Contemporary Authors

• The Boy Lama Harper & Row (San Francisco, CA), 1989
• Reborn in the West: The Reincarnation Masters Marlowe & Co. (New York, NY), 1996
• Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 1998
• Why Buddhism? Westerners in Search of Wisdom Allen & Unwin (Crow Nest, Australia), 2001
• The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun Shambhala (Boulder, CO), 2017

1. The revolutionary life of Freda Bedi : British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun LCCN 2016028308 Type of material Book Personal name Mackenzie, Vicki, author. Main title The revolutionary life of Freda Bedi : British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun / Vicki MacKenzie. Edition First edition. Published/Produced Boulder, CO : Shambhala, 2017. Projected pub date 1111 Description pages cm ISBN 9781611804256 (paperback) CALL NUMBER BQ942.E38 M33 2017 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms 2. Why Buddhism? : Westerners in search of wisdom LCCN 2001347373 Type of material Book Personal name Mackenzie, Vicki. Main title Why Buddhism? : Westerners in search of wisdom / Vicki Mackenzie. Published/Created Crow Nest, Australia : Allen & Unwin, 2001. Description xxvi, 308 p. ; 22 cm. ISBN 186448781X Shelf Location FLS2014 076336 CALL NUMBER BQ4012 .M33 2001 OVERFLOWA5S Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms (FLS1) 3. Cave in the snow : Tenzin Palmo's quest for enlightenment LCCN 00271753 Type of material Book Personal name Mackenzie, Vicki. Main title Cave in the snow : Tenzin Palmo's quest for enlightenment / Vicki Mackenzie. Edition 1st US ed. Published/Created New York ; London : Bloomsbury Pub., c1998. Description 210 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), map ; 24 cm. ISBN 1582340048 Links Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/hol058/00271753.html Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/hol051/00271753.html Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy046/00271753.html CALL NUMBER BQ990.E874 M33 1998 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE CALL NUMBER BQ990.E874 M33 1998 LANDOVR Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 4. Reborn in the West : the reincarnation masters LCCN 95049991 Type of material Book Personal name Mackenzie, Vicki. Main title Reborn in the West : the reincarnation masters / Vicki Mackenzie. Published/Created New York : Marlowe & Co., 1996. Description 214 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. ISBN 1569248265 1569248044 (pbk.) Links Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0831/95049991-d.html CALL NUMBER BQ7920 .M336 1996 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 5. Reincarnation : The boy Lama LCCN 95051032 Type of material Book Personal name Mackenzie, Vicki. Uniform title Boy Lama Main title Reincarnation : The boy Lama / Vicki Mackenzie. Published/Created Boston : Wisdom Publications, c1996. Description xvi, 177 p., [8] p. of plates : col. ill. ; 23 cm. ISBN 0861711084 (acid-free paper) CALL NUMBER BQ7920 .M33 1996 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 6. The boy lama LCCN 89045231 Type of material Book Personal name Mackenzie, Vicki. Main title The boy lama / Vicki Mackenzie. Edition 1st U.S. ed. Published/Created San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1989, c1988. Description 183 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm. ISBN 0062505580 : Shelf Location FLM2014 130436 CALL NUMBER BQ7920 .M33 1989 OVERFLOWA5S Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms (FLM1)

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Mackenzie

  Vicki Mackenzie
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Vicki Mackenzie
  Born 1947
  England
  Occupation Journalist, author
  Years active 1960s-present
  Vicki Mackenzie (born 1947), an author and journalist, was born in England and spent much of her early life in Australia. The daughter of a naval officer, she graduated from Queensland University and became a reporter at the Sun newspaper in Sydney.

  Later she moved on to London where she worked as a features writer on the Daily Sketch and the Daily Mail. She went on to write for the Sunday Times, The Observer, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Express, the Mail on Sunday and many national magazines.[1]

  Contents [hide]
  1 Buddhism
  2 See also
  3 References
  4 External links
  Buddhism[edit]
  Since taking a month-long meditation course in Nepal in 1976, her primary interest has been to make the profundity of Buddhist philosophy accessible to the general public.[2] Her books on Buddhism and reincarnation include:

  Reincarnation: the Boy Lama
  Reborn in the West: the Reincarnation Masters
  A Young Man of the Lama: a tale of drugs, hot sex, and violence in the fall of Tibet
  Cave in the Snow: a Western woman's quest for enlightenment, 1999, ISBN 1-58234-045-5 (a biography of Tenzin Palmo, also about Freda Bedi)
  Why Buddhism?: Westerners in search of wisdom
  Child of Tibet (co-authored with Soname Yangchen), 2006
  The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun, 2017
  She was interviewed by the Radio National program The Spirit of Things in 2002 about her book, Why Buddhism? Westerners in Search of Wisdom.[3] Her book Cave in the Snow: a woman's quest for enlightenment was reviewed in Minneapolis City Pages.[4]

  See also[edit]
  Tenzin Palmo
  Lama Osel
  Lama Yeshe
  Tibetan Buddhism
  References[edit]
  Jump up ^ Mackenzie, Vicki (1998). Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. jacket flap. ISBN 978-1-58234-045-6.
  Jump up ^ "1st International Conference on Mind and Its Potential". 2005. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  Jump up ^ "The Spirit of Things – Today’s Buddhists: City Slickers and Forest Dwellers". Radio National. 27 January 2002. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  Jump up ^ Petrovic, Jelena (14 October 1998). "Vicki Mackenzie: Cave in the Snow". Minneapolis City Pages. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  External links[edit]
  Cave in the Snow: A Woman's Quest for Enlightenment
  Reincarnation: The Boy Lama
  Reborn in the West: The Reincarnation Masters
  Why Buddhism? Westerners in Search of Wisdom
  [show] v t e
  Buddhism topics
  [show] v t e
  Modern Buddhist writers (19th century to date)
  Authority control
  WorldCat Identities VIAF: 88049773 ISNI: 0000 0001 1451 1854 SUDOC: 030905141 BNF: cb12222757k (data)
  UK flag icon Stub icon This article about a writer or poet from the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
  Stub icon This Buddhism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
  Categories: 1947 birthsLiving peopleBuddhist writersBritish journalistsBuddhism and womenBritish writer stubsBuddhism stubs
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• FPMT - https://fpmt.org/mandala/online-features/freda-bedis-big-life-an-interview-with-vicki-mackenzie/

  QUOTED: "I never met Freda Bedi. It was such a shame. But from my earliest days in the Dharma, I heard about her. I went to Kopan in November 1976 for my first course there, and she had just visited. There was a buzz because Lama Yeshe had brought her into the gompa, into 'the Tent' as it was then called, and put her on the throne. He made three full-length prostrations to her. Unfortunately, she died shortly afterwards, in 1977."
  "Then when I was writing the book Cave in the Snow, I heard about her from Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who had helped her at her Young Lamas Home School. Tenzin Palmo said she was such an extraordinary woman, a powerhouse. She had an incredible life, a big life, many lives in one lifetime. So my ears pricked up. And after Cave in the Snow, Tenzin Palmo kept saying, you really must write a book about Freda Bedi, women need inspirational role models."
  "But I wasn’t interested then because I didn’t want to write a book on another British woman who had become a Tibetan nun! She kept pushing though. And then I got a letter from Ranga Bedi, Freda Bedi’s eldest son, saying we’re looking for someone to write a book about our mother. He said the Dalai Lama thought a book should be written. His Holiness didn’t specify me, but I thought: 'Well, if His Holiness thinks a book should be written … I’ll take it on.' So the momentum gathered until I gave in."

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  Mandala Online Features
  Freda Bedi’s ‘Big’ Life: An Interview with Vicki Mackenzie
  Freda Bedi, born in 1911 in England, lived a “big” life. She attended Oxford University, where she met and married Baba Pyare Lal Bedi, who was the sixteenth direct descendant of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion. They moved to India in 1934 and were active in the Indian national independence movement; she was one of Gandhi’s handpicked satyagrahis. Bedi later played a significant role in providing support to some of the first Tibetan Buddhist lamas to teach Westerners, primarily through the Young Lamas Home School, which she established in 1960. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was one of the many young tulkus who attended the school. He often speaks of how Freda Bedi helped him.

  In April 2017, British journalist Vicki Mackenzie talked with Mandala about her new book The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun [available through the Foundation Store]. Mackenzie discussed with Mandala managing editor Laura Miller the origins of the book, Freda Bedi’s many achievements, and how she managed to accomplish several lifetimes of work helping others in just one life.

