21/07/2021
Pema Chödrön: When I first connected with my root teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, I was living in San Francisco and I was a nun already. We had some wonderful people who came to teach, but they were all men. They were really smart, and I don’t want to say they taught the dharma intellectually—because it was experiential, too—but it was definitely smart, you know. And it never occurred to me that I could teach because I felt intimidated by them, even though they were very helpful to me.
Then, a woman came to teach and it was completely different. It was very soft-edged and completely experiential. Her teaching was based on personal experience and how the teachings mix with your everyday life, rather than anything scholastic. Afterward, I thought, hey, maybe I could also teach. Before, I had felt there was no way could I ever do that, but now I felt like I could.
Perhaps that doesn’t completely answer your question, but teaching by women is very, very different and it reaches people in a different way. So you really need both. You definitely need both.
We’re actually complete and whole. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with us.
The beloved Buddhist teacher and famed singer discuss Buddhism, creativity, and "the gap."
