Ani Choying Drolma was born in Bouddha. Her childhood was full of suffering and she grew up with much pain and complexity. To get rid of the pain due to her father’s death, she went into a monastery and later became a Buddhist nun. She learnt spiritualism, monasticism, and the meaning of loyalty, truth, patience and forgiveness. Today, she stands as a leading role of peace and harmony in the world. This autobiography is the twelfth translation of the original French edition.
Ani Choying Drolma is a Buddhist nun and musician from the Nagi Gompa nunnery in Nepal. She is known in Nepal and throughout the world for bringing many Tibetan Buddhist chants and feast songs to mainstream audiences.
A biography of a young woman who suffered family violence while growing up. Ani Choying Drolma made a determined effort to break the cylcle of violence upon herself by being ordained as a buddhist nun. From the tender age of 12, under the guidance of her teacher Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, she persisted to overcome her own deamons of anger and develop a good understanding of life. Till this day, she holds no ill feelings towards her father who has caused her much pain. On the contrarary, she is grateful to him who provoked her to fight her way to cultivate into a good human being. In the process her extraordianry singing talent with angelic enchanting voice was discovered. What is more remarkable is her desire to help and liberate other girls and young women who are ill-treated by taking them into the school she has started with monies donated by well wishers and her tiredless fund raising effort singing in concerts all over the world. An inspiring book with many many lessons to be learned from Ani Choying Drolma.
Quotation: .....I understand your anger. But it isn't good for you, or for anyone elsr. It is hurting you all over again, as if you had been injured twice. Do you think your father enjoyed beating you?...... .....If you remember his bad deeds, don't forget the good ones too.....
Think about this too. The lotus is born in the mud, but its flower is always white and clean. This is our greatest challenge to live at the heart of the problem and not to be undermined by it. That is the joy of freedom
A true heart touching story of a young girl on how she decided to become Ani. A singer/social worker Ani Choying Drolma grew up with physical violence by her father. Her childhood was spent doing household work and helping her mother. Not only was she the victim of this abuse, her mother was constantly beaten up too. After seeing this, Drolma completely lost her trust on men and marriage, and she figured out that the only way to get out of marriage is to become Ani.
Before I read this book, I didn't have much knowledge about Ani(s). I didn't know that the only differences between the normal girls and them are, Ani(s) cannot marry or have physical relationship, and have to wear kashaya robe. The story of Drolma is quite inspiring though. Even though she had a bad childhood, what she has done with her life is amazing. Despite the fact that her father never treated her well, she took great care of her parents. It's because she ended up getting a decent education from her Guru, who pointed out that her father's behaviour is itself a disease. He is a victim of his anger and he has no power to stand up to it.
Some great lessons for everyone! You don't have to be a Buddhist to get inspired from this book.
Disappointed. Was looking for some spiritual stuff but Ani is far cry from being a spiritual person. This book has made me ponder over the vanity of people. Unless you want to get disillusioned,I would not suggest this book to anyone who looks for profound knowledge.
Simple an honest personal narrative, nothing more than that.
Am inceput sa citesc cartea, usor sceptica, insa am fost cucerita de povestea si viata lui Any Choyng Drolma! Scrisa cu sinceritate, autoarea ne poarta prin copilaria ei deloc fericita, drumul ei catre viata de calugarita si parcursul spiritual care au finisat-o dintr- un diamant brut intr-unul stralucitor! “In loc sa te manii pe altii, sa-ti risipesti energia, puterea si inteligenta criticand si judecand, incearca sa-ti schimbi modul de a-i percepe. Daca altii sunt rai, ajuta-i tu, cea mai norocoasa dintre ei. Daruieste daca nu vrei sa iei nimic de la ei. Nu poti sa-i schimbi pe altii, deci incepe cu tine insati. Dezvolta in tine opusul a ceea ce nu iti place la ei. “
Recebi este livro através do BookCrossing, numa troca inusitada.
É a biografia de uma monja budista, conhecida pelas suas canções e pela sua voz. Tão conhecida que um amigo a reconheceu logo quando coloquei foto da capa no Instagram!
Então, este livro não é nenhuma especialidade em termos de escrita, como costuma ser quando outra pessoa ajuda a escrever uma autobiografia. No entanto, mostra-nos bastante de como as pessoas vivem no Nepal, e como as mulheres são altamente injustiçadas em termos sociais, tendo muitas vezes - como esta monja - de se dedicar a uma vida monástica para escapar à pobreza e violência.
O engraçado é que Ani Chöying não é uma monja como estamos habituados a ver: ela usa calções e t-shirt, ela viaja pelo mundo a dar concertos, ela zanga-se, grita e enfurece-se, tudo isso numa grande aprendizagem sobre o sentido do budismo. Com esta aprendizagem da bondade e da paciência, ela consegue elevar uma capacidade de perdão, o que nos parece muito injusto mas, também, muito curioso.
Achei muito interessante, e acho que agora o vou passar ao tal amigo que é fã. :)
Written by Ani Choying, this vivid and incredibly honest story is Ani's re-telling of her life story and the journey she has travelled to become the powerful woman she is today. In parts feminist, in others Buddhist, and just totally human, this book is a pleasure to read.
I think, more than anything, the way Ani Choying was able to overcome her abusive childhood and, with her love, transform her parents was just amazing -- inspirational actually. I finished reading this book feeling like I had grown as a person.
You don't have to be Buddhist to enjoy this. In fact, no matter which religion you come from, Ani Choying's story will ring true. There is not much more I can say about this - it is a story that needs to be experienced to be understood, but the journey is definitely worth the effort.
Kind of an average book, which makes you neither too excited nor too disappointed about it. The events are presented quite simplistically and the protagonist doesn't go too much into her feelings or spiritual emotions. I was at least expecting to get a deeper insight into the Buddhist vision and way of living, but that is treated in a minimalistic way and not expanded at any point. The protagonist has nonetheless my sympathy for the hard brutal childhood that she experienced and for the strength to redefine her existence in a quite revolutionary way.
I totally adored this book! I got it as a present from one of my dear friends and i couldn't drop it once i started reading it. The story is very touching, Ani Choying tells her own life story and tries to teach us all a lesson. And it does!
Even thus the whole book is presenting more a general idea and not getting in deep details, i believe the message it sends is very clear: love and compassion. The buddhism teachings are a mystery for most people, even in the book we don't get to actually face many, but Ani's style of writing is so calming.
Her story starts since she was a small girl, a brief introduction about how their parents got together and the customs (which in all honesty spooked me out, it's very hard to imagine that there are still places on Earth where women are sold or simply taken or have no protection against abusive males). She grows up in a house the size of a room and she witnesses every abuse and intimate acts her with which her father treats her mother and later on, turning violent toward her as well for whatever he was not pleased with.. From the age of 9 years she understands that if she doesn't do anything, her fate will be the same. At 10 years old, she goes to a monk who agrees to take her in and become a nun.. but her father still manages to keep her around for 3 more years before letting her go.
The most impressive thing about Ani Choying is that she's not the typical type of nun, she does things no other nun has done and she becomes more independent, she dreams big and she follows her dreams. She's eager to learn English, to learn how to drive, to sing, even to dance latino songs and give society something the women are forbidden: a school!
The struggles she goes through and the way she solves everything is a proof of force, determination, passion, love and compassion toward everything she learned under the guidance of her teacher and mentor and all the other people she has met.
The way she manages to forgive her abusive father and love him once more it was a shock to me. Unfortunately, i believe i wouldn't be capable of such devotion...
Still, her story is a very impressive one! Even born with lower rank, with no money, no material belongings, she's a living proof that everyone can achieve the things they want and most of all, they can be taught to have compassion and love even the worst people.
“ Fericirea e pretutindeni, accesibila pentru toți cei care vor sa o vadă. Secretul fericirii este “sa prețuiești” sa știi cum sa fii mulțumit cu ceea ce ai”
“ Fiecare, la nivelul sau, poate face lumea mai buna. Trebuie doar sa te lansezi și sa fii sincer generos. Să nu te îngrijorezi pentru ceea ce nu poți da, ci sa dai ceea ce poți da din toată inima. Lumea are nevoie de sfinți. dar are nevoie și de oameni obișnuiți, simple ființe umane care pot sa inteleaga durerea celorlalți. Mai mult ca oricând, ma hrănesc din dorința de a ajuta.”
Născuta intro familie in care predomina violenta, crescută cu frica de a nu fi bătută la orice pas sau privire greșita, Any Choying Drolma își da seama de la o vârsta frageda ca nu își dorește încorsetarea unei căsătorii tipice nepaleze. Spiritul ei aspira la libertate, la distracție și la pace. Solutia vine din partea mamei sale, care ii propune sa se călugărească astfel scăpând-o de o căsătorie aranjata și de o viata de sclava asemănătoare ei. Cursul narativ al poveștii este foarte ușor de parcurs, fiind o traiectorie cronologica a vieții de la copila la călugărița și star internațional de mantre nepaleze. Cea mai mare provocare: sa trăim in inima unei probleme, dar sa nu fim subminați de ea și sub îndrumarea unui călugăr budist ce o învață meditația, iubirea, Armonia și bucuria de a trai, Ani Choying se descoperă și își da permisiunea de a fi și spera. O poveste ușoară, inspirațională.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
"Uneori, in timpul unui vis, imi dau seama ca visez si evident ca nu iau visul in serios. Ar trebui sa facem la fel si cu suferinta. Credem ca suferim, dar gasim si motive de fericire. Nu trebuie decat sa devenim constienti de asta. Sa fim corecti cu viata: sa nu vedem numai ce ni s-a luat, ci si tot ce ni s-a dat." Mi-a placut tare, tare mult cartea asta.
Am cumparat cartea din librarie fara sa stiu nimic, ci doar ca am simtit un soi de energie si pace. S-a dovedit a fi o lectura care a curs foarte usor, care a starnit multe emotii de la tristete pana la iubire, compasiune si admiratie. Are multe invataturi la care merita sa ne gandim si sa vedem ce putem pune in aplicare in vietile noastre cotidiene.
I thought Monk were Sages , detached from sansari maya and all. Idk but after reading her book , I don’t like her. Her thoughts towards certain characters in the novel, as a monk is kind of vague. In whole book I found few lines good, things I was expecting from a monk’s autobiography.
I read this on my way to Nepal at the airport and transit. My heart shed some tears while reading about Ani’s family and early childhood memories. She’s captured her heart, her struggles, dreams and ambitions in the book. Some of her stories now live in me!
This book traces the spiritual journey of my role model, Ani Choying Drolma. Her songs have always inspired me, and reading about her path from childhood struggles to becoming a nun made me admire her even more. It beautifully captures how she embraced spirituality and shaped her life’s purpose.
A touching, true insight into the heart of suffering and forgiveness. A well witten, easy to read, if at times harrowing account of a Tibetan childhood and growing up as a female monk to ending up singing on world stages. A story filled with integrity and triumph.
In terms of biography, this is a great book, wonderfully written. It gives great perspective of Ani's childhood lives, her suffering initially, then meeting with her teacher, her salvation, her transformation from mischievous (and sometimes rebellious) child/nun to responsible daughter, caring teacher, emotional friend and of course a great singer.
The book also provided with some important life lessons, finding inner peace, helping and loving people, transforming the anger to politeness. The most important part that everyone is capable of bringing about the change in their own way and everyone got their own part to play in this world. Also this book provides insights about some Buddhist and Tibetan practices, customs.
बहुचर्चित गीत "फूलको आँखामा फुलै संसार"का गायिका बाल्यकालमा कसरी आफ्नै पिताको यातनाबाट भागेर आनी बन्न पुगि र आफ्नो कलाले आफुलाई बिश्वमा चिनाउन सफल भई भन्ने कुराको बेलिबिस्तार यस आत्मवृतान्तमा छ । निकै सरल भाषामा लेखिएको यस किताबमा आनीको जीवनका आरोह-अवरोहका माध्यमबाट अनेक जीवनोपयोगी सन्देशहरु पनि दिन खोजिएको छ । जीवनलाई र संसारलाईनै हेर्ने एक नयाँ अन्दाज सिकाउँक्छ यस किताबले ।।
आर्यतारा स्कुल बनाउँन सफल आनीलाई बधाई । अस्पताल बनाउने वहाँको सपनाको लागि शुभकामना ।। र यस आत्मवृतान्तका लागी आभार ।।।
I did not like this book, mainly because I did not like the attitude and the opinions of the writer about herself and the people around her. In the way she writes and comments she seems arrogant to me. The story is about the youth and adult life until now of Ani Choying Dolma, who is a Buddhist nun. She can sing very well and the money that she earns with concerts makes it possible for her to start a school for nuns in Nepal.
A biography of herself, how she made her way out to the gumba and after a facing so much troubles in her life, devoted and dedicated ani chhoying dolma, made her place as a buddhist monk. A great story with so much to learn from. A ray of light which lits from the book as weel as her behaviour as she continues to inspire young people and work to make the lives of rural people easier and sow the seeds of world peace and harmony.
A very extraodinary nun. Yet she is ordinary in the sense that she has ego, still sometimes struggle with the "I" concept, and struggle with emotions. She enjoys nice shoes and drives a car! It makes her humane.