In the early 1970s, on the advice of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Lama Shenpen went to India where she lived as a nun for six years, ordained by the 16th Karmapa.
Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa and head of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, subsequently instructed her to return to the West to teach Mahamudra.
[7] In 1986 Shenpen K. Hookham was awarded Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford University, for her thesis "Tathāgatagarbha doctrine according to the gZhan stong interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga".
She has students worldwide who are studying her Living the Awakened Heart Training,[9] a structured learning programme in meditation, reflection and insight, devised especially for Westerners, to transmit the most profound teachings of Mahamudra and Dzogchen in an accessible, experiential way.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, one of my teachers, told us that North West Wales was a special area and that establishing a place here devoted to spiritual practice would be of great benefit for generations to come.