  Freda Bedi, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Lama Yeshe with Marcel Bertels and Nick Ribush in foreground, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 1976. Photo courtesy Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. About the visit from Big Love: “Rinpoche told his old teacher, Freda Bedi, now Sister Karma Tsultrim Khechog Palmo, that he just wanted to meditate. Sister Palmo had accompanied His Holiness the sixteenth Karmapa to Boudhanath for the opening of a big new Nyingma-Kagyu monastery, where he gave three months of extensive teachings and initiations. Lama Yeshe invited her to visit Kopan where she advised Western practitioners to pray to the guru until tears fell from their eyes.”
  Mandala: What inspired you to write this book?

  Vicki Mackenzie: I never met Freda Bedi. It was such a shame. But from my earliest days in the Dharma, I heard about her. I went to Kopan in November 1976 for my first course there, and she had just visited. There was a buzz because Lama Yeshe had brought her into the gompa, into “the Tent” as it was then called, and put her on the throne. He made three full-length prostrations to her. Unfortunately, she died shortly afterwards, in 1977.

  Then when I was writing the book Cave in the Snow, I heard about her from Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who had helped her at her Young Lamas Home School. Tenzin Palmo said she was such an extraordinary woman, a powerhouse. She had an incredible life, a big life, many lives in one lifetime. So my ears pricked up. And after Cave in the Snow, Tenzin Palmo kept saying, you really must write a book about Freda Bedi, women need inspirational role models. But I wasn’t interested then because I didn’t want to write a book on another British woman who had become a Tibetan nun! She kept pushing though. And then I got a letter from Ranga Bedi, Freda Bedi’s eldest son, saying we’re looking for someone to write a book about our mother. He said the Dalai Lama thought a book should be written. His Holiness didn’t specify me, but I thought, “Well, if His Holiness thinks a book should be written … I’ll take it on.” So the momentum gathered until I gave in.

  Mandala: How did you get the information you needed?

  Mackenzie: The Bedi family wanted the book written, so they handed over their mother’s recordings, letters, writings: it was the next best thing to being able to actually talk to her. She came alive in these materials. But not completely. It would have been so great to interview her. You get the best material when you can sit someone down and ask them the questions that need to be answered and not just take the stuff they want to give you. That way you can also assess the person’s character and “feel.” That made it a difficult book to write. The Bedi children, who are grown-ups now, all gave me interviews. But then I needed to flesh it out. So I did a lot of traveling, finding people who knew her, seeing the places she had loved and where she had worked. It was a lot of talking!

  Mandala: What about Lama Zopa Rinpoche? He attended the Young Lamas Home School.

  A young Lama Zopa Rinpoche with the 6th Yongzin Ling Rinpoche (1903 – 1983), senior tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
  Mackenzie: Rinpoche was one of her pupils, who she plucked out of the Buxa Duar refugee camp when he was young and very sick. Rinpoche is always talking about her, so I drew on what I had heard from him. I sometimes wonder if Lama Yeshe wasn’t bowing to her at Kopan partly because she had looked after his heart disciple.

  One very important interviewee was Akong Rinpoche, who talked to me at Samye Ling, Scotland, just before he was tragically killed. Freda had “adopted” him in 1960 along with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. I interviewed people who had worked with her at the Young Lamas Home School, which she established in 1960. I talked to the volunteers who knew her at the school, and Indians who knew her socially, friends of her family. I interviewed Gelek Rinpoche, who had lived with her in Delhi as one of her pupils. With great difficulty, I tracked down her devoted nun assistant—a very feisty character. I found the nunnery that Freda established in India and talked to the nuns who had known her. They were utterly devoted to her, and kept her room locked up as a shrine. I interviewed Tibetan officials who knew her when the Tibetans came into exile, her niece in England, Pema Chödrön, Joanna Macy, and Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who very kindly wrote the foreword to the book. It was like trying to piece together a giant jigsaw puzzle. It took me six or seven years. It was very, very difficult to get a comprehensive picture of this extraordinary woman because she was involved in so many activities.

  Mandala: You mentioned that she lived many lives. Tell me more about that.

  Mackenzie: Freda won three scholarships to Oxford. She was mega-bright. Curiously, she was determined without actually being ambitious. She didn’t necessarily want to go to Oxford. A school friend’s family asked Freda to study with their daughter to encourage her as she wasn’t very bright. At the last minute, Freda decided to take the examination too. Ironically, Freda got a scholarship and her friend didn’t.

  The young, in-love Freda at Oxford, England, 1932. Taken by her fiancé, Baba Pyare Lal Bedi. Photo courtesy of Bedi family archives via Shambhala Publications, Inc.
  Oxford opened up a whole new world for the provincial Freda. There she met a charismatic Sikh called Baba Pyare Lal Bedi who was the sixteenth direct descendant of the founder of the Sikhs. He got her into Marxism and the Indian independence movement. She met Gandhi, who lectured there, and was deeply impressed. She married Bedi, who warned her that she would spend a lot of her married life waiting outside prison walls, which turned out to be true. So returned with him to India and joined Gandhi’s peaceful resistance movement against the British. At the same time she was a professor, journalist, and mother. Freda helped to rouse the Indian people with her amazing oratory; she was extremely articulate in Gandhi’s cause. Gandhi chose her personally to be what is known as satyagrahi, one of those willing to go to prison and even die for the cause. Of course she was duly arrested, and became the first British woman to be imprisoned for insurrection. After that, she became a heroine in India.

  But right from childhood she was a spiritual seeker. She would go to church to try and meditate before school. And she read everything she could on the East. While she was at university and then in India, she explored every kind of spirituality she could, very diligently. She read all of the Koran, the Torah, explored Sikhism and Hinduism. And she continued to meditate and do yoga and had some profound spiritual experiences. But there was no Buddhism in India at that time.

  Mahatma Gandhi with Lord and Lady Mountbatten, India, 1947. Photo taken at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram by Nagarjun Kandukuru. Flickr Creative Commons attribution.
  She also had a strong social conscience and innate compassion. She was desperately keen to help anybody in need and she hated, hated inequality and suffering of any kind. So after India achieved independence in 1947, she threw herself into working for the refugees who arrived due to the partition of India and Pakistan. There was a bloodbath at the time of partition, if you recall, with traumatized refugees on both sides of the border. So she became a social worker, always working for the poor, especially the rural poor. At the same time she mixed with the great and the good. She knew Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi. She knew Lady Edwina Mountbatten, who was the wife of the last British viceroy of India. The Bedis knew all the leading writers, artists, and politicians and were a celebrated couple at society’s top cocktail parties.

  Nehru sent Freda to Burma in 1952 on a UNESCO mission. While she was there, she encountered Buddhism for the first time and learned vipassana meditation from Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayadaw U Titthila. She had a kind of awakening experience. She was never the same after that.

  Their Holinesses the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama on a visit to India in 1957 with Prime Minister Nehru at Raj Bhavan, Calcutta. Photo from public.resource.org via Flickr Creative Commons.
  And then Nehru sent her, in 1959, to look after the Tibetan refugees in India when His Holiness came into exile. She saw all these refugees, and was working day and night, day and night, to help them, and she saw in them all a spiritual quality she had never seen before. And that was it. It was the tulkus who impressed her the most. She recognized that it was the tulkus who would bring Buddhism to the West. At the time, nobody else was thinking along those lines. Only Freda saw it. Everything was in such disarray. She met Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Rinpoche, and felt a deep affinity with the two of them. She took them into her house in Delhi to live with her family.

  1960. Freda Bedi with family members: her husband Baba Pyare Lal Bedi, her son Kabir, and her daughter Guli on the steps of their small Delhi flat with newly “adopted” family members, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Rinpoche, found by Freda in the refugee camps. They lived together for several years. Photo courtesy of Bedi family archives via Shambhala Publications, Inc.
  Following her hunch, Freda set up a school for the young rinpoches. It started in Delhi with Nehru’s permission and help. And His Holiness supported it. He thought that the most important thing for the young rinpoches was an education. Later she moved the school to Dalhousie and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who had tuberculosis at that time, went there. He was so keen to learn English. And Freda Bedi found him sponsors, and got him robes and medicine.

  Mandala: Tell me a little bit more about the school.

