Dipa Ma presents both the life story and teachings of Dipa Ma Barua, a major figure in contemporary Eastern spirituality. A rare female Buddhist master, Dipa Ma chose home, work, and family over ascetic seclusion in a temple or monastery, and taught meditation and mindfulness amidst everyday busyness in her simple apartment in the heart of Calcutta. One of the few women of her generation to devote herself so completely to the pursuit of meditation, Dipa ma attained profound levels of insight in an astonishingly short time. As the teacher of Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and others, she greatly influenced the practice of meditation and mindful living in the West.
Dipa Ma's profound wisdom and compassion continue to inspire and guide an ever-growing number of spiritual seekers and practitioners of every persuasion. Weaving together her powerful words and techniques with heartwarming biographical stories and encounters shared by family members, her students in India and the West, and prominent teachers of Buddhism and meditation in America, this is the only full account of Dipa Ma's extraordinary life and legacy.
Dipa Ma: the Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master, Amy Schmidt, Blue Bridge, 175 pages, Paperback, 2005, $14.95
Amy Schmidt is a resident teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and a cofounder of Southwest Sangha, a self-retreat center in southern New Mexico. She is also a licensed clinical social worker and a cartoonist. Her cartoons have been published in the book "Buddha Laughing."
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