Lama Shenpen K. Hookham serves as the Spiritual Director of the Awakened Heart Sangha, dedicating over five decades to teaching and translating within the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Her teachings delve into the profound nature of mind and reality, emphasizing direct experiential insight. She makes these ancient wisdom teachings accessible to contemporary practitioners, guiding them toward peace and awakening. Her approach is marked by clarity, compassion, and a deep understanding of the human psyche.
"Keeping the Dalai Lama Waiting & Other Stories" chronicles the remarkable journey of Susan Rowan, an English Christian who became a Tibetan Buddhist Lama. It details her spiritual quest in the Himalayas, teachings from eminent Lamas, and her efforts to adapt Buddhist wisdom for Western audiences, all while navigating cultural intersections and personal growth.
A clear-headed and relatable guidebook for navigating the student-teacher relationship by one of the first female Buddhist teachers in the West. All major forms of Buddhism stress the need for a teacher. However, the importance of having a guide or guru is sometimes a source of cultural and spiritual confusion as Buddhism expands in the West. A clear understanding of the Buddhist view of the guru is essential for the student-teacher relationship to be beneficial for one's spiritual growth. Collecting over fifty years of personal experiences as both a student and a teacher, Shenpen Hookham writes candidly of the opportunities and challenges facing modern Dharma students in the West who wish to study with a teacher. Traditional texts often do not reflect how the student-teacher relationship manifests in practice, which leaves many pressing questions and a great deal of confusion in communities taking root in the West. With honesty and clarity, Hookham discusses the roles of the teacher, practices related to the guru, and commonly asked questions she receives as a teacher. This handbook is the first of its kind, breaking down in a pragmatic and relatable way everything you need to know to enter a student-teacher relationship with open eyes and an open heart.