  Mackenzie: It was nonsectarian. Freda was never interested in divisions so it was open to all the schools of Buddhism. She taught the tulkus herself, and she commandeered passing Westerners as well to teach English and Western topics. Tibet had been completely isolated, and the young Tibetans didn’t know anything about the outside world. She knew that she had to give them a more comprehensive education. But they also did their prayers and practices according to their own traditions. She was constantly fundraising and getting sponsors for them. She never ever had any money and was totally non-materialistic herself, but she was a very powerful woman, with a great intellect and tremendous connections with the most powerful people in India.

  The countryside around Dalhousie, India. Photo by Irfan Shaikh via Flickr Creative Commons.
  Mandala: And she did some work for nuns as well?

  Mackenzie: She established the first nunnery in exile. She really, really believed in the equality of women. In fact, in the exile community, the nuns got their first nunnery, Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling, before the monks got their first monastery. And it’s still going. On a personal note the sixteenth Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje encouraged her to become the first fully-ordained Tibetan Buddhist nun of any nationality. It was yet another historical milestone she clocked up. She was the first gelongma, which helped pave the way. Tenzin Palmo followed and so did all the others. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

  Mandala: I understand she did some translation.

  Mackenzie: She was an ace at languages. She just had a knack. She had studied French; that’s what got her into Oxford. She learned Hindi and Tibetan, and she was translating texts very early on. That was one of her first jobs, which she was doing on the side. She was one of the first translators of Tibetan texts.

  Kagyu nuns, India. Photo by Olivier Adam.
  Mandala: Her commitment to helping others meant her family missed her at times.

  Mackenzie: Missed her because she was away a lot and when she was at home they had to share her. You know, she was called “Mummy-la” by the Tibetans. They all called her Mummy-la and she sort of saw herself as a universal mother. And the Tibetans, most of them, regarded her as an emanation of Tara. But her own children, I think, often took second place. So I explore that in my book as well: the discrepancy between universal mother and actual mother at home cooking meals and generally putting her children before anything and anyone else. Freda never did that! I think it’s often an issue women face. Our myth of motherhood is very strong. Freda undoubtedly loved her children and they loved her, but she also had her eye on the bigger picture.

  Mandala: Her work has had long-term impacts, hasn’t it?

  Mackenzie: She got Trungpa Rinpoche a scholarship to Oxford. And he went on from there to America where his impact was enormous. He and Akong Rinpoche established the first Tibetan monastery in the West, in Scotland, Samye Ling. I don’t think you can overestimate the influence of these two lamas. And Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s global influence is inestimable. Freda mentored many other tulkus like Thartang Tulku and Gelek Rinpoche, all of whom have contributed a colossal amount. Freda’s role was pivotal.

  And she persuaded the sixteenth Karmapa to go on his first tours to Europe and America. She did that personally, because she was his close disciple, living in a room just beneath his in Rumtek, and he listened to her. She said to him, “The West definitely is ready, go, please, please, they are ready, give them the Dharma.” She arranged for him to meet the Pope. She went with him, organizing all the way and acting as his intermediary.

  Mandala: Was she a serious practitioner?

  Mackenzie: Yes, which surprised me. I don’t know when she found the time to practice. I discovered that, while she was on these tours to South Africa and America, she was conducting high initiations with the permission of the Karmapa. So she must have been an extraordinary practitioner. And the Karmapa told her assistant, the nun who was with her all the time, that she was an emanation of Tara. She was doing these extraordinary empowerments. Her explanations were exceptionally profound and very clear. In the book, I have tried to put in, especially for Buddhist readers, excerpts of talks she gave while she was doing the overseas tours, both on the radio and live. It seems that she had a high understanding of the Dharma.

  And her devotion to the sixteenth Karmapa was absolute. She didn’t have to learn guru devotion. Her first meeting with him was remarkable. While she was working with the Tibetan refugees, they told her she must go and meet the Karmapa, who had just arrived. It was a long journey on horseback, and she didn’t really know who he was. But she trekked up to see if she could help him. And he revealed himself to her as the Buddha. He was instantly her heart guru. Her devotion to him was so absolute that it annoyed her daughter, who was brought up by her mother to be an independent woman. “Whatever are you doing obeying everything he says? I thought you were an intelligent, liberated woman!” That was her daughter’s view.

  Photo courtesy of Shambhala Publications Inc.
  Mandala: As a woman, she was quite radical, wasn’t she? For example, she was the primary income earner in her family.

  Mackenzie: Yes, her husband had a devil-may-care attitude that life would take of itself. And he was in prison too, for years, because of the struggle for Indian independence. So she was the main breadwinner. She didn’t seem to mind. She worked so hard. All the time, work, work, work. And I think she and her husband believed in freedom of choice for both of them actually. It was radical, yes. The Bedis were a remarkable family. Very advanced, very enlightened. They welcomed Freda into their midst, for example, and treated her like a daughter, even though she was British. They were very special people, her in-laws. She loved them, and they loved her. Her husband’s mother lived with them when she was old and they looked after her. Really, they were all characters.

  That’s something I tried to explore in the book. I didn’t want to do a hagiography. I wanted to show the reality. And Freda was big character, and complex. And in a way she was “called.” Her life had, like Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s, a trajectory, even though Freda didn’t meet her guru, her path, until she was middle-aged, by which time she had had an extraordinary life already. She had tasted everything. Career, being a wife, a mother, a socialite, cocktail parties, political activism, jail. But all the time she was always on this trajectory to bring about a better world, to eliminate suffering.

  She is an icon in the transmission of Buddhism to the West, an icon. And yet, she has remained fairly unknown. Why has her song never been sung? His Holiness was right. Her story deserves to be told. There was even a hint in her letters that it was through her contacts with Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi that Nehru was persuaded to take His Holiness in, to let him settle in India. That’s in the book. It’s just hinted at, but she could have been an important influence in that momentous decision. Maybe Lama Yeshe was aware of this other role she may have played too.

  Then she kept working and working even though her health was never good. On her last tour you can hear on the recordings of her teachings that she can hardly breathe. She was exhausted, physically wrung out—you can hear it. But she kept on going. Apart from teaching and touring, she was still running organizations and getting sponsors for Tibetan causes, refugee camps, and families: she kept that going by endless letter writing. How she did it all, I just do not know. She crammed a lot in!

  Mandala: How did writing the book impact you?

  Mackenzie: It’s exhausted me. [Laughs] It has been a long haul, weaving all these strands together and hopefully making her come alive to the reader. I also feel tremendously honored to have spent time with her in this way. She did so very much for India, for Tibetans, for the Dharma, for women. She amazes and inspires me. I feel such gratitude for all she did.

  Vicki Mackenzie is a British journalist who has written for the national and inter national press for over forty years. Her articles have appeared in The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Telegraph, the Daily Mail and many magazines in Britain and Australia. She’s also the international best-selling author of Cave in the Snow; Reincarnation: The Boy Lama; Child of Tibet; Reborn in the West: The Reincarnation Masters; and Why Buddhism? Westerners in Search of Wisdom. Her latest book is The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun, published in March 2017 by Shambhala Publications and available in the Foundation Store.

  She has been a student of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche since 1976.

  Cover Photo: The Young Lamas Home School, Dalhousie, India. Freda Bedi with the reincarnated Tibetan lamas she was educating in English and modern history to bring Buddhism to the outside world,1963. (Photo courtesy of Faith Grahame via Shambhala Publications, Inc.)

  Mandala is offered as a benefit to supporters of the Friends of FPMT program, which provides funding for the educational, charitable and online work of FPMT.

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• Buddhist - https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/in-conversation-with-vicki-mackenzie-on-the-revolutionary-life-of-freda-bedi

  QUOTED: "Freda was utterly true to her beliefs, and never wasted a moment. What really knocked me out about Freda Bedi was how much she achieved. She only lived until she was 66, but achieved so much through sheer application and hard work. She never stopped: the refugees she helped and the charitable projects she set up, which are still going today."
  "She wrote countless letters to encourage people to help; she never stopped getting people to help people. I wanted to call the book Mummy-la because everybody called her 'Mummy;' she was like the universal mother. Her heart was very good."
  "My hardest job was to know which angle to take—should I focus on her political activism, the amazing work she did there, or on the feminist aspect ... and the conflict between her role as a mother and her other roles? In the end I decided that the only way was to focus on the pull of her spiritual nature."

