Freda Bedi
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Freda Bedi also named Sister Palmo, or Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo) (Born 5 February 1911 – Died 26 March 1977) was a British woman who was the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism, which occurred in 1972. She was born in Derby, England.
LIFE IN INDIA
She moved to India where she settled in 1934. She participated in the Indian national independence movement and was arrested and detained with her children along with Mohandas K. Gandhi as a satyagrahi. She became advisor on Tibetan Refugees to the Ministry of External Affairs in 1952 . In 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama arrived in India along with thousands of Tibetans, she was asked by Jawaharlal Nehru to help them and she was in charge of the Social Welfare Board.
In 1960 Freda Bedi’s friend Christopher Hills provided fund to Freda Bedi to start the Young Lama’s Home School in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh North India. After the young tulkus’ school stopped, Bedi went to Rumtek in Sikkim, the seat of the Karmapa in exile. In 1966, she took sramaneri ordination by the 16th Karmapa, and was given the name Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo.
She accompanied the Karmapa on his first visit to the West in 1974. In 1971, a book she had written was published by Lama Anagarika Govinda‘s Arya Maitreya Mandala in Germany. She died in New Delhi on 26 March 1977.
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Thank you for the sharing of Freda Bedi life journey. What a remarkable person, historical trending everything done for the first time. She is extremely extraordinary an amazing role model mother, political activist, writer, social worker and eventually a Buddhist nun.
She was an invaluable presence to the early Tibetan refugee community and it makes me wonder, where exactly would we be without her generosity and compassion? I guess Tibetan Buddhists owe her a great deal of respect for a faith and devotion to the spiritual path.
I’m surprised to have not heard of her before. I am happy to have a good read on this article and glad to have an opportunity to get to know about a pioneer of many parts of activities. I consider she is A Legend of All Woman.
Freda Bedi was a British woman who broke all the rules of gender, race, and religious background to become the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism. A fascinating short biography of Freda Bedi who had a big heart and a big life. She was a head prefect and Oxford graduate, a devoted Indian wife and doting mother of three. She was well known as a investigative journalist, a university teacher and Tibetan translator, an extraordinary pioneer in the dialogue between Tibetan Buddhism and the western world. She had a very close relationship to His Holiness 16th Karmapa which enable her to have a lasting impact on the Tibetan refugees. She has dedicated her whole life to the well-being of others, in social work and in spreading Buddhism to the westerners and as well as helping those refuges living in India .
Thank you Rinpoche for this beautiful sharing.