the video. I had found my home. I had found my lineage. It was that simple.

During the following months I had frequent dreams of Jetsunma. She would appear as herself or in the form of a deity. She would smile at me, emanate compassion, and emit rays of white light, which would pass through my body and heal me. I was not cured overnight but each time my health improved.

This process enabled me to move interstate to seek treatment and eventually to be healthy enough to fly to the US to meet Jetsunma in person. The lama I found was the same being as in the video and in my dreams. A being of infinite compassion who has the ability to reach out across vast distances, through time and space.

Needless to say I have been to America twice now, taken full ordination in the Palyul tradition, and am very much in the recovery phase of Chronic Fatigue. No longer do I feel like death, for now I am being held in the arms of the Dakini.

I find her teachings to be the most direct, pith instructions of natural realization I have heard – a perfect antidote for these chaotic times.

On September 24, 1988, Alyce Zeoli was enthroned as Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, throneholder of the Palyul Lineage, by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.  In honor of this exquisite blessing, and in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of Jetsunma’s enthronement, we will be doing a series of posts from her students about what her presence and her teaching have meant in their lives.

To view a video of the enthronement ceremony, click here