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  In Conversation with Vicki MacKenzie on The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi

  By Harsha Menon Buddhistdoor Global | 2017-09-29 |
  45
  The prominent American author and feminist revolutionary Gloria Steinem (b. 1934) has said that visiting India after graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts in 1956 was a “before and after” experience in the trajectory of her life. Steinem, who spent two years studying and learning in the Gandhian tradition, divides her life into two key chapters: the life she led before she moved to India, and the life she continues to lead since her return. A few decades earlier, another Western woman left her home for that vast subcontinent, also to become involved in social and political revolution. Unlike Steinem however, this woman never returned, instead making her home in India and contributing to a culture that was to change forever. Freda Bedi (1911–77), an Englishwoman who became an ordained bhikkhuni later in her life was, as the new book The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi reveals, a “revolutionary,” for her tireless work in appeasing the suffering of so many.

  Freda’s life and work have remained largely obscured from history, probably because she carried out social service in its true spirit—performing acts of heroism at great personal sacrifice and without self-promotion. She was a Buddhist nun of the highest caliber, living the precepts of Buddhism in every aspect of her life, which also led her to shun publicity. Her years spent through India’s independence struggle, and as a post-independence nation-state, were also a time of great turmoil for the influx of refugees from Tibet—lay Buddhists and monastics alike, who were unschooled in the ways of presenting themselves to the larger world. Freda became a vital bridge in helping the incipient Tibetan Buddhist monastic orders in India to establish credibility in the eyes of the world. In Freda’s work, her personality was subsumed within the many sacrifices she endured, hence her name is not as widely known today as it might be.

  The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, and Buddhist Nun by the eminent journalist Vicki MacKenzie, and published by Shambhala Publications, is a major step toward addressing this oversight. Expertly crafted and meticulously researched, this in-depth biography brings to the fore the many brilliant narratives in the life of Freda, known to many Tibetans simply as “Mummy-la.”

  Buddhistdoor Global: Why did you choose to include the word “revolutionary” in the title of the book?

  Vicki MacKenzie: Freda Bedi was a revolutionary in so many aspects of her life; she was a revolutionary woman, first of all, because she had the courage to marry a brown-skinned man [Baba Pyare Lal Bedi (1909–93)] while at Oxford University. It broke all the barriers of class and color that were very extant at that time, and the scandal went all the way to Parliament. She was the first white female student who chose to marry a brown-skinned man and this was regarded as completely taboo. So she was revolutionary in that sense because she was already crashing through glass ceilings. That took enormous courage.

  Then she was a revolutionary in the fact that she went to live in India and joined Gandhi—Gandhi’s independence movement—which meant she was defying the country of her birth, Britain, which ruled India. Freda was rousing the Indian people through her oratory to join Gandhi and to clamor for independence; it was incredibly brave.

  She was a daughter of the British Raj saying, “We can’t have this imperialism.” And she went to prison for it, which she was prepared to do. She was handpicked by Gandhi to be one of his satyagrahis, people who were prepared to sacrifice everything, including their lives, in order to bring about a peaceful revolution against imperialism. So she was revolutionary in that sphere too.

  Author Vicki Mackenzie. Image courtesy of Vicki Mackenzie
  Author Vicki Mackenzie. Image courtesy of Vicki Mackenzie
  Freda was also revolutionary in that she was a professor and a teacher and was very keen on educating women and girls. She was a feminist long before the term was invented. She wanted to raise the status of the education of women, and so she wrote magazine articles and was very keen on promoting this.

  The next time she was really revolutionary was during Partition of India. Freda was running covert messages in Kashmir to a man called Sheikh Abdullah, because neither she, nor her husband, nor Gandhi wanted the Partition of India to happen. Sheik Abdullah, who was known as the Lion of Kashmir, had been banned from going to Kashmir, so she was taking messages to his followers, disguised in a burqa. She was incredibly brave, and during the Partition, she worked tirelessly to help the refugees during the terrible destruction, the bloody destruction and mayhem the Partition caused.

  Since childhood, Freda was motivated by altruism. All of this political activism and all of her political activities were because she wanted a fairer, more just world and she couldn't stand suffering. She was a spiritual seeker since childhood, and she was looking sincerely into every type of path, trying to find the right one for her.

  Later, Freda went to Burma on a UN Mission. She was very senior—she was a social worker in charge of looking after the welfare of Indians, especially in the countryside, so she traveled widely and completely identified herself with being Indian. In Burma she found herself in a Buddhist country for the first time. It was there that she felt at home and so she studied meditation with the Burmese meditation masters. She had an enlightenment experience there and came back to India, never the same.

  The next revolutionary thing she did was to help the Tibetan refugees and the Dalai Lama when they first came to India. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, sent her to do this, as she was a friend of Indira Gandhi and Nehru. When Freda was sent by Nehru to look after the Tibetans, who were in terrible disarray and very traumatized in their refugee camps, that’s where she felt she belonged now, with the Tibetans.

  And of course she was revolutionary for being the first fully ordained Western Tibetan Buddhist nun, breaking through that glass ceiling and setting the path for other nuns, giving them the confidence to do the same.

  BDG: Can you say something about your research? It must have been a massive undertaking.

  VM: It took a long time to collect all the materials. I did loads of interviews. I had to travel far and wide to interview people who had known Freda, and wade through mountains of material from Freda Bedi herself, her letters, her diaries, her recordings, all the rest of it. That took a long time—almost 10 years. I wanted to do her justice; I wanted to capture all the aspects of Freda—the woman, the mother, the political activist, the social worker, the writer, as well as her spiritual side.

  BDG: Was there anything in your research that really surprised you—that you didn’t think you would find?

  VM: What I found most surprising was how advanced she was spiritually. Freda wasn’t just a nun. Even though she hadn’t been a nun a long time, she was already very advanced. That’s what really surprised me. She was authorized to give very high teachings. She was ordained by the 16th Karmapa, which was unheard of at that time.

  BDG: It’s interesting, then, that the 17th Karmapa is also re-instating bhikkhuni ordination.

  VM: Absolutely, because the previous Karmapa was the one who pushed Freda to do it. It’s wonderful.

  1950. The first appearance of Freda’s daughter Gulhima, “Rose of the Snows,” born in Kashmir on September 15, 1949. Pictured with her brother Kabir, in front of their more conventional house. (Bedi family archives.)
  The first appearance of Freda’s daughter Gulhima
  “Rose of the Snows,” born in Kashmir on 15 September
  1949, pictured with her brother Kabir in front of their more
  conventional homw. Bedi family archives

  BDG: What can Buddhists learn from Freda’s incredible life?

  VM: Freda was utterly true to her beliefs, and never wasted a moment. What really knocked me out about Freda Bedi was how much she achieved. She only lived until she was 66, but achieved so much through sheer application and hard work. She never stopped: the refugees she helped and the charitable projects she set up, which are still going today.

  She wrote countless letters to encourage people to help; she never stopped getting people to help people. I wanted to call the book Mummy-la because everybody called her “Mummy;” she was like the universal mother. Her heart was very good.

  BDG: What was the most difficult aspect of writing this book?

  VM: My hardest job was to know which angle to take—should I focus on her political activism, the amazing work she did there, or on the feminist aspect, what she did for women, and the conflict between her role as a mother and her other roles? In the end I decided that the only way was to focus on the pull of her spiritual nature, which was the driving force behind everything else. It took me a long time to understand that was the only true, legitimate way to pull this book together and all its many different threads.

  References

  Mackenzie, Vicki. 2017. The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun. Boulder: Shambhala Publications.

  Related features from Buddhistdoor Global

  The Buddhist Stance on Theravada Women’s Issues: A Conversation on Gender Equality and Ethics with Ajahn Brahmali
  Exclusive Interview: The 17th Karmapa and the Buddhist Nuns of the Tibetan tradition
  Freda Bedi: The Making of a Buddhist Nun
  Life in the Red – The Long Journey to Really Being Daughters of the Buddha

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QUOTED: "The fascinating book sensitively explores her contradictory roles while celebrating her part in bringing Buddhism to the West."

