This is an online event. Ticket holders will receive the zoom link shortly before the event.
We’re thrilled to be hosting this rare conversation between friends, exploring themes of faith and courage, and what it means to live our deepest values even in the teeth of risk.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is the first woman to have been ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist monastic tradition. Her biography, Cave in the Snow, recounts the now-legendary story of how she lived alone for 12 years in a cave in the Himalayas, as a part of her spiritual training. Later she founded the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She has travelled the world sharing the teachings of her tradition and is a much-revered teacher throughout the Western world. Jetsunma famously made a vow to attain enlightenment in the female form, no matter how many lifetimes this may take.
Sister Lucy Kurien was a young novice in a Catholic convent in Southern India when she had an experience that would change her life. One day a woman, who feared her abusive husband, asked Sister Lucy Kurien for shelter. But the convent had no space for her to stay, and Sister Lucy reluctantly turned her away. That night the husband murdered the woman along with her unborn child. This devastating experience led Sr Lucy to create Maher, a shelter for destitute women and children. What began with a single refuge in one village has grown to include 33 homes, where more than 4,000 people have received shelter, education and love.
This is the launch event in St Ethelburga’s year-long enquiry into the theme of courage. Where does extraordinary courage come from? What can we learn from people who’ve risked everything to live up to their values? What forms of courage are especially needed in our age of unravelling, uncertainty and risk? How can we inspire ourselves and each other to grow our capacity to brave our limits? Are there simple practices that can help with this? Are there insights from the world’s spiritual and faith traditions that can help us grow our courage?
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (born 1943) is a bhikṣuṇī in the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is an author, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She is best known for having spent twelve years living in a remote cave in the Himalayas, three of those years in strict meditation retreat. https://tenzinpalmo.com/
Sr Lucy is a Catholic nun and founder and director of Maher, a refuge for destitute women and children headquartered in Pune, India. In the Marathi language, Maher means ‘Mother’s Home.’ Founded in principles of compassion and service, Maher is an interfaith community that honours all religions, and whose motto is “There is always room for one more.” Since it was founded in 1997 Maher has welcomed 4,000 women and children through its doors. The organisation currently runs 33 houses and continues to grow. Sr Lucy is a recipient of several national and international awards, including the Global Women’s Summits 2011 Leadership Award, and has received worldwide recognition for her humanitarian efforts. Her work at Maher is the subject of a documentary titled Sister Heart. www.maherashram.org
Clare is Co-Director of St Ethelburga’s. Previously Development Director, Clare created and led on the Radical Resilience programme and went on to be the strategic lead on our viewpoint diversity work, before stepping up to co-lead the centre alongside Tarot Couzyn. She brings more than 20 years’ experience facilitating groups for the sake of inner enquiry and outer change, and is interested in how contemplative practices can play a role in cultural repair. She has has worked on numerous interfaith projects, most notably for Nisa Nashim, the Jewish Muslim Women’s Network. Prior to this, Clare worked as a communications consultant in the corporate and charitable sector. Currently she runs a community garden on her Hackney housing estate, where she lives with her husband and 9-year old daughter. Raised a Christian, Clare has also studied Buddhism and Sufism.
You can read her thoughts on the role of visionary imagination in resilience building here, and here is a short piece about contemplation as an antidote to conflict.
This event supported by:
