PEMA ANTEP

Pema was blessed with spiritual grandparents. At the age of 4, she insisted on cutting her hair short like a boy so she could enter the mosque with other men. Harmonious childhood experiences and sights were imprinted in her and she kept searching to find the pure and naïve truth which she experienced as a child.

In 1998, a visit to Nepal turned her face to the East. By 2000 she started taking courses and doing retreats centered in Tibetan Buddhism and was initiated by Dalai Lama’s abbot with the name Sange Pema. After that, India became her mother for nearly six years.

She practiced Vipassana in the Goenka tradition exclusively and intensively for five years, sitting, serving, and organizing courses. During a long Vipassana course an overwhelming experience took her by surprise and after this incident, she found her way to Agama. She realized the importance of living in the heart and tasted the sweetness of its depths with Spiritual Heart (Hridaya) Retreats led by Sahajananda.

With Agama another level of transformation began. Her childhood joy and enthusiasm bloomed anew. She graduated from the Agama TTC in 2010.

She is grateful to Swami Vivekananda and ever grateful to all the teachers who have shared their wisdom with her over the years.

Pema, a Pisces, is in mundane reality an active writer and the author of an India guidebook. She is also an organic clothing designer and digital marketing professional.

“What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here, in my chest.” – Jalāl ad-Dīn Rumi