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Print Marked Items
The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British
Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun
Publishers Weekly.
264.7 (Feb. 13, 2017): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text: 
The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun
Vicki Mackenzie. Shambhala, $16.95 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-61180-425-6
British journalist Mackenzie (Cave in the Snow) crafts a concise, well-rounded portrait of Freda Bedi (1911-1977), the
first Western woman to become a Tibetan Buddhist nun. Freda Houlston was drawn early in life to the lives of the
saints and to Eastern thought. Her father's death in the trenches of World War I was her first taste of universal
suffering. At Oxford University she met her husband, Indian Sikh and fellow socialist Baba Phyare Lai Bedi, and wore
Indian dress from their wedding onward. The couple settled in India, where Bedi taught English and campaigned for
independence from British rule. She first encountered Buddhism on a Unesco mission to Burma and recognized it as
her destiny. Taking a vow of chastity and abandoning her three children, she founded a democratic nunnery and school
for Tibetan refugees and in 1966 was ordained Sister Palmo. "Is it possible for a woman to be Che Guevara, Mother
Teresa, and a physical mother at the same time?" Mackenzie asks. Drawing on interviews with Bedi's family and
acquaintances, and passages from her letters and journals, the fascinating book sensitively explores her contradictory
roles while celebrating her part in bringing Buddhism to the West and helping to spark its feminist revolution. (Apr.)
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun." Publishers Weekly, 13
Feb. 2017, p. 71. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482198242&it=r&asid=07ea76ca9c0888e4c27ceee28767bb0a.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482198242

QUOTED: "Mackenzie chronicles Tenzin Palmo's arduous and remarkable spiritual journey as simply as possible, allowing the drama and mystery ... to stand radiantly on their own."

10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Cave in the Snow
Donna Seaman
Booklist.
95.3 (Oct. 1, 1998): p292.
COPYRIGHT 1998 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text: 
* Mackenzie, Vicki. Cave in the Snow. Nov. 1998. 224p. index. Bloomsbury USA; dist. by St. Martin's, $24.95 (1-
58234-004-8). DDC: 294.3.
Journalist MacKenzie decided to approach the renowned Western Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo about a book after
learning she had "made a vow to attain Enlightenment in the female form no matter how many lifetimes it takes."
Realizing that her story could advance the struggle for women's spiritual liberation, the cause to which she is actively
devoted, and for which she has sacrificed her preferred life as a contemplative, Tenzin Palmo agreed. Obviously
enthralled, Mackenzie chronicles Tenzin Palmo's arduous and remarkable spiritual journey as simply as possible,
allowing the drama and mystery of her subject's unique experiences to stand radiantly on their own. Although born in
London during Hitler's London blitz, Tenzin Palmo, then Diane Perry, was inexplicably drawn to all things Eastern.
She made her way to India as soon as she could, discovered her Tibetan Buddhist guru, and was acknowledged as a
tulku, a recognized incarnation. Needless to say, a young attractive English-woman was a most unusual form for an
advanced Tibetan Buddhist practitioner to take, especially since women are considered inferior beings incapable of the
rigors necessary for attaining enlightenment. Tenzin Palmo set out to defy this ancient prejudice and succeeded,
spending 12 years meditating by herself in a tiny cave 13,200 feet up in the Himalayas. Once she rejoined society, it
became clear to her that the purpose of her life was to work to bring balance to Buddhism, and perhaps, by example, to
other religions, by ensuring that women receive the same teachings and respect as men.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
Seaman, Donna. "Cave in the Snow." Booklist, 1 Oct. 1998, p. 292. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA55052927&it=r&asid=4b445c71072db6ba946aeec0ec416cf0.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A55052927

QUOTED: "Mackenzie ... recounts with passion and beauty the story of Tenzin Palmo."
"thoroughly engrossing."

