One of the Tibetan women featured in the book, Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche, is one of the very few women trained as a full rinpoche in the Tibetan tradition. Plunged into deep despair, she embarked on a spiritual search that eventually led her to Buddhism, and a desire to stop “running around in circles pretending there’s ground where there actually isn’t any ground.” She discusses her time studying with her root teacher Chogyam Trungpa, and what her life is like now in retreat, where she spends most of her time.Īll of the women’s stories are equally compelling. In Dakini Power, she shares the story of how she came to Buddhism, in her mid-thirties as a single mother after learning her husband was having an affair. Pema Chodron is probably the most well-known, as she has had many bestselling books including When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times and Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves From Old Habits and Fears. Her varied background is put to good use in this book, as she combines excellent historical research with moving and personal interviews with each of the amazing women featured.ĭakinis in Tibetan Buddhism represent the female principle of enlightenment, and each of the women included in this book embodies this in her own unique way. She eventually earned her Phd in Asian Studies and is now a visiting scholar in Religious Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Haas is a journalist by training, who became a Buddhist practitioner herself after a visit to Bhutan. In Dakini Power: Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, Michaela Haas profiles and interviews twelve leading contemporary women teachers within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Dakini Power by Michaela Haas