Dakini Power

Dakini Power: Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West

Michaela Hass

Snow Lion, Boston, MA 2013. 325 pp

Dakini in Sanskrit means “female messenger of wisdom.” I found this applied equally to the author and the 12 strong, independent women she personally interviewed for this book.

Michaela Haas, a PhD and journalist, grew up Catholic and converted to Buddhism after a health crisis at age 26, followed by an around-the-world trip to India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bhutan. It was in Bhutan that she got “…a firsthand glimpse of what Tibetans call ‘the nature of mind’ –the naked simplicity of awareness beyond concepts.” This experience revolutionized her lifelong commitment to changing the world, which became a passion to liberate all beings from suffering. This book is a remarkable and very well-written expression of that passion.

These twelve women were chosen by Haas for their bravery: they followed their intuition against difficult odds, made dramatic decisions, and spoke and acted on their truth in the face of criticism. The author tells us, “…all of them are highly educated, savvy women.” They inspired her most by how they lived Buddhist wisdom in their everyday lives, and in personally challenging situations, such as death, divorce, betrayal and loss. Some were authors, some mothers, while others became nuns. One of them, Roshi Joan Halifax joined the civil rights movement and participated in the counterculture of the sixties before getting her PhD in anthropology and launching her work with death and dying.

I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring spiritual transformation from a variety of feminine perspectives.
-- reviewed by Sharry Lachman


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