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Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for
Enlightenment
Kitty Chen Dean
Library Journal.
123.18 (Nov. 1, 1998): p90.
COPYRIGHT 1998 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text: 
Mackenzie, Vicki. Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment. Bloomsbury, dist. by St. Martin's.
1998. c.224p. ISBN 1-58234-004-8. $24.95. REL
Very possibly, the central figures of these two books--one German, the other British--met during their Buddhist
training and charitable work. They undergo similar transformations, abandoning established middle-class lives to
adhere to strict Buddhist rules of self-denial, meditation, and hardship. Khema, however, escaped Nazi Germany and
had a remarkably peripatetic life that entailed two marriages and much travel. Her telling of her search for Buddhism
and life as a nun dwells on the facts of her travels and good works rather than inner thoughts. Despite professions of
humility and selflessness, she appears arrogant and proud. But perhaps this impression comes from the process of
dictation and a translation from German that is full of cliches and inappropriate expressions.
On the other hand, in Cave in the Snow, Mackenzie, a journalist with a special interest in Buddhism, recounts with
passion and beauty the story of Tenzin Palmo (nee Diane Perry), which involved 12 years of living in an Indian cave,
snowbound for eight months of each year. She delves into Palmo's motivations, feelings, thoughts, and teachings,
presenting the facts of her life while preserving the anguish, desire, conviction, and conflict that accompanied her
conversion to Buddhism. The result is thoroughly engrossing.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
Dean, Kitty Chen. "Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 1998,
p. 90. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA21256180&it=r&asid=291c18ce6be0b3789a6649aa14bcfa78.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A21256180
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Cave in the Snow
Ray Olson and Gilbert Taylor
Booklist.
96.3 (Oct. 1, 1999): p322.
COPYRIGHT 1999 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text: 
Mackenzie, Vicki. Cave in the Snow. 1998. Bloomsbury USA; dist. by St. Martin's, $24.95 (1-58234-004-8):
Englishwoman Diane Perry always felt drawn to the East, and, at the earliest opportunity, went there. Embracing
Tibetan Buddhism, she became the Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo, vowed to attain Enlightenment. This is her story.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
Olson, Ray, and Gilbert Taylor. "Cave in the Snow." Booklist, 1 Oct. 1999, p. 322. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA56529404&it=r&asid=dab27ff2c92ee89659d799bd418bac59.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A56529404
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Breathe in...and relax: our reviewers choose the
best of forthcoming or recently published mind,
body and spirit titles. (Booksellers' Choice)
Jan Watson
The Bookseller.
(Nov. 29, 2002): pS14.
COPYRIGHT 2002 The Bookseller Media Group (Bookseller Media Ltd.)
http://www.thebookseller.com
Full Text: 
Buyer, health and MBS books, WH Smith
Mind, body and spirit books--a fabulous phrase that embraces one of the broadest ranges of titles available. The beauty
of this category is that there is something for everyone, but selfishly, I'm going to concentrate on the following gems
for the high street bookshop.
December sees the publication of 10-Minute Life Coach (Hodder Mobius, [pounds sterling]10, 0340822015) by Fiona
Harrold. Author of the classic Be Your Own Life Coach, Britain's most successful life coach brings you the motivation
and the means to success in just 10 minutes a day.
The target customer for self-help titles tends to be female, but December sees the launch of a title aimed specifically at
men, The Haynes Man Manual (Haynes, [pounds sterling]12.99, 1859609317) follows Haynes' famed step-by-step,
jargon-free format but this title covers men's bodies instead of their prized vehicular possessions. It is already
generating a lot of interest and should be a fun Christmas present.
Capitalising on the growing interest in psychics (in particular "Crossing Over with John Edward") Hodder Mobius is
publishing Be Your Own Psychic (January, [pounds sterling]10, 034082476X) by Sherron Mayes. Having used her
psychic abilities to turn her own life around, Mayes describes how we can do the same for ourselves. A fresh, modern,
interactive approach to tuning up your psychic abilities and transforming your life.
For those not interested in psychics--Why Men Can Only Do One Thing at a Time and Women Never Stop Talking
(Orion, January, [pounds sterling]6.99, 0752856294) by Allan and Barbara Pease will probably ring bells for many of
you. Hot on the heels of Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps and Why Men Lie and Women Cry, this
title further explores the humorous differences between men and women, giving practical advice to improve your
relationships. There is no doubt that this cuter, smaller format will endear itself to a large proportion of customers
before Valentine's Day.
Everybody needs a little luck in their life and The Luck Factor (Century, January, [pounds sterling]9.99, 0712623884)
tells us how to get it. Dr Richard Wiseman conducted an experiment with two kinds of people--those who considered
themselves to be lucky and those who considered themselves to be unlucky. He discovered that the lucky subjects
create their own good luck through their mental attitudes and behaviours. The book reveals the four scientific
principles of luck, which, once identified, can be used to help people create more successful and happier lives for
themselves.
The Power of Kabbalah by Rabbi Yehuda Berg (Hodder Mobius, February, [pounds sterling]10, 0340826673) is the
only title to be endorsed by Madonna, Deepak Chopra and John Gray. Kabbalah maybe the next big thing in terms of
spiritual enlightenment, with many celebrities already jumping on the bandwagon. This book presents the secret
teachings of the ancient system of Kabbalah and is a practical collection of inspiring principles and instructions to
achieve success in all aspects of our lives.
In the tradition of Oliver Sack's classic The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Raj Persaud uses authentic case
studies to write his version, From the Edge of the Couch (Bantam, March, [pounds sterling]12.99, 059304696X). This
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book is fascinating, providing us with an insight into how the brain produces consciousness. With one man making
love to his furniture, another to his car and another taking pleasure from sneezing--this book is not to be missed.
Stephen Gawtry
Editor, Watkins Review The titles I've opted for are a combination of new editions of old classics, the latest releases
from leading writers in the field, and titles offering a new slant on a key subject. These are the same criteria I use when
sifting through the vast quantity of mind, body and spirit titles published each year.
The truth maybe "out there", but the evidence is here, in the latest offering from Erich von Daniken.
The Gods Were Astronauts: Explaining the Deities of Ancient Religions (Vega, available, [pounds sterling]12.99,
1843336251) reveals the true identities of the old gods.
Creative Visualisations (Airlift, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 1577312295) by Shakti Gawain is the 25thanniversary
edition of the classic guide to using the power of your imagination to create what you want in life.
In The Real Middle Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages (Sidgwick& Jackson, available, [pounds
sterling]18.99, 0283073535) Professor Brian Bates offers a compelling account of a historical culture as magical and
enchanting Tolkien's fictional version. TheLord of the Rings audience will love it.
Incorporating a broad range of yoga and mind-body techniques that anyone can use, Emotional Yoga (Bantam,
January, [pounds sterling]10.99, 0553814869) by yoga expert Bija Bennett demonstrates how the body can heal the
mind.
Daniel Reid, the bestselling author of The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity shows the natural way to purify the body
for health and longevity in The Tao of Detox (Simon & Schuster, January, [pounds sterling]10.99, 0743232100).
Psychic Protection (Piatkus, available, [pounds sterling]8.99, 0749916036) by William Bloom is a bestselling classic
in this field. Wise, inspiring and practical, it shows how to create positive energies for people and places.
The leading nutrition expert and psychologist Patrick Holford reveals what good nutrition can do in Optimum
Nutrition for the Mind (Piatkus, January, [pounds sterling]16.99, 074992 2133). Piatkus is planning a big campaign to
launch this one.
Kabbalah is very much in vogue at the moment, thanks to its popularity with celebrities. The Power of Kabbalah by
Rabbi Yehuda Berg is the book that Madonna was raving about.
Next year sees the 25th anniversary of the publication of the hugely influential modern classic The Road Less
Travelled by M Scott Peck. Rider is publishing a special edition (February, [pounds sterling]7.99, 0712661158), with a
new introduction by the author.
Another classic in a new edition is Richard Prime's The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation with Commentary
(Godsfield, March, [pounds sterling]14.99, 1841811688). It is the first fully illustrated version of the legendary Indian
text.
The paperback edition of Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization (Michael Joseph, [pounds
sterling]12.99, 0141000171), Graham Hancock's mammoth exploration of the flooded kingdoms of the Ice Age, comes
out in March--based on the programme seen on Channel Four earlier this year.
The top-selling international author Marianne Williamson paves the way for finding grace, hope and love in everyday
life inABookof Hours (Bantam, March, [pounds sterling]9.99, 0553815458).
Theolyn Cortens has been working with angels for more than 30 years. In Living with Angels: Bringing Angels into
Your Everyday Life (Piatkus, April, [pounds sterling]9.99, 0749924055), a fascinating and informative guide, she
helps bring angels into your life.
Colin Wilson's classic study, The Occult (Watkins Publishing, April, [pounds sterling]12.99, 184293080X), forthose
who would "walk with the gods", is back in print after many years absence.
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Journalist Vicki MacKenzie offers a fascinating look at why Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in the West in
Why Buddhism? Westerners in Search of Wisdom (Thorsons, April, [pounds sterling]10.99, 0007142285).
Social psychologist Peter Collett offers a new, unifying vocabulary for understanding human communication in The
Book of Tells (Bantam, May, [pounds sterling]10.99, 0385604297), which explains how to read people's minds from
their actions.
Stages of Meditation (Rider, May, [pounds sterling]6.99, 0712629637), the Dalai Lama's landmark book on
meditation, is now available in paperback.
The extraordinary autobiography of psychic and clairvoyant MiaDolan, The Gift (Thorsons, May, [pounds
sterling]14.99, 0007 15450X), describes her most intriguing readings and her activities as a ghostbuster and exorcist.
Stephen Torsi
National events/PR co-ordinator, Borders UK
There is a bewildering choice of books available for readers looking for answers to life's complexities and mysteries. I
have tried to offer a choice of titles from established classics to newcomers that rely on simple, direct language and
method, and that will have a broad appeal.
Liberation: The Perfect Holistic Antidote To Stress, Depression and Other Unhealthy States of Mind by the Barefoot
Doctor (Element, November, [pounds sterling]14.99, 0007143710). A media friendly and increasingly high-profile
approach has won him many fans. This book focuses on overcoming negative emotions such as fear and greed, and is
delivered in his trademark charming and humorous style.
Bloodline of the Holy Grail (Element, November, [pounds sterling]8.99, 0007142943) by Laurence Gardner. The
ancient mysteries genre has huge appeal. This book is a meticulously researched expose full of integrity and revelation,
which recounts the European bloodline of Christ right up to the present day--fascinating and gripping.
Destructive Emotions (Bloomsbury, January, [pounds sterling]16.99, 0747553939) by Daniel Goldman. The author of
Emotional Intelligence uncovers the debilitating effects of negativity and offers effective methods to overcome them.
This book should be extensively reviewed.
100 Wisdom Stories from Around the World (Lion, January, [pounds sterling]8.99, 0745950825) compiled by
Margaret Silf. A beautifully packaged and highly-readable anthology of stories from different eras and cultures chosen
to reflect Christian values that will appeal to people of all backgrounds.
Drop a Size in Two Weeks (Thorsons, January, [pounds sterling]6.99, 0007137559) by Joanne Hall. She is the diet and
fitness presenter on "This Morning", and this no nonsense guide to losing weight safely and sensibly is the perfect
antidote to Christmas over-indulgence.
Breaking Open the Head (Flamingo, February, [pounds sterling]1l.99, 0007149603) by Daniel Pinchbeck. Fantastic
crossover title that covers an enormous amount of ground in the footsteps of Aldous Huxley and Terence McKenna in
search of psychedelic enlightenment. Both provocative and entertaining.
The Power of Kabbalah by Rabbi Yehuda Berg. Accessible, direct and with a celebrity endorsement list that includes
Madonna, this book demystifies one of the world's oldest religious traditions and brings it up to date.
The Language of Symbols (Duncan Baird, February, [pounds sterling]4.99, 1904292259) by David Fontana. A
stunningly presented compendium of images and symbol systems. It has a wealth of information is beautifully
illustrated throughout and has a great price too.
I Ching For a New Age (Deep Books, March, [pounds sterling]15.99, 0757000193) by Robert G Benson. An essential
modern day interpretation of these ancient Chinese texts, which help with understanding past, present and future
events.
When Things Fall Apart (Element, March, [pounds sterling]8.99, 0007148186) by Pema Chodron. A real highlight and
one of four gorgeously repackaged titles from Chodron. Each one is a classic of heartfelt and compassionate Buddhist
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wisdom and all of them will reach a new audience with this new look.
Fear Busting (Element, March, [pounds sterling]8.99, 0007151098)by Pete Cohen. GMTV's life coach offers simple
strategies for tackling everyday fears with a sympathetic and motivational style.
Nightlights (Duncan Baird, April, [pounds sterling]14.99, 1904292216) by David Fontana, An absolute gem of a book
designed to help parents encourage calmness, confidence and creativity in their children. It is a collection of narrative
based meditations with different themes to be used as bedtime stories. Fantastic.
Other titles from established authors are The Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck; The Juice Master's Ultimate Fast
Food (Thorsons, March, [pounds sterling]8.99,000 7156790) by Jason Vale; and Stages of Meditation by the Dalai
Lama.
Bill Anderton
Proprietor, Pilgrims Mind Body Spirit Centre, Gloucester
There are three areas that I see as a must for current mind, body and spirit sales--popular psychology, Buddhism
(especially Zen), and the witchy pagan books that include divination, especially tarot (we sell many more tarot books
than astrology now). I've chosen some new titles from these areas. However, don't leave those old bestsellers off your
shelves as mind, body and spirit sales are not as fickle as some other areas. Classics like You Can't Afford the Luxury
of a Negative Thought, Heal Your Life and Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway keep on selling. Another tip is to look to
US publishers through the enormous list that Airlift Books now imports. Customers prefer to buy British, but if the
title is not there, then US imports and higher cover prices are fine.
A new title and a classic new age title is Boundless Love (Rider, available, [pounds sterling]10,0712614346) by
Miranda Holden. Positive, uplifting and with a sense of spiritual reality at its core, it is all those things that are missing
in the big bad world today.
What About the Big Stuff? (Hodder Mobius, available, [pounds sterling]10,0340825871) by Richard Carlson is the
latest addition to the Don't Sweat the Small Stuff series. The author turns from dealing with small issues to big ones
such as life and death. His appeal lies in being both insightful and down to earth. He writes superbly, too, which is a
bonus in this field.
Happiness is an important issue for a lot of people and Flow: The Classic Work on How To Achieve Happiness (Rider,
available, [pounds sterling]10.99, 0712657592)by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is republished for those who missed the
opportunity to find inner peace with it the first time around.
The content of Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments (Hodder Mobius, available, [pounds sterling]7.99,
0340824522) by Kent M Keith spread by word-of-mouth long before its recent publication. The commandments are a
set of commonsense ideas on how to be successful through service to others.
Susan Jeffers, author of Embracing Uncertainty: Say "No" to Worry and "Yes" to Peace of Mind (Hodder Mobius,
available, [pounds sterling]10, 0340768622), needs no introduction to the new age market--I interviewed her recently
and she is as positive and inspiring as ever.
Including my own book, Meditation: Exercises and Inspirations for Wellbeing (Duncan Baird, available, [pounds
sterling]7.99, 1903296633) is an indulgence but, as a bookseller, I should know what sells, shouldn't I? Lots of people,
like me, are searching for inner peace and this title brings fulfilment within reach.
The demand for pagan books (and equipment--incense, candles, broomsticks) is growing apace. Thank heavens A
Witch Alone: Thirteen Moons to Master Natural Magic (Thorsons, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 0007133235) by
Marian Green, with 50,000 copies sold so far, has been republished after a short absence. Meanwhile, White Spells:
Magic for Love, Money and Happiness (Llewellyn, available, [pounds sterling]6.99, 0738700819) by Ileana Abrev
directs pagan interest positively, especially where teenagers are concerned. It's all to do with setting goals and
achieving them.
The appeal of the Dalai Lama is not limited to the MBS sector, but he has a big influence on its thinking and attitudes.
In An Open Heart: Practising Compassion in Everyday Life (Hodder Mobius, available, [pounds sterling]7.99,
0340794313) he helps readers gain a basic understanding of Buddhism and learn meditation techniques.
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Buddhism has been largely a male-dominated preserve but this is changing. The Feminine Face of Buddhism
(Godsfield, available, [pounds sterling]14.99, 1841811548) by Gill Farrer Halls helps the process on its way by
meeting a demand.
Tibetan wisdom is usually aimed at our inner, spiritual dimensions. The Tibetan Art of Living: Wise Body, Wise Mind,
Wise Life (Hodder Mobius, available, [pounds sterling]7.99, 0340771240) by Christopher Hansard is more to do with
medicine and healing for mind, body and soul.
Caroline Wise
Manager, Atlantis Bookshop, London There is a growing interest in all aspects of the esoteric sciences and "mystery
history". The following six of the best recent titles cover a small part of the vast array of subjects that come under the
esoteric banner. First is Tutankhamen: The Exodus Conspiracy (Virgin, available, [pounds sterling]20, 1852279729) by
Andrew Collins and Chris Olgilvy-Herald, a gripping and multifaceted unravelling of the truth behind the greatest
archaeological discovery of all time.
The Colour Therapy Workbook (Thorsons, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 0007145683) by Theo Gimbel explains
the use of colour for health, wellbeing and mental clarity, from gardens to homes and clothes, and colour
visualisations.
Reclaiming the Gods: Magic, Sex, Death and Football (Green Magic, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 09536 63183)
by Nicholas Mann reclaims the gods of laughter, love, health, wealth, fertility, and wisdom. In the same way that the
goddess has been reclaimed, the author here restores the god in our lives, introducing us to the trickster, the hunter, the
shaman and the lover.
Magick: Book 4: Liber ABA (Weiser Books--distributed by Airlift, available, [pounds sterling]65, 0877289190) by
Aleister Crowley is a huge, one-volume edition of Crowley's most important and enduring work on the teaching of
meditation, mysticism and "magick".
In Living Ancient Wisdom (Rider, available, [pounds sterling]10.99, 0712612874) Paul Devereux visits ancient sacred
and historical sites around the world to excavate the earth wisdom and philosophies of the ancient shamans, and to
offer principles that can be applied to our own 21st-century lives.
The Golden Builders: Alchemists, Rosicrucians and the First Freemasons (Signal Publishing, available, [pounds
sterling]16.99, 09543 30900) by Tobias Churton. Without resorting to pseudo-history, this breathtakingly detailed
research reveals the facts behind the gnostic alchemists and the origins of pre-grand lodge freemasonry.
Martin Latham
Manager, Waterstone's, Canterbury In a rare case of hype matching product, the MBS cup runneth over this month
with the release of Liberation: The Perfect Holistic Antidote To Stress, Depression and Other Unhealthy States of
Mind by the Barefoot Doctor. He has a way of explaining complicated mystical subjects like body energy and Taoism,
and then relating how anyone can use them in their daily life.
Buckets of tears are being shed over Hannah's Gift (Thorson's, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 000714203X)by Maria
Housden, in which the author movingly relates the story of her child's struggle with cancer. No mawkish tale here, but
instead an inspiring way of looking at life beyond death.
Speaking of which, John Edward's Crossing Over (Hay House, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 193212800X) has
been one of the sleeper MBS hits this year. He's the psychic host of UK Living's "Cross Over with John Edward",
where he uses his gifts as a medium to contact loved ones on the other side. This is a collection of his best stories, and
has some incredible post-11th September anecdotes.
On the lighter side of spooky is The Oracle Book (Bantam, available, [pounds sterling]9.99, 0553814885) by Georgia
Roustsis Savas. It's a nifty little book of answers to any questions, and uses bibliomancy--foretelling the future using
books--as its divination tool. The answers people are getting are also surprisingly relevant, and accurate.
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Earth Angels: A Pocket Guide for Incarnated Angels, Elementals, Starpeople, Walk-Ins and Wizards (Hay House,
available, [pounds sterling]6.99, 1401900488) is by us angel expert Doreen Virtue, who is growing in popularity in the
UK. This is a smashing little guide to angelic earth spirits and faeries. She also has a new book coming out next April,
Archangels and Ascended Masters (Hay House, [pounds sterling]14.99, 1401900631), which is one to lookout for.
For the post-Christmas book in self-improvement, there is an important new work out from Optimum Nutrition expert
Patrick Holford, Optimum Nutrition for the Mind. With this, you get a chance to improve both physical and mental
health with diet, supplements and good food. This one looks like it will be a monster, and Craig Holford has a high
profile in the media. There's also Richard 'Small Stuff' Carlson's new book What About the Big Stuff? where he casts
his keen eye on crisis points in people's lives and gives no-nonsense, compassionate advice on how to survive them
with a modicum of grace.
Everyday Alchemy (Rider, available, [pounds sterling]8.99, 07126 15741) by Cherry Gilchrist actually snuck outlast
August, but it is an unusually mystic self-help guide--you use the transformative power of alchemy to bring about
change in your life--and it has some good exercises in it. And no, you don't need a chemistry set to benefit from the
book.
And finally, keep an eye out for The Piatkus Dictionary of Mind, Body and Spirit (May, [pounds sterling]20, 07499
24179) by MBS journalist and editor Paula Byerly Croxon. With more than 800 definitions, it covers everything from
asanas to zero balancing and will have lots of good alternative health information because she's also a qualified
aromatherapist and reflexologist. It's also one of the few, if not the only, MBS dictionary available.
Watson, Jan
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
Watson, Jan. "Breathe in...and relax: our reviewers choose the best of forthcoming or recently published mind, body
and spirit titles. (Booksellers' Choice)." The Bookseller, 29 Nov. 2002, p. S14+. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA95121083&it=r&asid=2cc5fb2260b863097a7aa7dc5f5b5392.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A95121083

"The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun." Publishers Weekly, 13 Feb. 2017, p. 71. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482198242&it=r. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017. Seaman, Donna. "Cave in the Snow." Booklist, 1 Oct. 1998, p. 292. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA55052927&it=r. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017. Dean, Kitty Chen. "Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 1998, p. 90. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA21256180&it=r. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017. Olson, Ray, and Gilbert Taylor. "Cave in the Snow." Booklist, 1 Oct. 1999, p. 322. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA56529404&it=r. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017. Watson, Jan. "Breathe in...and relax: our reviewers choose the best of forthcoming or recently published mind, body and spirit titles. (Booksellers' Choice)." The Bookseller, 29 Nov. 2002, p. S14+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA95121083&it=r. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.

• Jaya Bhattacharji Rose
  http://www.jayabhattacharjirose.com/the-revolutionary-life-of-freda-bedi-by-vicki-mackenzie/
  Word count: 1683

  QUOTED: "Vicki Mackenzie’s biography of Freda Bedi is readable and well-researched. The effort to collect information to build a portrait of a formidable woman so many years after her death could not have been easy. Yet she did it. Despite Vicki Mackenzie’s fascinating account of an Englishwoman who made India her home during the Indian freedom struggle, it is quickly overshadowed by the stronger and better narrated time of Freda Bedi’s life as a Buddhist nun."

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  “The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi” by Vicki Mackenzie

  13 05 , 2017No CommentsShare

  The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi by Vicki Mackenzie is an account of an extraordinary Derby-born woman Freda Houlston. Born in 1911, educated at Oxford and married in 1933 to Baba Bedi bringing her to India at the height of the freedom struggle for Independence. She met her husband during the local meetings of the Majlis, the Indian students’ society, and listened to debates about Gandhi and India’s quest for freedom. According to Andrew Whitehead ( who too is working on a biography of Freda Bedi ; Derby Telegraph & The Wire ) “she went to the more tumultuous October Club, where left-wing students gathered to oppose fascism and cheer on the hunger marchers. At lectures, she came across a well-built student – he was a champion hammer thrower – from Punjab, BPL (Baba) Bedi. He invited her to tea. Freda went along with a friend as a chaperone, as the rules required, and was charmed.”

  Along with her husband she became a left-wing activist — her socialist spirit was never to leave her even in later years upon conversion to Buddhism. Her marriage took her through Lahore ( in undivided India), Kashmir, Delhi, and Dalhousie. She witnessed Partition and though a firm follower of Gandhi and his non-violent means of struggle when in Kashmir she joined the women’s militia — the Women’s Self Defence Corps — started by some feisty members of the Communist Party affiliated with Sheikh Abdullah’s National Conference Party. Her husband was close to Sheikh Abdullah. Baba Bedi worked in the Kashmir administration “doing his part in promoting counterpropaganda” writing articles both in Kashmir and Delhi. The Bedi family spent five years in the state before the two men fell out in 1952 over their views on the Kashmir plebiscite, a political decision to let the people of Kashmir decide whether they wanted to join Pakistan or accede to India. She returned to Delhi to take on a government job as editor of Social Welfare, publication of the Central Social Welfare Board, part of the Ministry of Education. Social Welfare was written in English and translated into Hindi to reach as many people as possible. According to Vicki Mackenzie, Freda Bedi “chose with her heart — still wanting to help the poor and needy. The pay was low, but with her job came a government apartment”.

  It was during a United Nations assignment to Burma that she had an epiphanic experience concerning Buddhism and decided to convert. She soon began to drift away from her material existence and in 1960s moved to Dalhousie where she established the Young Lamas Home School. She also gave shelter to the many Buddhist nuns who had fled Tibet after the Dalai Lama escaped. She created a system which went against the severely hierarchical and patriarchal structure of Buddhist monasteries but allowed the nuns to have a more democratic and responsible way of functioning.

  Vicki Mackenzie documents this period of Freda Bedi’s life relying on extensive interviews with her three children — Ranga, the film actor Kabir Bedi and daughter, Guli — along with innumerable people who knew Freda. In fact she is unable to mask her surprise at how forthcoming everyone was with their recollections of Freda Bedi, sharing pictures and documents making Vicki remark that it was if this book was wanting to be written. Most importantly Vicki Mackenzie heard that the Dalai Lama himself would wonder why no book had ever been written as yet on Freda Bedi. Ever since going on a Buddhist retreat in 1976, Vicki Mackenzie’s writings have focused on Buddhism, reincarnation and role of women.

  Even though Freda Bedi devoted the last twenty years of her life to Buddhism and left the family to work for its cause she remained extremely close to her children and husband. Her young daughter, Guli, who had been put into boarding school aged five recalls that every week punctually a letter would arrive from “mummy”. Even her sons knew that though they may have had an unorthodox upbringing, rich in experience but in financially straitened circumstances, they knew they could rely on their mother. For instance Kabir Bedi recounts he needed money to pay his fees at St. Stephen’s College and his mother advised him to ask a friend of theirs who readily gave the required amount. Her love for her family is also evident in a charming collection of poems she wrote for her eldest son, Ranga, called Rhymes for Ranga. It was published as a collection of rhymes in 2010.

  Freda Bedi was the first European woman to convert to Buddhism. She was ordained in 1965. She is also credited with being the first nun to bring Tibetan Buddhism to the West. She was known as Sister Kechong Palmo although many Tibetans believed Freda to be an “emanation” of Tara, the female Buddha of Compassion in Action or the Divine Mother. Significantly whereever Freda went she was well-connected to the powers that be so was always able to get her way. In India, for instance, she knew politicians like the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira, diplomats and other prominent citizens. In England she counted among her friends Barbara Castle, a fiery left-wing cabinet minister in the 1960s and 70s. In fact when Freda returned to Delhi in 1979 to attend a world buddhist congress she stayed as a guest of the hoteliers Oberois at their five star luxury property. It was here that she passed away aged sixty-six years and was cremated on the Oberoi farm. It is believed that a couple of years later Freda Bedi was “reincarnated as a Tibetan girl, Jamyang Dolma Lama, the daughter of His Eminence Beru Khyentse Rinpoche, a respected lineage holder enthroned by the Sixteenth Karmapa. Born in Tibet, Beru Khyentse Rinpoche had known Freda Bedi well, and had set up his own center in Bodhgaya”.

  Today it may seem commonplace to discuss Buddhism and encounter many celebrity converts such as Freda Bedi. But historically her contribution to Buddhism is extraordinarly. Her conversion and single-minded focus to do good constructively by the Tibetan Buddhists, soon after their spiritual leader — the Dalai Lama — fled Tibet for India was unusual for the day. As she was not only committed to the cause but would do anything in her power including calling upon her friends in senior positions to help her. Her persistence paid off and she was able to leave a well-defined legacy as is apparent in the Buddhist institutions she created at Dalhousie.

  More than a century after she was born the important influence Freda Bedi had on Buddhists is slowly gaining traction. For instance Beyond Mud Walls a short documentary by a distant relative of hers, Nalini Paul, discusses the theatre performance she has conceptualised based Freda Bedi’s book.

  Vicki Mackenzie’s biography of Freda Bedi is readable and well-researched. The effort to collect information to build a portrait of a formidable woman so many years after her death could not have been easy. Yet she did it. Despite Vicki Mackenzie’s fascinating account of an Englishwoman who made India her home during the Indian freedom struggle, it is quickly overshadowed by the stronger and better narrated time of Freda Bedi’s life as a Buddhist nun.

  Vicki Mackenzie The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi: British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun Shambala Publications, Boulder, USA, 2017. Pb. pp.190 $16.95

  13 May 2017

  Andrew WhiteheadBeru Khyentse RinpocheBodhgayaBuddhismBuddhistsDalai LamaDalhousieDelhiFreda BediJamyang Dolma LamaKabir BediLahoreOberoiPoemsreincarnationRhymes for RangaSheikh AbdullahSixteenth KarmapaTibetTibetan BuddhismVicki MackenzieWest

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